why are we paying much more?

alienhead

i'm sure this topic has come up alot in the past.

if you compare ticket prices here to ticket prices in the uk, and europe, they're much higher.

one example, i just seen tickets for a certain band i'd like to see, €46 here, and €28 in the uk...............

has this ever been explained?

or is it just a case of that's the way it is?

garthv

Theres more of a market in the UK
They have much bigger venues so therefore can afford to charge lower prices,
Our biggest venue is The Point( or was should I say) and that had a capacity of 7,500. With a total of 5 million people in Ireland compared to 50 million in the UK there is a lot more competition so they can afford to charge less.

alienhead

GaRtH_V wrote:

Theres more of a market in the UK
They have much bigger venues so therefore can afford to charge lower prices,
Our biggest venue is The Point( or was should I say) and that had a capacity of 7,500. With a total of 5 million people in Ireland compared to 50 million in the UK there is a lot more competition so they can afford to charge less.

if you're talking about a huge concert, i can see your point.

but not for venues that are similar sizes to ours.

take the same band i was refering to in my first post.

they're playing belfast, tickets are, €18, compared to €45 in dublin.

the capcity in belfast is 2235, doesn't give the capcity of the venue in dublin, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, do you know the capcity of this venue?

going by your logic, the capcity should be around 894

ferdi

people are willing to pay that much, so thats why they charge that much. end of.

projectmayhem

i would imagine the cost of insuring an event in this country has a lot to do with it too

indiewindy

They charge it, because we keep on paying these overinflated prices, like the op i looked at gig prices in England and for certain banned events they are €20 cheaper over there and still havent sold out, its the same with festivals, you can get flights accomm and tickets for most Euro festivals for less than the price of a ticket here.

Toast

To a certain extant you are correct but perhaps not for the reasons you think.

Alot of smaller bands are brought over here at a loss in order to build working relationships up with them. When a promoter brings over a larger band they KNOW will have a high demand they often recoup their losses on the smaller bands by pumping up the price to a level the market is willing to pay.

Similarly alot of bands that have both festival and gig appearances under the same promoter are booked for both at the same time and the price of the gig increased to cover some of the price of the festival appearance.

If it really worries you that much see alot of smaller bands and stick to festivals as they are the things that are being subsidised by higher prices elsewhere.

honru

I just took a random look at some bands on tour to see what I'd come up with:

Nightwish in London is roughly €25, Belfast is about €28.50, Dublin is €36. Amsterdam was €35 but I presume they have a larger following there.

Wilco in Brussels is aboot €27, London is €35.80, Dublin is €40.20.

Kanye West in Amsterdam is €37.50, London/Belfast are around €46.50, Dublin is coming in steep at €59.80.

I do recall there being a gig or two that was cheaper than what was being charged in the UK/Europe but I can't remember the band.

voidoid

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

I do recall there being a gig or two that was cheaper than what was being charged in the UK/Europe but I can't remember the band.

Animal Collective is marginally cheaper. €20 in Dublin, €25 in London. Very very rare though.

I think there's a point to smaller venue (and audience) sizes, higher insurance costs, recouping other losses and most of all people just paying anyway.

End of the day it comes down to what the customer will pay and to be honest if we weren't paying the higher prices. I think you'd notice far less established acts coming by this way. For a city with a population of only over a million we have an outrageous amount of international talent playing here.

Jonny Arson

i always compare prices between here and Britain and it's during the past 18 months i've noticed the price gap growing dramatically

maybe 2-3 years ago on average it would be €5 more expensive to see a €40 gig here than in Britain but now that seems to me to be hitting closer to €15, up to €20

obviously the government chucking 13% VAT onto ticket prices has increased prices and the gap between here and Britain but IMO since this came into effect Irish promoters have used this to ramp up their prices in further

simply we are being ripped off
but
too many of us are happy with being ripped off or are just plain ignorant and living off their credit cards

i think i'm one of the minority within the past 12 months who has cut down on going to gigs because of prices and it does piss me off that more people haven't done likewise

if the promoters feel they can rip people off, they will and they are because the industry is still booming and tickets are still selling at an incredible pace. it's the attitude of the majority of gig going consumers that is the main contributor to this problem, until Irish consumers say enough is enough the price gap between here and Britain/Europe will only continue to increase

machiavellianme

Jonny Arson wrote: »

i think i'm one of the minority within the past 12 months who has cut down on going to gigs because of prices and it does piss me off that more people haven't done likewise

