You say you were outraged when, back in the early '90s, Whitney Houston made the $50 concert ticket standard practice? Well, how does $125 sound? That's what top tickets to Houston's tour will cost this summer, up more than 100 percent in less than a decade, though inflation has been just a fraction of that.
Welcome to the age of triple digit prices for rock and pop concerts -- $100 and more to a handful of shows nationwide this summer -- a price once reserved for only the most special events (the return of The Eagles, Streisand) is now becoming the norm."Across the board we're seeing the highest ticket prices the industry has ever seen," says Ray Waddell, who tracks the touring scene for Amusement Business magazine. "We have more $60, $70 and $80 dollar tickets and quite a few at $100, which is a first."
In addition to Houston's tour, tickets to a double bill starring Bob Dylan and Paul Simon are also at $125 in several cities. A long-awaited reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young is expected to surpass $100. Barry Manilow is getting $95 a ticket for a Sept. 9 show in Los Angeles. Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow will play New York's Madison Square Garden June 30, at $102 per ticket (albeit a benefit).
Cher's first tour in nearly nine years features top tickets at $125 in New York and outside Boston; in most other cities her top price is $75.
Bruce Springsteen's reunion tour with the E Street Band had a top price of $67.50 for the 15 shows he just sold out in New Jersey -- far less than what he's worth, say analysts.
And none of these prices include add-ons such as "facility fees" (typically $1-$2 surcharges tacked on by the venue), or outlet handling charges of roughly $7-$10 per ticket, depending on how they're purchased. With surcharges, for example, Springsteen's tickets are roughly $75 -- yet he still looks like the working-class hero.
High-end concert-going has now become so high that the middle range has been redefined as shows costing $50 to $70. Two in that price range this summer include Tom Petty and John Mellencamp. Then there's Shania Twain, who's getting $50-$75 in most cities. With just four years of fame and only a handful of hits behind her, she's commanding as much as many veterans and has set what appears to be the new benchmark for the highest priced ticket among new artists. Even youth shows from Britney Spears, Brandy, 'N Sync and a host of boy bands will cost $30-$50 -- about double what such teen shows were just a few years ago.
"What this kind of pricing does," says Waddell, "is take the casual fan out of the equation. Where you used to risk $20 or $30 on a group you didn't know, you're not going to spend $75 or $100 to find out you don't like somebody."
Other than a robust economy and increased spending for entertainment overall, what's driving this escalation? Vast consolidation among concert companies, for one -- and fans who have shown the industry they'll willingly pay scalpers most any price to sit near their favorite stars.
"Scalpers have been getting these type of numbers for years," Waddell says. "Now performers feel like if anyone should have (the profits), they should. It's just what the market will bear."
What's more, fans don't appear to be in an uproar about it.
"If it's a band I want to see, and if it's good, I really wouldn't care how much it's going to be," said Jason D'Amelio, a tourist from New York who was visiting a Miami Beach record store.
While there have been some complaints and a handful of news stories about the increases, the outcry that accompanied the crashing of the $30 price barrier in 1984 (The Jacksons' Victory Tour) and other such benchmarks hasn't come.
"We haven't heard it like you'd think we would," Waddell said of the relative quiet. "The Rolling Stones came out with a $350 ticket to their first arena tour in 20 years, and nobody said a word. Maybe we can blame the public for this."
In fact, it would seem all parties can shoulder some responsibility. Lately many longtime artists -- after years of toeing the populist line -- are confident in their veteran status and less worried about how things might look. "They've dropped the pretense that they're not in it for the money," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, a concert industry trade publication. "And I don't think we've seen the top prices yet."
Others, like Cher, are likely on a last great ride, and after decades in the business feel it's now or never in terms of a big payday. Plus, her show is genuinely costly, featuring elaborate props and costumes and a large cast of dancers, singers and musicians.
Meanwhile, folksy tours from Dylan and Simon and CSNY could be far more lucrative because they have much lower staging costs and even higher average ticket prices. Most of the $60-plus fare this summer comes from "classic" artists, and is aimed at adults with deep pockets -- and even deeper feelings of nostalgia -- who will typically pay any amount to connect with a cherished icon one last time.
But soon after, they draw the line. And that's the gamble for promoters, says Bongiovanni: "Older fans see far fewer shows."
Some say one promoter in particular has fueled all this. SFX Entertainment, the nation's new concert giant, has gobbled up most major regional promoters and many venues in recent years, eliminating much of the competition.
Since most music stars don't earn huge sums from their recordings and rarely see the kind of money their TV and movie counterparts bring home, analysts say musicians can't be blamed for jumping at touring cash.
But some stars, particularly those under age 40 with years on stage ahead of them (Shania Twain and Whitney Houston, for example), would do well to note what Garth Brooks has been doing for years. Brooks, who charges roughly $24 per ticket no matter what else is going on around him, remains the most cost-sensitive big star in the industry. By deliberately underpricing himself, says Bongiovanni, he's reaping huge dividends in other ways.
"Years from now, when radio deserts him -- and it will because radio eventually does that to everyone -- Garth's fans will be there," said Bongiovanni.