Does Anybody Really Know How Much It Is?

Do any of the acts really know or care about the sticker prices for their concert tickets. It used to be a concern of the act, the promoter, and -- most of all -- the buyer.

There are some amazing shows out there this year with equally amazing prices!

You could have put together any two “A” level acts over the years, but you would have also had to charge double the standard price to make money. Garth Brooks seemed to care throughout his career about ticket price, how the tickets were sold, and satisfying the demand.

That seems out the window with post-Covid concerts. We are in the day where a Nashville concert can and does cost over $1,000 for a prime seat (Taylor Swift, Beyonce, George Strait). Floating ticket prices are changed by demand.

Stadium concert grosses are sometimes four, five or six million dollars per night. Taylor is grossing the first billion-dollar tour, with Beyonce right behind her.

What’s the overhead on the upcoming ATLive show with Strait, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson and family, and Little Big Town in Atlanta in October? With staging, insurance etc., it could be four or five million dollars. The Eagles getting paid $3.5 million per show? These are all numbers floating around. They may be high or low, but probably not far off.

When these shows are announced, the price of a ticket seems to always be left off. Ticket price is set on demand.

It is hard to believe this is a good thing. Start with an evening at the movies or going to a concert, it is quickly out of the reach of regular people. Ever spent two grand on a date?

Going out to eat is quickly reaching the out of boundary areas of pricing, too. The Fed jacking up interest rates is supposed to cool spending, but that’s not working.

Check I-65 between Nashville and Montgomery, AL from Friday to Sunday. Jammed busy. Christmas-like traffic. At the Gulf Coast beaches, $600-$800 hotel rooms per night. Did aliens just give me a raise and not tell me? Who can afford all this stuff at these prices? Someone has got to suffer due to these crazy sticker prices!

The theme parks are down in the last few weeks, and smaller music events are losing business because fans can only afford one or two stadium shows a year when they used to go to five or six amphitheater shows.

There has to be an epilogue to these $1,000 per ticket concerts.

On my wall are old tickets. The top price tickets: James Brown $6.50 and Elvis $3.50. Has inflation really gone up that much since the late ’50s and ’60s?

The workers all want more money. Unions are fussing loudly for more money. We all want more money! Paid for a McDonalds meal lately? 10 bucks … cost of labor and everything. This story does not have a happy ending.

We are in head-spinning times. Water and TV used to be free! Vinyl is back (that really does amaze me). Sporting betting lounges are headed to downtown Nashville. Can casino gambling be far behind? Nashville is getting a two billion-dollar stadium that has fewer seats than the current one!

Music City has become a place where a songwriter and future singer can hardly afford a place to stay. Changing times, and maybe a time to meet about the customer, the goose that is laying golden eggs.