On Friday evening (January 27) the avant-garde festival “Club Transmediale” (CTM) starts in Berlin with the new documentary film about Cologne Krautrock legend Can. The focus is on the only surviving founding member, Irmin Schmidt, who is now also a proud 85 years old.
In an interview with the daily newspaper “taz” on CTM, program director Jan Rohlf said when asked how the general “needs when going out” had changed after the Covid pandemic – and how all of this was affecting his niche music festival:
“People who work attach much more importance to the quality of their working conditions. It’s the same in nightlife.” Rohlf looks back on more than twenty years of CTM experience: “This development is correct in itself, but it means that cultural work and organizing have become significantly more expensive.”
And further:
“We are currently looking at cost increases of up to 35 percent, especially in the areas of personnel, technology, operating costs and renting venues. These costs cannot be passed on one-to-one to ticket buyers, they also have less in their wallets…”.
Elsewhere, the proverbial purses seem to be far thicker.
Cologne’s local media such as “Express” or “Stadtanzeiger” have been reporting for some time on the prices of Madonna’s concerts taking place in the local “Lanxess Arena”. As in Berlin, the former “Queen of Pop” plays twice in a row in the respective mega halls on site.
A report from Cologne at the start of the Madonna advance sale speaks of standing room for “around 200 euros”. Seats with an acceptable view cost around 300 euros.
There are also special contingents for the so-called “Golden Circle” right in front of the stage, according to the “Express”. Plus VIP packages with a behind-the-scenes tour and a group photo on stage. Last water level of the Rhine: top ticket prices around 750 euros.
Are the algorithms to blame for the price spiral?
Our sample from the online provider Eventim shows a ticket price of 352 euros in “category one”. The situation at the Berlin event on November 28 looks similar.
In the background piece “The Case of the $5000 Springsteen Tickets”, the “New York Times” analyzed why the price spiral for superstars is turning even faster in the USA. One reason is the algorithmic structure of the digital platforms. Similar to online bookings for hotel rooms, plane or train tickets, algorithms would automatically make price adjustments. Trend: Steep upwards.
The BBC in London, in turn, unveiled a new pricing system by ticket giant Ticketmaste in October 2022, which adjusts the price of tickets based on demand. “The so-called dynamic pricing system came about in the UK with recent sales of Harry Styles, Coldplay and Blackpink for use. This system is used regularly in the US, where the resale market is much larger and ‘advertising’ far more common,” according to the BBC’s website.
This application is far more pronounced in the case of the resale platforms for tickets on the Internet, which many musicians and managements fight against. “Artists against Viagogo: And that’s supposed to be democratization?” was the headline in the “FAZ” in July 2020.
The unloved middleman skims, while the bands can only count on the original “ticket value” – apart from the fact that Viagogo tickets are not recognized by many artists and their buyers are then the innocent fools who are turned away at the arena entrance.
The Dortmund music industry expert Manfred Tari (“Pop100”) adds: “The speculative element in the pricing of conventional consumer products goes hand in hand with interesting profit margins. The costs for a flight or a train journey are significantly less volatile than the price increases that music fans can be expected to pay. Especially when it’s an emotional passion thing. …”
In the USA, the US Senate Judiciary Committee met on Wednesday (January 25) “in the matter of Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen”. In focus: the major global event organizer Live Nation and the ticketing portal Ticketmaster. “Dynamic pricing” was just one of the topics that organizers were confronted with. It can be assumed that regulations for advance sales will be established in the foreseeable future.
Back to Germany: The price game for superstars in this country is not yet as glaring as it is in the United States. But the example of Madonna clearly shows where the journey is headed.
In addition to the general price increases for all show productions, which were also mentioned by CTM chief booker Jan Rohlf, there is also a pronounced gambler mentality in the management of the big names in pop. After all, it’s always about making money. Over the years, local great artists such as Die Ärzte or Herbert Grönemeyer, who have always paid attention to internal calculation discipline, have proven that there is another way.
Ultimately, it is the fans themselves who can end this mechanic or at least slow it down. But as a live industry cynic said before the pandemic: As long as people in the gray ticket market pay 2000 euros for a ticket from U2, we are obviously still too cheap.
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