April 23rd, 2009
Ticketmaster may finally be getting a reality check as The Eagles concert scheduled for Galway this year has been cancelled. Disgruntled punters balked at the thought of forking out €131 for a seated ticket. Standing tickets were available for €80, but how many of The Eagles ageing fanbase would be capable of standing throughout the concert? 
I’m completely fed up of the ripoff prices being charged in Ireland, especially when tickets for the same acts in countries like Spain cost a fraction of the Irish price. Hopefully this is the start of a quiet rebellion. Initially we may see fewer world-class acts coming to Ireland, but ultimately ticketmaster is a business and will need to adapt to market demand. If the market decides that a ticket to see a world class act is worth €50, then Ticketmaster will need to start providing €50 tickets to world class acts. It may even be possible for a smaller ticketin/promotions entity to capture market share by supplying mid-range acts at mid-range prices.
The Eagles’ Belfast concert is still scheduled to take place. Ticketholders for the Galway event will be refunded.
Posted in Gigs | No Comments »
April 8th, 2009
You may have heard that the global economy is a little troubled. It may have come to your attention that the music industry has been in bother for the past decade. We look to the leading digital distributors of music for inspiration on how to go forward. Well the king of online music sales has made a bold decision, that has left many industray watchers scratching their heads.
On the face of it, the new ITunes pricing structure appears tp promote choice. The old revenue model was basically “One price fits all”. Everything went for 99c, be it the latest Coldplay single or an obscure track from an old Bucks Fizz album. The new revenue model has tracks for 69c, 99c, and $1.29. Browsing the ITunes library reveals the true picture. Most of the chart tunes are priced at the highest tier, and nearly everything else remains at 99c. Bargain hunters will spend a long time digging out a 69c track from artists that interest them.
In the current climate, I cant see how Apple is justifying this stealth price hike. They need to look at discounting multiple purchases and providing extra value with single purchases in the form of exclusive content such as live tracks, interviews and videos. The back catalogues need to be made available more cheaply. I can get a physical CD of “Strawberries” by The Damned delivered to my door for €4 from Play.com but ITunes is looking for $10 for a digital download of the same album. This is madness.
Tags: ITunes
Posted in Industry | No Comments »
March 27th, 2009
On the 20th of March 160,000 U2 tickets sold out in 40 minutes. With ticket prices costing up to €130 (plus booking fee), the nation is clearly not short of a bob or two. U2 were quick to cash in by adding an extra date, and more power to them.
I love going to gigs myself, but can rarely justify the cost. Living outside Dublin, I need to factor in the cost of trasnport, accomodation and food with the cost of the ticket. More often than not, I’m faced with a bill approaching €500 for a two hour (if I’m lucky) gig.
U2 are now hitting the “difficult” period. No longer in the first flush of youth, and nearly deserving of the “sgeing rockers” classification, they have begun to search for their identity. The back-to-basics three-chords-and-the-truth formula for many of the tracks on the current album, and it’s predecessor seem to have left the record buying public decidedly unimpressed. “No Line on the Horizon” sold 484,000 in the US in its first week of release – a respectable figure until you learn that “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” sold 840,000 in its first week.
How much of the decline can be attributed to the public’s impression of the album, and how much is due to falling record sales? Clearly, it is impossible to be certain, but one thing IS certain – tour incomes will be the major revenue stream for artists in the near to medium future. Until the music industry learns to embrace the mp3 revolution, ditch restrictive Digital Rights Management and seek out new and innovative revenue streams for their artists, touring and merchandising are the only activities that will put bread on the table.
Tags: Gigs, Industry, U2
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
March 26th, 2009
Welcome to the new Musician.ie. We’ve listened to your feedback and used it to completely reinvent the site. The site is now intended to be a resource for music nuts as well as musicians, and we will be steadily adding features as we go along.
So what’s new? Well, how about the gigs? We know you guys are like us – you always hear about the gig you’ve been waiting for after it happens. I heard about the Nirvana/Sonic Youth gig on August 21st 1991 – the day after the gig. The trauma burned the date into my memory. Fear not, gentle reader, you need never miss a gig again. We bring you a comprehensive list of gigs from every county in Ireland. See whats on today, get some inspiration from featured gigs on the home page, browse by location and venue, or browse by artist. If you can’t find The Gig To See, then you’re not looking hard enough.
We’ve got album reviews, from sources like the BBC (with a refreshing lack of bias – they tell it how it is). We’ve got the same old forum, but we’ll be adding to it as we go. Finally, we’ve got this groovy little blog, to entertain, titillate and inspire you.
What do you want to see on the site? Gear reviews, editorials, more pictures of Brian Cowen in the nip? Let us know through the blog.
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