Just a thought...what if...the high ticket prices are (also) a way to select audience. In other words they want lawyers, doctors etc to be their crowd instead of "students who listen to bootlegs".

Harm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are there people on this board actually paying
> 450$ for a stadium show? Not many I guess


I guessed right?

"Are there people on this board actually paying
> 450$ for a stadium show? Not many I guess"

Probably paid by companies - socalled VIP guest and no true Stones fans.....

Gazza,

I have a lot less hair and a few more pounds than '75, but am still liberal on social issues and conservative on financial issues. I don't care what people do (if it doesn't impact others) as long as I don't have to pay for them when they screw up.

I simply don't buy into the Utopian (socialistic) view than everyone should be equal and entitled to the same things. Those who are most creative, productive, and willing to take entrepreneurial risk should be rewarded. Those economic systems have higher average standards of livings than those where incomes are redistributed and incentives taken away.

I just don't buy the arguments that people are entitled to anything and that entertainers or business have a moral obligations to do anything but optimize profits within the confines of the prevailing laws. Let governments and law makers deal with policies and morality. Yes I am predictable and find comments and pipe dreams of this type hard to resist. :-)

If Stones tickets are hard for many too afford is it because the Stones are asking too much money or because individuals have too litle disposable income left because their governments take too large a percentage of their earnings? Tickets would be more affordable if disposable incomes were higher which in my view is the more serious problem worthy of discussion.

As for the Stones in 75, I do not remember them talking about communes, redistributing wealth, or other idealistic and utopian goals. Seems to me that they had recently abandoned their country to escape crushing taxes for greater disposable incomes. That's really not too different than how I feel today.

Cheers!

>I simply don't buy into the Utopian (socialistic) view than everyone should be equal and entitled to the same things. Those who are most creative, productive, and willing to take entrepreneurial risk should be rewarded. Those economic systems have higher average standards of livings than those where incomes are redistributed and incentives taken away.

no problem with that. Contrary to what you seem to think, I dont believe in socialism either. Never have. I just dont think this issue is as black and white as you often like to paint it. I've no problem at all with Stones tickets being a bit pricier than most (its always been that way as I'm sure you can remember) but I do have a problem with what is meant to be a form of entertainment designed to bring people together being elitist and exclusive. I dont think it does the band's reputation any favours for starters..unlike some, I do care about how they'll be remembered when theyre gone. I do think its pretty sad that - unlike pretty much any other band - the Stones have decided to abandon a generation of potential fans because they cant extort enough money out of them. And the "I'm all right, Jack" attitude by some who cant see the bigger picture is part of that malaise.


>If Stones tickets are hard for many too afford is it because the Stones are asking too much money or because individuals have too litle disposable income left because their governments take too large a percentage of their earnings?

It's the former. It wasnt the case until about seven or eight years ago. I dont notice that much of a tax hike since then where I'm living and I doubt you do either. A 500% price increase in ticket prices in a couple of years may be believable had we been living in Weimar-era Germany or South America in the 1970's, but not in countries with a normal economy and standard of living. So, sorry - cant blame the government(s) on this one.

>Yes I am predictable and find comments and pipe dreams of this type hard to resist. :-)

LOL... brilliant. ;-) You know I enjoy the verbal sparring as much as you do.. cheers



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-04-06 17:34 by Gazza.

So ya have to be a Socialist to think the tix are horribly expensive?
That worries me into insomnia...
Just cut that cr*p off will ya!

I'm not disputing the basic argument about Springsteen ticket prices but it's not quite comparing like with like, since there's only one of him. As for Madonna, most of the tickets are £160. Looks like only about 20% are £110 and 5% are £80, which is outrageous. I'd say her overall fan base is much younger than that of the Stones, so I'm guessing that those prices are even worse news for probably a larger proportion of her fans.

My ticket on row 4 at Twickenham in 2003 was £75. This time, my tickets on rows 2 and 3 at Twickers are £60. So that is a decrease.

And Gazza - I grant you might have had AS GOOD a time as me at MSG, but NO WAY could it have been better!!

There are merits in the arguments both for and against such unbelievably high ticket prices. Ultimately, you pays your money (or not) and you takes your choice. Provided I have the money, I'll pay for that experience I think I might otherwise regret not having (at the risk of being proved wrong). I value that more than money in my pocket. With luck, I might be able to replace the money, whereas the experience is unrepeatable. Others might prefer to keep their money or spend it on something I wouldn't dream of spending it on but it's not for me to question their choice. On the other hand, if the tickets were thousands of dollars each, then..... It's easy to talk but everything is relative.

"So ya have to be a Socialist to think the tix are horribly expensive?"

No, but it is utopian to think you are "entitled to" or the Stones "owe you" tickets below fair market value. Supply and demand establish fair market price, particularly on resale sites and outside the venue. Individuals determine how much they are willing to pay for guaranteed seats in advance and the convenience of not dealing with resellers.

Steven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "So ya have to be a Socialist to think the tix are
> horribly expensive?"
>
> No, but it is utopian to think you are "entitled
> to" or the Stones "owe you" tickets below fair
> market value. Supply and demand establish fair
> market price, particularly on resale sites and
> outside the venue. Individuals determine how much
> they are willing to pay for guaranteed seats in
> advance and the convenience of not dealing with
> resellers.


Steven,

You know probably better than I , that the supply and demand theory just do not
resist against any impairment test. It never has and never will. Joan Robinson has shown that decades ago and more recently Paul R. Krugman. I don't know what is a fair value price in Art. But are we in that era. Legacy, legacy. We should agree that it is the most important thing we wish for The Stones. It is frustating to have the Greatest Rock Band in the world turn his back to young audiences. Just to be remembered for some times on. A Reference. It's hard to hear from a young people that they just cannot afford a ticket.

Steven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "So ya have to be a Socialist to think the tix are
> horribly expensive?"
>
> No, but it is utopian to think you are "entitled
> to" or the Stones "owe you" tickets below fair
> market value. Supply and demand establish fair
etc etc etc

Still its unfair to both new and old fans to drain
off their - in sweat and blood - earned money.
No slogans or clichés or brain-washed economic "rules"
can change that.
There is always a Human side to it.

Latest update- ordered my Madonna tix. Will cost me just under $800 for two tickets including all charges.

Throw in dinner and drinks and it will cost me about $1000. Sounds expensive but it keeps my wife happy and allows me to rationalize spending $10,000 plus following the Stones around this year.


Have a nice weekend everyone.