Clubs In The Spotlight

Moderator: John Innamorato, Clear Channel Entertainment
Charles Attal, Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
Greg Bennett, Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa
Jim Mallonee, House of Blues Concerts
Aaron Pinkus, William Morris Agency
Larry Webman, Little Big Man Booking

Not to say there weren’t any differences of opinion, but the clubs panel was less about heated debates and more about how to make shows successful for baby bands and established artists who make their living on the road.
Topics included ticket prices, the agent’s role in promoting, house nuts and all-ages shows.

Rising ticket prices, of course, have been blamed as the main culprit for lagging attendance. And the prices are often blamed on greed.

But at the club level, the artist sets the price, Little Big Man agent Larry Webman said.

“Most artists in clubs know what they want their fans to pay. Sometimes it’s a product of what they would get paid. But for our company, you take what you want to charge and go back from there.”

William Morris agent Aaron Pinkus was all for ticketing fan clubs to help cut prices.

“Every dollar you can cut out from what you set your ticket price at ... is a win,” he said. “Bands are trying to save their fans money.”

Webman added that if an artist has high Web traffic and can move 10 percent of the house quickly, it helps all involved because they can sell out a show with less advertising.

Pinkus pointed out that, there is a huge day-of-show walkup ratio because fans know they won’t have to pay a service charge at the venue box office.

Unfortunately, attendance problems can’t be blamed on ticket price alone. These days, there are a lot more shows competing for the same dollar.

Club talent buyer Charles Attal explained:

“A lot of times, bands are touring at the same time, so you have over saturation. In certain months, you have 10 bands coming through and there’s others where you have 50 bands. So the months when you have 50 bands coming through, you have an $18 to $25 ticket on every single show. There’s not so much money to go around in the market.”

With promoters being inundated with shows, Webman said he thinks agents need to be more involved in marketing because, “you (promoters) don’t have the time to pay attention to the specific details on every single show.”

House of Blues Concerts’ Jim Mallonee countered, “But we should trust somebody who lives 2,000 miles away to tell us how to run our show in our own market?”

Webman agreed that an agent looks to the promoter for local market expertise but, “If you’re telling me you want to spend money at a station that’s never played our artist, I gotta question it.”

Mallonee assured that promoters do have time to pay attention to those details.

Another point of contention that moderator John Innamorato brought to the table was the all-too-famous house nut.

“I love the house nut. Nothing should ever change,” Mallonee said, laughing.

Club booker Greg Bennett had to agree.

“In a club setting, there’s just no room for error,” he said. “For us, the house nut is what it needs to be to be able to do the show in a 1,000 seater because it doesn’t work any other way.”

However, Pinkus said the house nut sends the wrong message.

“People are willing to pay more for expenses when they know what they’re getting.”

Clear Channel’s Innamorato said a house nut makes sense at the club level.

“Sometimes, the actual expenses of a house nut might be a little bit under. Sometimes, they’re a little over. So I think most people think of it ... as sort of an average of what people expect to pay. I guess you could break up everything but at the club level, I think it’s a little more than you want to do.”

Speaking of more than you want to do ... what about all-ages shows? Innamorato said clubs are shying away from all-agers because of the increased liability and higher deductibles on insurance. So, are they worth it?

“Nobody likes kids. I don’t like kids,” Pinkus said, cracking everyone up. “They don’t generate bar revenue.”

But, Webman said, “If the artist’s fans are kids, you’ve got to find a way to do the show. Insurance is a factor, (as are) safety and overcrowding. When you get to play 2,000 seats, it’s easy. But when you want to play 500, there’s not that many options.”

Attal saw it from a very different point of view.

“We actually make more money on all-ages shows. They’re a little more lenient because they know you’re not making money on the bar. You’re making money on the door.”

At the same time, he said Stubb’s tries to keep the ticket price low because kids don’t have a lot of money.

In the end, there were a couple of things everyone could agree upon: Artist development and happy fans are key.

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