I've done similar. I used to go to at least one gig every week. This year I've gone to one gig and even that was relatively small (NoMeansNo in Whelans) and I dont intend to go to any more until this trend reverses. If it doesnt, so be it, but I remember days where it was between £11 - £18 to see the likes of ACDC, Therapy? TOOL or Metallica. In fact up to around 1998, seeing a bands gig was usually around the same price as their CD album unless it was a festival or something like that.

PiE

A band hires a van to tour the UK, plays maybe 8-10 dates. Costs recouped over the 10 dates; lower ticket prices.

A band hires a van to tour Ireland, extra travel expenses, plays what... 3-4 dates max? Sometimes just the one. Costs have to be recouped quicker; higher ticket prices.

Also M*D/Aiken/Ticketmaster are bastards yada yada.

indiewindy

Most bands who come over only play one show now, u;mack always charge reasonable prices for their gigs the rest are just profiteering.

honru

Jim Carroll's touchs on this subject over on his blog:

http://www.ireland.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/10/31/anyone-buying-or-selling-a-ticket/

I must say, the M.I.A. gig at Phoenix Park at €45? That's worryingly expensive.

indiewindy

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

Jim Carroll's touchs on this subject over on his blog:

http://www.ireland.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/10/31/anyone-buying-or-selling-a-ticket/

I must say, the M.I.A. gig at Phoenix Park at €45? That's worryingly expensive.

Thats a joke of a price, can't see more than a thousand going to see her at that price. She can't be popular enough here to be playing a venue of that size

honru

It's pretty weird. She's playing tiny (well, much much smaller) venues on the same tour in the UK.

It'll probably be moved to the Tripod.

Bren_M.Records

Being an island nation, and one run by crooks the prices for most things tend to be higher.
That said in terms of big acts coming over we are certainly getting ripped off here.
But as others have said as long as people are willing to pay the prices then the promoters will continue to charge them.
In part it is actually down to the Irish mentality, we are so used to getting screwed at this stage that we dont even bother to question it any more and instead just pony up and go and have the craic.
Which in one way is actually a good thing and says alot about the positive attitude to "living" that the Irish have.
But as I said it does also tend to mean we get ripped off alot.

In terms of local, ie. Irish bands I dont think its as much of a rip off for the punter as the prices generally arent to outrageus
Just speaking from my own limited knowledge I can tell you that its very expensive to do gigs in Ireland
If your giging regularly your more than likely going to end up buying a van.
To buy a van and insure it in Ireland is very very expensive.
Then maybe you have to pay for a driver for the day.
Factor in petrol.
Then maybe some of the the lads in the band have to take the day off work for the gig or they are on the dole and dont have any money to begin with.
On top of this factor in maybe the band have just put out a record which will have cost them thousands and they wont see a red cent from it for at least 6months till the get the first sales cheque (assuming the feckin thing is selling).
As you can see It all adds up!

honru

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/event/18003F50D13D3B2D?artistid=959267&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=3

The M.I.A show that was due to take place in the Phoenix Park Marquee on 7 December has been cancelled. Customers who purchased tickets from an outlet can obtain a refund by returning their tickets to the point of purchase. For customers who purchased their tickets via phone or Internet, refunds will be issued to your credit card and should appear within the next three to five working days.

No explanation given, but it's a no-brainer really.

Bubs101

1 City?

honru

|Cookies wrote: »

its "her" fault, the marquee is big, while her other venues where pritty small?

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