Charging What??!!

Paul Pollets

I watched last weekend as Taylor Swift did two shows at Lumen Field in Seattle and sold out both shows. Each show had over 80,000 attendees. The 2 shows netted over 1.5 billion in gross revenues, including $975 million in merchandise. Tee shirts were $200. and hoodies, $500. I'm not sure why teenage girls have so much angst to spend so much and worship her, but she's approaching the Beatles in record sales. I have one friend, a retired Microsoft engineer who was willing to spend $2000. for a ticket and couldn't get one. Lastly, when she did "Shake it Up", the seismologists at UW recorded a 2.3 on the Richter scale, which beats Marshawn Lynch's Beast Quake touchdown which recorded a 2.1.
I'd recommend all plumbers wear sequined overalls and double their prices.

Mad Dog_2

Obscene disposal income...God Bless em...I saw there was a Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons TRIBUTE Band last night in Port Jefferson, A beautiful, historic Seaport town on Long Island's 🏝 North Shore. My Jr and I WERE going to catch it...thought it was Free or $20 bucks each..Good thing I looked it up!  59 Bucks EACH!!  For another $10 bucks each, we can see the REAL GUNS AND ROSES!  I wanted to bring Wife & 3 kids to See The Great Fleetwood Mac with Stevie & Lindsay...The Best line up. This was like 12 yrs ago...it was going to almost $2000 bucks!!!  For regular seats...NOPE.. 

My two favorite bands of all Time are Black Sabbath & Deep Purple.  I've seen them about 5 times each..and met a few of them...Sometimes first row...Never gonna pay more than $300 per seat...even if I had it...I know some Deadheads that have seen them  125 times and Springsteen Fans over 75 times and pay triple that!  Whatever you're in to man..Mad Dog 🐕 

Steamhead

Ticketmaster is to blame for much of this.

Paul Pollets

I'm not sure her songs will survive longevity, but my opinion matters little in her world and time will tell. I was just amazed at how an artist is paid at the top of her game. The city of Seattle loved it....they took in over $40 mil in sales tax for the weekend

Mad Dog_2

The Stones are very high too..The Who..fair..It all depends how much the Artist needs for vacation taxes or College for their Grandkids...mad dog 🐕 

Paul Pollets

The Stones gross $50mil per show...a fraction of what TS is pulling in.

Mad Dog_2

Sorry girls...she ain't all that!  At their peak, the Monkees outsold The Beatles AND Elvis!!  Same enigma.. Mad Dog 🐕 

CLamb

I wonder how much of the ticket price Taylor Swift actually gets?

Mad Dog_2

Huge chunk I'm sure...the Days of Managers totally billing the artist in largely passed. Good for her and all the super rich athletes.  **** Butkus, in his best year,  early 1970s was highest paid NFL Player in History    $200,000 a year...C.O.L.A. ... I know.... Mad Dog 🐕 

MaxMercy

The answer is simple - Swift has sold her soul to the devil. Now I know what you're thinking - "but Max, Swift has no discernible talent. Her "songs" are garbage and her voice is worse than you will hear at any high school show". I got you on this but here's the explanation:

In the old days, when someone sold their soul to the devil, the devil gave the performer amazing and legendary talent. That was difficult to accomplish but he found out it's a lot easier to fool the masses into thinking this no talent is talented. There's an old expression - "the masses are asses".

There you go. You're welcome and say a prayer for humanity.

hot_rod

150 million a year is what she allegedly makes, currently worth 740 million.
The current tour pulls in 13 million a night, according to Bloomberg.

@MaxMercy
I recall parents saying this about the Beatles

MaxMercy

hot_rod said:

@MaxMercy
I recall parents saying this about the Beatles

And they were right - the Beatles did sell their souls. The difference is that the Beatles were actually given talent in the deal which is why their music is timeless and why everyone can enjoy their music forever.

Swift is selling her no-talent garbage to the masses who are easier to fool than it is to actually endow the soul-seller with talent. The Beatles' legacy will outlive their mortality while Swift's success will expire about the time she does.

EBEBRATT-Ed

At Cape Cod. Going to see the Beach Boys (or what's left of them) August 1. I forget what I [aid for two tickets I think it was around 160. That's more my speed.

Mad Dog_2

I'm not going to say she's got no talent, just not commensurate with the Money she makes...Like The Boy Bands of the 1980s and 1990s...please......The only bands that supposedly   "Sold their Souls for Rock and Roll" Were Led Zeppelin namely Jimmy Page with his Alistair Crowley obsession and Black Sabbath whose "Satanic worship" was a publicity stunt in the very beginning that took off on a Life of its own. They were all very good Catholic Boys actually! 
They were horrified when Anton Lavey held a Parade for them when they hit America 🇺🇸....but it was too late...The Die was Caste..All these Bands including the Beatles had IMMENSE talent and worked their ARSES off to get noticed....So has she, but does she even right her own songs?  Harry Styles is Another one...."🍉 Watermelon Sugar???"  Okeeee..   I try VERY hard not to tease my daughter's about it, and when I play the Fleetwood Mac Rumors and the Like, they ADMIT its no contest  .Mad Dog 🐕 
.Mad Dog 

pecmsg

For Christmas I got my wife 2 tickets to see Springsteen at Mohegan sun. $800 each. (USB in Elmont were $1500 ea.)the January show was postponed and rescheduled for September. Her birthday is in September so I came out ahead. Christmas and birthday covered. 

I agree insane prices!

