Interview with Green Day's VIP Coordinator Ben Packard

[luketrebilliemike]

It's how bands make money now that no one buys music 

[Todd]

On 7/28/2017 at 6:55 AM, LaughingClock said:

I mean do you guys really think that the kids that used to party with them are all, if barely any are still "punk".

 

 

A lot of them still are, they make up half my friends on facebook  

[Justin]

3 hours ago, LaughingClock said:

It's completely based on the sales of the first run tix and the charting. I remember Andres and I has a "discussion" about whether they could easily sell out a stadium.  Most bands can't. They will sell a lot more Rose Bowl tix come right before the show than you think but selling out stadiums are for the rarest of single bands. 

When bands can barely make money selling record or royalties anymore, it's hard to fault them for wanting to collect at the door and live show living isn't ALL glitz and glamour. It's hard and I think they are entitled to their fair market value. If they don't get it, the black market will. Why are they not entitled to what people want to pay to see them but the owner of Stubhub and Jiffy Tickets are???  

I don't really get the question you're asking me...., clearly since they are driving these shows ticket sales with the promo's they're doing they aren't pushing fair market prices...,

[LaughingClock]

10 hours ago, Justin said:

I don't really get the question you're asking me...., clearly since they are driving these shows ticket sales with the promo's they're doing they aren't pushing fair market prices...,

You're absolutely right, probably on the stadium shows. If you look back at those show announcements, although they were selling out the small run shows in minutes and seconds, there was some false hope that this would be as big as the AI tour and I knew, or thought it was simply because a lot of people didn't love the Trill, RevRad was good and it had been a lot of years because of the half ass Trill Tour that people were clamorning for the "practice run".

Here is a fact to think about. After rehab at the Pamona Fox show, that like 1800 person venue took days to sell out during the 99 Rev tour first leg and they use that info to extrapolate. ALL of the practice shows for RevRad sold out in minutes, some literally less than a minute. When I say sell out, I mean a SOLD OUT, not "singles available". They (the marketing team for Green Day) take that info and decide what the market is and use it and they are VERY good at what they do and I personally would rather Green Day get their fair market value then Stubhub and Jiffy Tickefs (the main site that has a million others small markets).

No matter what happens the equilibrium of the market will find itself whether that is in the black market or the evil Live Nation/Ticktet Master. 

If a ticket is worth $50 and sells on Ticketmaster  for $30, much of that $20 difference will go in the owners hands of corporations like Stubhub who have never wrote a lyric or played a note. The money will keep them touring and writing longer and they WILL get burned out and while they do love to play, they have played long enough before the advent of the internet which helped the black market greatly at discount costs for their fans but bands get tired of seeing other people making the money anyway.  Prince for example had quite expensive seats but he always had a large $20 only section and they watched the fuck out of it so that poorer people could go.

If you want to see how it should be done, go check out Louis CK. I happened to be looking at my email one day and I saw him announce an LA show at the Dolby and I saw it as it came in and I went directly to TM and bought the first two tickets and I literally split the front row with the two seats I bought and I pulled no strings. He just rolls like that. He doesn't give out to "VIP"s, has extraordinary prices and he has a team of people that monitor TM and if you exchange your tickets and can't explain why, your ticket will be put back on the market. If you get caught selling to a black market, you will be banned from buying Louis CK tickets for life.

Im not making any of that up. Go take a look. You get the warning when you buy the tickets and Stubhub won't even buy Louis CK tickets so if there is a model to be followed, it's his.

So I had literally the best seats in an 1900 person house with zero strings pulled and a rather cheap ticket and the show was fuckikg hysterical.

Frankly Green Day are not as personally technical as Louis and so they are left to their marketing team telling them what to do and not do and why and they are a team that are there to make as much money for the band as possible and "let's not kill our fans" might be the best they get from them (im not saying that as fact).

Have a read on CK.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/the-humane-audacity-of-louis-cks-ticketmaster-flouting-tour/259315/

In the end, I agree with you. Before everything, I am a fan first and I want ticket prices low too but as a middle aged man, I also understand it's easier for me but as someone that also understands what happens, I must speak my mind about it. All the best.