[parpfish]

In the music space, piracy won.

After Napster, there was no going back from giving people immediate unlimited access to everything.

Streamers like Spotify learned that there’s a price point that is low enough for people to “round down” and forget it’s on their monthly credit card statement, but high enough that major label execs are happy. The trick is ignoring what the artists want.

[eucyclos]

Bandcamp does ok without ignoring what the artists want. I think the biggest issue with buying directly from the musician isn't the price but the friction of purchasing online

[gsinclair]

And the friction of storing stuff. I want to listen to music, not manage a collection.

[zahlman]

Takes all kinds, I guess. If I don't have it permanently (or at least non-transiently) recorded on physical media that resides within my living space, I can't feel like I "own" it.

[k12sosse]

Jokes on us, after all has settled. Have you tried to buy a ticket to live music lately? It was $750 for a good seat in more than 1 occasion this past year, and that is first market tickets from the venue, not a traditionally 'scalped' ticket.

These two equations are tied together. Before, the lucky artists were front-loaded their buckets of cash from the labels. But now the royalty cheques are measured in pennies and the live music enjoyers seem to be the equalization payments.

[femto]

$5 at the local Blues Jam Session. Some of the music is good.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/berowramonthlyjam/

$30 or "free" at Miss Celie's. If free, patrons are asked to buy a couple of drinks from the bar.

https://misscelies.com.au/

An import playing a stadium is eye-watering, but why bother?

[cortesoft]

Artists aren’t charging more for concerts because they are making less money on album sales. Concert tickets are priced based on supply and demand. If they could have been charging $750 back then, they would have, no matter how much they were making on album sales.

I do think you might be right, though, that there is a causal relationship between diminished album revenue and more expensive tickets, it just isn’t because the artists need the money. Since most people can now listen to all the music they want for a flat fee, music lovers can now spend more of their hobby money on concert tickets, which increases price very directly since supply is limited.

[thaumasiotes]

> Jokes on us, after all has settled. Have you tried to buy a ticket to live music lately? It was $750 for a good seat in more than 1 occasion this past year, and that is first market tickets from the venue, not a traditionally 'scalped' ticket.

> These two equations are tied together.

Not in the way you're trying to imply. No matter how rich performers already were in the past, they had no way to make tickets to their performances cheap, even if they wanted to. Cheap seats in the past reflect lack of demand. Expensive seats now reflect increased popularity.

[jamboca]

jesus go to a basement it's like $15 at most and you can meet actual artists

[parpfish]

Most of the people that complain about ticket prices are going to ticketmaster venues to see elaborate productions built by the biggest artists in the world.

When I tell people that I used to go to at least one show every week on my grad student stipend they are very confused. It’s because I was seeing music by local bands or up-and-coming acts that would charge $10 in the back of a dive bar. Those types of shows aren’t $10 any more, but they are still cheap. And those are the artists that are in the most need of your financial support with tickets and merch. Once an artist is big enough to book an arena… they ain’t struggling

[atomicnumber3]

Lots of local metal shows are in the $15 range, so not too far off

[defrost]

Growing up the Pub Rock scene was pretty eclectic and cost less than buying a round for your friends.

The Old Greek Theatre staged some high Art at times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxoODPQ4CTM

[TiredOfLife]

The artists wanted to sign with labels.