it takes tens of million of dollors to put on a tour. It takes hundreds of millions for the stones to do it,

A stage that is 120,000 tons of steel, 450 workers, working 12 hours a day on 5 days a week, thats just tip of the ice bearg, its only the stage, the back line crew, the sound people. Not to mention its not cheap to rent out a stadium for a week, not to mention 45 other venues. The hotels, fuel for the plane, the money gows to the show, not all to them, they dont even break even till eroupe.

You get what you pay for, the Rolling @#$%& stones

"mick's my wife, and we can't get divorced"

"Alright keith, gimmie some of them women"

"And now, dressed as mick jagga........mick jagga"

AIM- ohnonotyouagainn



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-08-20 09:28 by ISleptWithLisaFischer.

Exactly well put.

ROCKMAN

Have you factored in the Ameriquest and other sponsors? I love the Stones more than anyone but I can't hardly afford to see them anymore.

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Ultimate Rock Music Poll
[www.squidoo.com]

lots of people counter the above by saying they'd rather see less extravagant stages and have more affordable tickets. (i personally am appalled by the ticket prices, but i don't hold it against them - LoFL, it's the Rolling Stones! let 'em have extravagant stages if it makes them happy!)

anyway, the band has lots of costs that are the same no matter how simple or elaborate the stages are. security, for example. when fans agitate for the Stones to play more small venues - and at low prices, dammit! - they seem to overlook the fact that playing small venues doesn't make them any less over-the-top famous or less in need of constant security people, whom they have to pay.



"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

The sponsorship pays the production costs so everything else is profit.

Remember what happened to Pink Floyd some years ago....

No. What happened?

Did they cycle around America wearing dresses and singing "Raindrops are falling on my head"?

Other Bands with similar stage productions still have cheaper tickets. Don´t worry, the Stones make tons of money with it.

Typical concert venues usually aren't "rented." They provide their venue with an eye toward making money off concessions and parking while the band usually takes the bulk of the ticket sales. The tour sponsor provides the start up costs to get the tour on the road. (Yes, the start up costs seem to be staggering since it takes a bit longer for the Stones to get the show rolling) They will probably see a profit a lot sooner than Europe. They also make money off merchandise etc. Sometimes the cash distribution is a bit more intricate such as the band also taking a cut of parking and concessions. I tend to look at the Tom Petty, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews ticket prices for what bands can charge and still turn a decent profit.

"No. What happened? "

Surprised - went bankrupt...

I couldnt care less what the stage looks like, how many inflatables they have or how spectacular the fireworks are

I pay money to watch a rock n roll band perform

That original post makes it sound like the Stones are the only band in the world who put a show together that incurs costs (and also leaves out the fact that the tickets prior to 1999 were reasonably priced and they STILL were the highest grossing tours of all time)

Other artists do major sized stadiums and charge a fraction of what the Stones charge - and still make quite a bit of money

Theres little risk in a tour where the production costs are met by the tour sponsors

And its not true that the costs are the same regardless of the venue sizes. If you play an arena tour, you need a smaller crew than if youre playing a stadium tour.

theres no excuse in the world to charge people up to $450 to watch a show of any kind, let alone one in a stadium where you're not close to the band

It's all a matter of demand and suply, that's all. The Stones just don't want to sell their tickets for less than market-price. Otherwise others (brokers, scalpers) will earn money with something which is not theirs.

The Stones (Cohl) have a very good sense of marketprices. Last tour in Europe for example, scalpers couldn't earn a lot. You could buy lots of tickets for less than face value.

I can understand that; it's The Stones' music, their shows, their production, so it's their money.

Too bad for us that we happen to like The Stones...

On the other hand: just be happy that they are still touring, and we can get to see them again and again.

My understanding - it was in Billboard - is Ameriquest only kicked in around 4 or 5 million (from memory, corrections from anyone w/ the article at hand welcome) And the 300,000 Ton (!) stage really is unique, like it or not, with hundreds of worker bees spending 50 hours constructing just this one stage (I assume they will rotate stages as they have on recent tours) - they want us to dig the music and the spectacle, and surely don't have to spend QUITE so much on all of this, Live or in studio, they dig playing together. Mick counts every penny, & the others are quite likely happy that he does, but that doesn't contradict the the very evident pleasure they take in playing together,or the drive to give pleasure to their audience.