[lonewolfny42]

And Cd sales sink....here's the link....

Concerts....

[rockadanny]

From the article,

Older acts clearly dominate the market. Some in the music industry have complained that their business does a poor job of grooming new young acts that can fill arenas.

Yeah that's it. That's why attendance has dropped, poor grooming of new acts. Right.

Try no talent bands playing crappy "music" with crappy live acoustics and crap quality recordings. Agressively groomed fluff can only go so far. In the end the consumer reaches a point where they decide, "Do I really want to listen to this? Does this music evoke pleasure, indifference, or irritation?"

Good! I am glad the industry is hurting. It has spent far too many years concentrating on image over substance. All you need do is switch on your radio or TV. 99% crap.

[2bigears]

   99% CRAP----CRAP----CRAP-O-LA  , you are right on the money.we must shut down crap media.....what passes off for entertainment is truely amazing 

[chadh]

So...the market is signaling it's extreme preference for quality by making Bon Jovi the biggest live act of the year, but requiring Santana and Winwood to slash ticket prices?

Chad

[weitrhino]

Let's not forget the horrendous economic picture that many faced in 2010 as a chief cause of dwindling attendance.  The first thing to go for many faced with hard times inevitably is entertainment, and concert ticket prices are an easy target.  There is also a growing undercurrent against the likes of Live Nation, Ticketbastards, and Clear Channel, all which serve to enrich themselves on the backs of the public while serving up the same formula of garbage in every market.  In these days of a manufactured glossy image and marketing hype shrewdly chosen for the few who can be packaged for mass market appeal it is no wonder talent has a hard time reaching an audience.  The writing has been on the wall for a long time as many of the most talented acts have had to seek an audience by playing festivals as opposed to stand-alone touring.  Fans tend to bitch about 'how much their favorite artists' are charging for tickets when the fact is the artist has almost nothing to do with the price.  When talent cannot find an audience because of the stranglehold the previously mentioned companies exert, musical diversity and creativity flounder and these qualities are the true underpinnings of a successful and vibrant musical scene.

[mcgsxr]

In an amusing demographic twist, my parents (early 70's) attending a live event yesterday (a ballet from China, complete with orchestra etc) locally, and I have not been out to such an event in years!

There are local live music festivals that I attend with the family in the summer, but I have not been out to a true "concert" in closing on 10 years.  Kids will do that!

That said, I don't find that much interesting new music out there, aside from the cool ambient/trancy stuff that I sometimes delve into.

Other than that, it is all older stuff on my HD.

[bacobits1]

Yeah that's it. That's why attendance has dropped, poor grooming of new acts. Right.

Try no talent bands playing crappy "music" with crappy live acoustics and crap quality recordings. Agressively groomed fluff can only go so far. In the end the consumer reaches a point where they decide, "Do I really want to listen to this? Does this music evoke pleasure, indifference, or irritation?"

Good! I am glad the industry is hurting. It has spent far too many years concentrating on image over substance. All you need do is switch on your radio or TV. 99% crap.

Oh, do I agree with that.
Absolutely crap for anything new. Well I'm old, but some of those groups on Leno and Letterman have no musical redeeming talent.

D

[chadh]

Does anybody think less music is being consumed today than 40 years ago?  One only has to see how many people are wandering around with buds in their ears and massive libraries of tunes on their laptops to cast doubt on that idea.  Instead, I think we're seeing a big change in the way people consume music.

Once upon a time, concerts had an appeal that could not be matched in other ways.  Concerts afforded the fans access to the personalities producing the music; concerts gave you access to a wide variety of music the artist produced; and concerts could supplement the music with visual experiences that your turntable couldn't.  But now, your favorite musicians are exposed online and on TV  constantly, with video footage of concerts available at the click of a mouse.  Recorded music is paired with readily accessible video productions that cannot easily be equaled in a live setting and is even paired with interactive experiences like games.  And perhaps most importantly, recorded music is now extremely cheap to consume - not just to buy (or "acquire"), but to listen to where ever and whenever you like.  Concerts, on the other hand, become bigger and bigger, less intimate and therefore less satisfying, more expensive in monetary terms and extremely time intensive.

I don't even think this is a particular blow to the entertainment industry.  They just find a different way to capture the revenues from the "artists".  It doesn't really matter whether Beyonce is selling concert tickets, or CDs.  The people who produce her will still cash-in by promoting her in films, reality shows, video games, putting her songs on commercials, putting her name on perfume and clothing lines etc.

