Scott Campbell's Interest In The Live Music Industry

The live music market has always been a constant force in the music industry and will continue to grow as the main revenue driver in the concert and event promotion industry. Scott Campbell’s experience and insight in booking and managing venues was not only very interesting, but also brought up some very important issues that surround the live music industry. Based on my own experience and interest in the entertainment industry, there were several issues I found to be the most prominent—all which have and will continue to impact the industry and the direction it is heading.

The first topic of interest is that of the live music industry becoming more theater and club focused. Campbell stated that “the day of the massive arena shows seems to

Ticket prices are influenced by a variety of factors including the artist, who receive the majority of the ticket revenue; so AEG sets their fees accordingly to cover costs and earn some revenue. AEG does not generally discount tickets or “paper” the show since it can throw off sales flow and create a false impression in the market. Instead they might release “early bird” tickets and increase prices as the event gets closer, which allows them to capture as many tickets possible out of the gate (Campbell). Although this is a benefit for early purchasers, it still does not eliminate the concern with fees, which can account for roughly 40-45% of the ticket price! That is extremely high, especially considering that AEG is both the promoter and venue owner, and is receiving revenue through concessions, sponsorship, and other

With sites like Craigslist and Stubhub, reselling has become much easier and has allowed people to sell marked up tickets from essentially anywhere. Reselling has also led to increases in ticket prices in the primary market. “As concert promoters see what consumers are willing to pay for great seats, ticket prices have risen accordingly. Few would doubt that the huge prices consumers pay on the secondary market have contributed to the rise in ticket prices in the primary market” (Waddell). Obviously the goal for promoters is to charge as much as they can for concert tickets, but there is a point where the industry must attempt to limit third party resellers, particularly when some of the tickets bought from these sites may not be authentic. Ticket fraud happens a lot and there are considerable challenges in avoiding this matter. One way that smaller, privately owned venues can combat this is to establish their own ticketing