Thursday, February 3
2004: The Public Pushes Back
Moderator: Alex Hodges, House of Blues Concerts
Arny Granat, Jam Productions
Jon Stoll, Fantasma Productions
Jay Marciano, AEG Live
Jack Utsick, Jack Utsick Presents / Worldwide Entertainment
Michael Rapino, Clear Channel Entertainment

Moderator Alex Hodges of House of Blues Concerts immediately challenged the premise of this panel, one of the most anticipated of the conference and one that played to a packed house in the Century Plaza’s spacious Los Angeles Room.

“Did the public push back? Or has the concert experience deteriorated?” Hodges asked his panel. Has the public decided to vote with its feet?

If Clear Channel Entertainment Global Music President Michael Rapino took his seat on stage feeling a bit like chum in a shark tank, he needn’t have. He immediately disarmed his fellow panelists and the audience.

“I have zero patience for people who say Clear Channel is the bad guy,” when it comes to high ticket pricing, low enjoyment and the resulting exodus of fans from last summer’s concert season, Rapino said.

He then laid out CCE’s strategy for making the amphitheatre experience one of enjoyment again, rather than one of dread – especially for those with lawn tickets – by spending more money on the fans, rather than on artist guarantees.

“Madonna’s ticket price is a great value proposition. We don’t sit around asking ourselves if ticket prices are too high or too low. The problem is, the overall concert experience has diminished. We don’t spend much time at Clear Channel debating ticket price.

“We are looking overall at making the experience better. We as an industry have to realize that competitors like AEG and Clear Channel are the not the biggest problem. Our biggest problems are DVDs and home video.

“We’re going to do what we can affect. [The decision to reduce or eliminate] facility fees was a huge financial proposition for us. So is lowering Ticketmaster service charges. We’re spending millions of dollars on the amphitheatres,” Rapino continued.

“Improving the concert experience comes purely out of our bottom line. And the bottom line is it’s going to cost money.”

Jay Marciano of AEG Live (he would announce his move to Radio City Entertainment a week later) countered that top artists pay attention to their fans.

“The artists that were the most successful – and by that I mean not the artist that has one successful tour but those artists that are able to sell out year after year – are the artists that are the most sensitive to their ticket prices,” Marciano said. “The deals may be tight on the back end, but they obviously have found the right ticket price and can convince the consumer to come back.”
But beyond artist guarantees, facility fees, high ticket prices and obvious cost factors, what are those in the industry thinking in terms of the show itself?

Arny Granat of Jam Productions was blunt. “I think the overall concert experience is stale, period,” Granat said. “My philosophy has always been to run great shows. All we can do is create a great experience and give people what they want. But we’ve lost sight of what it takes to make the customer happy.”

Fantasma’s Jon Stoll took it a step further. “My own kids would rather sit home with a video game than go to a concert,” he said. Ouch. “You can talk about the concert experience, and you can talk about ticket prices whether you’re in Los Angeles or New York or Omaha, Neb., or Jacksonville, Fla.,” Stoll said. “The key now (for the fan) is feeling like you’re being made welcome and feeling like you know what is going on. It’s the public feeling the joy of being at a concert. It’s something special that’s being created. People will pay for it if it’s there.”

Panelists acknowledged that pre-sales and fan club allotments are making it hard for people to pay for the experience. Too many tickets are going to scalpers, and too many middling artists are charging $65 to $75 per ticket – which should be considered the overpriced ducats, not the top-tier prices for artists such as Madonna or Paul McCartney.

“The consumer is savvy,” Rapino added. “Everybody value shops. If a concert-goer knows that at some point a freebie is going to come down the line, they’re going to try for it. You have the committed fan in the front seats that buys their ticket as soon as they can; they’re not our problem. It’s the occasional fan coming to the back of the house.

“It’s right out of Business 101: You don’t discount the cost of your product,” Rapino said. “We’re going to test the mandate that says we are not going to paper the house or our amphitheatres. We’re going to stick to that. No papering the house; no discounting. We’re going to need the help of agents and managers to do that.

“In fact, if I had my way, I’d stop pre-sales today, too,” Rapino said to applause. “Our research shows an overwhelming number of people who are saying, ‘I’d love to go a show, but buying a ticket is such an ordeal.’”

The audience peppered the panelists with questions, but one questioner nearly sparked an onstage bidding war for his services. One of the student volunteers for the conference, Wes Radez from Yale, ticked off a list of ideas utilizing new media and reaching young people with Internet social networking software, mobile phone messaging, and the like.

Even after the panel ended, Radez was surrounded by agents, promoters and managers all shoving their business cards at him.

“I’ve already got him!” Granat exclaimed.

Obviously, new ideas are being tried and are welcome.

But in the end, Jack Utsick of Jack Utsick Presents / Worldwide Entertainment probably summed things up: “The industry is fucked up. All anybody needs to know is that it all comes down to the fan. They will tell us how to fix it.”

With their wallets, or with their feet.