Sorry if I sound dumb in asking this but do you guys have a lot of say in the prices of tickets & merch?
If you do I want to say thank you for keeping the prices down and reasonable. I know some people think they are still too high but compared to other artists they aren't. My husband & I just saw you at The Music Factory in Charlotte. We bought 2 tickets for the price of one ticket to the same venue for another artist there the month before. I've been a fan of this other artist for many, many years so I paid the super high price to see him but wasn't happy about it. I didn't buy any of his merch because it was just too darn expensive.
We brought home two of your shirts because the prices were so reasonable. When we got home I even bought a hoodie and a DVD because the prices are so good.
This was our first show and believe me we will be to as many shows in the future as we can make. We are already making plans for road trips to see you guys. You are just that awesome! We were lucky enough to meet you all after the show and can't get over how great you all are. Thank you for thinking of the fans! We all appreciate you and thank you for doing what you do!!!
PS Barry if you see this I'm the short one who was so thrilled to get to watch you play.
Posts: 15 | Location: NC | Registered: October 25, 2009
If I had to guess I would say they don't have a say only because at some concerts we have seen crazy $35 for a tshirt and as low as $20 for other shows. I, too, thank you guys for generally reasonable merch prices AND ticket prices. We have seen 8 shows so far this year and have been lucky to see a few more only because of reasonable tix prices. I definitely do not feel gouged!
I know that at some shows, when they're playing with huge bands, the merch costs more than normal because they're not allowed to sell below the headliner. If the headliner has $35 shirts and $75 hoodies, all of the bands have to sell for the same price. I think it's incredibly stupid, but looking at it from the headliner's perspective, I guess it makes sense. If your opening band's selling their shirts for $20 and the headliner's are $35, the opener's probably going to sell more. Also, if a fan is debating on which shirt to get (headliner or opener), if the shirts are different prices, they're more likely to buy the cheaper one.
This seems to be what happens for a lot of tours. I've had several bands tell me that they're not hug fans of this practice, but there's not much that can be done about it. That's why the stuff is more at some shows than others.