Chad

[PDR]

I remember when I was a kid in the 70s, going to the record store....the people were everywhere.
It was the only way to purchase music then.
We would buy an album or two with our hard earned money, bring them home and spin
them, listen, spin them again. Though we bought them for a specific track or two, it was
by listening to the whole album over and over that we got to know that specific artist
or band, its how we found out if they were what we thought they were "good" or "great".

I have two kids...a 13yr old daughter and a 29yr old son.....both only listen to music through some
sort of pod device.....have thousands of songs.....some even by the same artist. They dont appreciate the artist or band, dont take time to explore them fully....

Where we would wait to buy a couple of albums......they are lined up at the digital trough, consuming way more than they could ever digest. Remember my kids grew up around audio and music in their home....and they still dont get it.

[Tyson]

I think if more of the industry focused on putting out albums that were designed to be listened to as a whole, it would alter some of this.  Since most albums are just a couple of good songs with a lot of filler, the digital age has made it easy to forgo the crappy 90% of an album and just download the good songs.  On the other hand, if albums were consistently good across all tracks, that would help.  And, if they were put together so that the individual songs were more like chapters in a book, it would make less sense to download individual tracks.  Sort of like you wouldn't download random chapters out of a regular book, because it would make no sense. 

[rockadanny]

For any current favorite artist of mine I do not seek out alternative experiences of them. It is either recorded on CD (some day I'll get back into vinyl ) or live. That's it. And it is because I am not in love with the artist or what they can do visually. I like/love their music - purely audio pleasure - nothing else. In fact, I'd say nearly all artists I see live are boring as hell visually. I don't care - I'm there for the music. On the other hand, my wife's chief complaint is, "sure, the music is good I guess, but I want to be entertained!" She has fallen asleep numerous times at spectacular musical performances out of entertainment boredom: Koko Taylor; Big Sugar; Twistin' Tarantulas; Albert Collins. Perhaps there are more like her and fewer like me.

[lonewolfny42]

Top grossing concert list....

http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/Charts2010/2010YearEndTop50WorldwideConcertTours.pdf

[giantsteps]

From the article,
Yeah that's it. That's why attendance has dropped, poor grooming of new acts. Right.

Try no talent bands playing crappy "music" with crappy live acoustics and crap quality recordings. Agressively groomed fluff can only go so far. In the end the consumer reaches a point where they decide, "Do I really want to listen to this? Does this music evoke pleasure, indifference, or irritation?"

Good! I am glad the industry is hurting. It has spent far too many years concentrating on image over substance. All you need do is switch on your radio or TV. 99% crap.

I'm always reminded of Keith Jarrett who steps on the planet's finest stages....in plain clothes, either alone or with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. The attendees go to .....listen. They are rewarded in spades. No fireworks, "smoke", or other flashy artifices are needed to mask music were it of dubious quality.



Frank


 

[rockadanny]

I always get a kick when this happens: pre show mingling with folks often dressed down/comfy more than I, having nice conversations. Then notice one of them walk to the stage, pick up a guitar and start tuning. Turns out s/he is in the band.

[nathanm]

Top grossing concert list....

I'm surprised I recognize many of the acts in this list.  It feels like music has been frozen in time.  Bon Jovi and AC\DC at the top?  Seriously?  Did I walk through a wormhole or something?

[rollo]

  The prices don't help. The economy is hurting. Most of the new music sucks. The local record shop is gone as well.
   Many contributing factors. Hopefully the scenario will improve.


charles

[rajacat]

Top grossing concert list....

I see very few artists on that list that I would cough up the bucks required. I quess I'm no longer cool.  The concerts are too large and overproduced. I'd much rather buy more albums that aren't popular and listen to them on my rig . I also prefer small nightclub venues.

-Roy

[Tone Depth]

Large venues should be for superstars, when they aren't able to do enough performances in smaller venues to satisfy the audience demand.  Artists with lesser demand should be performing in smaller venues.

It is the economy; most will cut down on entertainment with their shrunken discretionary income, and especially the younger ones.

I, too, miss the artistry of past albums with something resembling a theme in the music selection.  Unfortunately, it takes more time and expense to produce such an album.  Unless lots of people are willing to spend additional money to purchase well-produced music, the studios won't invest in the work. 

The music industry is continually adjusting to changing economic and technological situations.  Things won't necessarily stay the same as in the past.