The Global View Of America's Obamanation
“Watching the inauguration... took me back to being a kid in the ’60s,” moderator Michael Chugg of Chugg Entertainment said. He said there was a feeling of optimism and excitement with Obama’s election, “just as when it was with Kennedy in the ’60s.” The Agency Group UK’s Neil Warnock said that he thought Obama had thrown down a challenge “and what we’ll have to do is meet that challenge [and] make that happen.” “Obama put a vitality through the world in my opinion,” Warnock said. “There was an apathy through the world because of Bush. Obama put a spark through. What we have to do is be smart, be clever and reflect on the vitality and use it before it becomes tired.” Austrian Entertainment’s Richard Hoermann put a new spin on Obama’s message of hope, with a call for action. “In Europe we don’t want you to say, ‘Yes we can,’ – we want you to say ‘Yes, we do,’” Hoermann said. Vito Iaia of Ticketmaster Entertainment had a different take on the matter. “How Obama directly affects the industry? In my opinion, not much,” Iaia said. “Bush didn’t do well for the international opinion of the U.S. But he didn’t really affect the international opinion of U.S. bands.”
“We all have to realize there’s only so much money in the market. Even though Obama will put a positive influence on everything, people only have so much money in their pocket,” Hoppe said. The discussion turned to – what else? – the economic crisis and its effect on ticket sales. Phil Bowdery of Live Nation U.K. said that in his experience it’s the mid-priced ticket that’s being affected, with fans buying the highest- price ticket and the lowest-price ticket. He also warned that “it is those mid-range acts that are really going to suffer” because people think they’ll have the chance to see them later, opting instead to buy tickets to see the big acts. Chugg pointed out one positive aspect of the economic crisis. “It’s funny – in hard times agents and managers start to talk to each other” and work together. “If the dollar and pound get back to the top, we’ll all start to kill each other again.” Iaia brought up one difference be-tween how the concert industry con-ducts business in the U.S. compared with Europe. “Seems to be a lot of market-based discussions in Europe. You see they really, really focus on the long-term experience for the fan,” Iaia said. “In the U.S. they think, how can we sell out the house? I’m seeing those views become closer.” Chugg echoed his thoughts and said, “I’ve found U.S. agents always go for the money and don’t care after that. European agents are more career-minded.” Iaia asked his fellow panelists their thoughts on secondary ticketing. He commented that four to five years ago, to mention secondary ticketing in Europe was blasphemy – and that it’s still a hot-button issue and a touchy subject in the U.K.
Bowdery said he is OK with secondary ticketing as long as the profits are coming back to the industry. “I’m a great believer in supply and demand. My problem is when it disappears out of the pot,” Bowdery said. Money “needs to come back to the artist and us. We’re putting our balls on the line. If there’s a demand and people want to buy it, let them buy it, as long as money is coming back to the pot.” As the session came to a close, Iaia brought up a silver lining to the economic crisis. “It’s going to force us to be more scientific in the pricing of tickets, routing of tours. I think we’re going to come out of this smarter and far more efficient as an industry,” Iaia said. Hoppe had another idea. “I have the solution to all of our problems – send Obama on tour. He would sell out everywhere!” Bowdery added, “Or tell President Obama to bail out the music industry!” - Reported by Sarah Marie Pittman, Pollstar |
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