Archive for April, 2009

Reality Finally Hits as Eagles Concert Cancelled

Thursday, 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.

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ITunes Price Hike Makes No Sense

Wednesday, 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.

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