McSorleys Ail House has an old Yankee ticket in their window from the late 60’s. $2 off 1st base I believe!

Mad Dog_2

Yeah..The Boss..a "man of the people" working man's hero...Born in the USA 🇺🇸...Thanks Greedy Brucie...Billy Joel don't do that...John Mellencamp..Bob Seagar, et al..Certain groups GOUGE their loyal fans...turns me off.   Mad Dog 🐕 

HVACNUT

Maybe it's Ticketmaster driving up prices. Were those $500 dollar hoodies signed by Miss Shake it Off? Nobody's forcing anyone to buy it so I blame the buyers. Another thing to consider is, nobody buys music anymore. There's no album that comes out and you run down to Sam Goody to wait in line for it. Those days are over. They have to make up the difference. Is it too much of a difference? Who decides that? I see the gross excess of wealth every working day on the south fork of Long Island. But it's America, and if we're patriotic about anything, it's capitalism. For a lot of people, too much is not enough. Sucks for them who don't realize stuff is just stuff.

hot_rod

Different music for a different generation. Art/ music is in the eye of the beholder.

Far be it for me to tell someone how much is too much to spend for a hoodie, watch, car, home, hydronic or steam system etc. It's their money to spend.

Its rare to find a consumer that feels plumbers are under charging. After the fact many claim they know someone that could have done the same work much cheaper



A good cover here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1LhC1zGouc

ChrisJ

Entertainment is entertainment.
People spend what they think it's worth to them.

Isn't this in the same boat as supply and demand?

ethicalpaul

It takes talent to create anything that makes that many people that happy to spend their money, stop yelling at clouds

GGross

I was a touring musician for about 10 years, anybody here accept payment in the form of "exposure" I have a ton of it left over because nobody would ever take it as payment 😂

ChrisJ

ethicalpaul said:

It takes talent to create anything that makes that many people that happy to spend their money, stop yelling at clouds

It just seems a bit of a strange argument in a free market to say "That's not worth that" while people are literally paying that...........


If you feel a Taylor Swift shirt isn't worth the going rate, then don't buy one.

Mad Dog_2

I'm a full on Capitalist Pig 🐖...Charge whatever you want... "Price Gouging" gets used too loosely in many cases.. That being said, We are all entitled to think others are "crazy" for spending a certain amount on concert tickets, Sports Memorabilia, Cars, Houses, et cetera...That's Our First Amendment! 

We all have monetary limits and thresholds. For pets, I draw the line at 3000 bucks...I did a Consult for a Single, Guy 20 yrs ago in Greenwich Village, Mulberry St.  He had an Akita...he spent gladly spent 60K to Rid him of cancer ♋...paid off..He said : "Bro...I got no kids...I love this dog 🐕!."  Mad Dog 

hot_rod

Mad Dog_2 said:

I'm a full on Capitalist Pig 🐖...Charge whatever you want... "Price Gouging" gets used too loosely in many cases.. That being said, We are all entitled to think others are "crazy" for spending a certain amount on concert tickets, Sports Memorabilia, Cars, Houses, et cetera...That's Our First Amendment! 

We all have monetary limits and thresholds. For pets, I draw the line at 3000 bucks...I did a Consult for a Single, Guy 20 yrs ago in Greenwich Village, Mulberry St.  He had an Akita...he spent gladly spent 60K to Rid him of cancer ♋...paid off..He said : "Bro...I got no kids...I love this dog 🐕!."  Mad Dog 

3000 bucks, thats crazy

hot_rod

Nice!

Mad Dog_2

I should say...that's the Wife and Kids Limit.  Mine is about $300 bucks...$5000 for a Good horse.  We had a $950 vet bill for a nasty rabbit 🐇 that bites!  $650.00 for a Ox turtle 🐢!   One of our Semi-Feral Barn  Cats , my favorite , Ferby died yesterday. $209.00 Bucks for Cremation.  I was going to give him a Nice Ground burial in a shoe box in the Closest woods..FREE...overuled again!  Shoulda been a Vet...Mad Dog 🐕 🤣 

Mad Dog_2

Mad Dog_2

Goodbye Ferbs...youse was a good cat 🐈...so friendly.  Ginger, the Mulit-color is anyday now...Ferruci, The Orange 🍊 guy (boss) will be the last one.  These cats are 17-19 years old...almost unheard of for Ferals....Going to miss them.  There were 5 at one time.  I captured all of them (not easy) at a few months old...one at a time and got them spayed and neutered.  Ferrucci was the toughest to catch and Sprayed my Gold Jeep with Urine...Never fully got rid of that smell!  Mad Dog 🐕 

ChrisJ

I guess you could apply this to Taylor Swift and younger generations too I dunno.

Mad Dog_2

HARD TIMES BABY 👶!  DEATH WISH, Bronson was The Man....My HS pal, Pete (RIP) could have been his son.  All County Wrastler,  U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy 30 yrs, NYPD.  Mad Dog 🐕 

Mad Dog_2

Pete, 2nd from Left with light gray Jacket and The Boys from Class of 1985.  Mad Dog 

Ironman

And yet, a lot of that crowd will expect us to pay for their student loans.

mattmia2

Ironman said:

And yet, a lot that crowd will expect us to pay for their student loans.

Not that class, that class was when tuition was like $800/semester.

Ironman

mattmia2 said:

And yet, a lot that crowd will expect us to pay for their student loans.

Not that class, that class was when tuition was like $800/semester.

That’s right, but I was referring to the ones at the Taylor Swift concert.