#MusicMonday #LiveMusicWednesdays?

Posted on 02. Jun, 2009 by Antonella Stellacci in Music Industry Trends

no_fees-300x122

The first quarter wasn’t a memorable one for LiveNation: it reported a drop of 22.6% in attendance at live events from the same period in 2008. But revenue per fan was up by 5.7% (hmm more money from fewer people, right?). It also staged more concerts during the first 3 months of 2009 as well, up by 1% from Q1 2008.

The loss was admittedly wider than expected and LiveNation had to reassure the upset market that the summer with its strong line-up of big names would fix the books and 3mln $30 tickets would be sold to rabid fans, despite the recession.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise if today Live Nation president and CEO, Michael Rapino, announced a no service fee initiatives for 24 hours!

Beginning this Wednesday, June 3rd, LiveNation will indeed offer no-fee concert tickets for hundreds of shows (bands included are Coldplay, blink-182, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Kid Rock, No Doubt, among others). LiveNation.com will be selling 5 million tickets, but there’s a catch: all non-fee tickets are for lawn seating only.

I’d guess not much of a deal for real fans who might already have secured their full price ticket (for better seats). But better than nothing, right? Maybe the second market will profit from those potential sellouts too!

The marketing initiative seems to have an additional goal, besides the trivial one of boosting sales (whatever it takes). And that is trying to bring back some sympathy to its brand, that has been deeply damaged by the regulatory troubles surrounding the merger with Ticketmaster.

So much so that Live Nation global music CEO, Jason Garner, doesn’t even care to educate users about those fees that are being (temporarely) slashed and which are usually split between the venue, promoter, band, manager, record label, and/or other entities.

But …Isn’t the lack of transparency on those fees the Real Thing? Are fans demanding for one time mysterious discounts or do they want a more straightforward system where they know that their money are supporting the artist?

In the meantime, here’s the list of no-service-fees, if you’re interested in a lawn ticket(s) from Live Nation (on Wednesday(s) only):
* Aerosmith
* blink-182
* Coldplay
* No Doubt
* Nickelback
* Depeche Mode
* Toby Keith
* Brad Paisley
* Crosby Stills & Nash
* Crue Fest 2
* Def Leppard with Poison and Cheap Trick
* Jason Mraz
* Kid Rock & Lynyrd Skynyrd
* Incubus
* New Kids on the Block
* Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction
* Phish
* Rascall Flats with Darius Rucker
* The Allman Brothers Band
* The Fray
* The Killers