Hey DJs, Get Over Yourselves and Stop Exploiting Your Fans This past Saturday, world renowned DJ Paul Van Dyk played the main room at Club Space in downtown Miami. This was not a particularly unusual occasion as Van Dyk makes it down here about once a quarter. But having not gone to see this particularly DJ in some time, I was largely unaware that he was now demanding ticket prices on par with U2. Admission for this Saturday’s show was $60 in advance. I’m not sure what the markup to buy at the door was, but if it was the usual $10 as most of these shows are, you’re looking at a solid seventy smackers to go see a guy spin records.  Not that Paul Van Dyk isn’t an extremely talented individual. Or that he doesn’t put on a show that is superior to most DJs you’ll see. But a year ago the same show at the same venue cost $30. I have seen Paul Van Dyk probably six or seven times over the years, most of them back in the Ecstasy heyday of the early 2000s. Back then, you typically paid maybe five dollars more than the usual Space cover of $20 to go see him, often less if you were in line early. And if you were lucky enough to have some Space passes lying around, you could get in for free before midnight. Simply put, going to see talented DJs was a fairly economical form of live music.  Flash forward to 2009, and you have tickets to Ultra, which cost less than $40 a few years ago, now charging an “early bird†rate of about $200, including its “handling charge.†This is more than VIP tickets cost in 2006 – the last time I shelled out that much for this kind of thing. Tiesto, another of the world’s top record-spinners, played LIV at the Fontainebleau a couple of months ago and tickets STARTED at $125. If there’s no open bar included in the price, Tiesto had better be coming out in the audience and personally thanking every person who showed up and paid that insane figure. Either that or laugh at them for shelling out that kind of cash during the worst economy in decades. IT DOESN’T COST THAT MUCH TO SET UP A LAPTOP AND SOME LIGHTS  Some may argue that these are the top guys in their genre, so they rate that kind of admittance fee. Taking a quick look at Ticketmaster.com, I discover that I can get in to see U2 for $30, KISS for under $20, Taylor Swift for all of $36 and Tony Bennett for $50. Yes, these are the cheaper tickets and you may need binoculars to see the artists, but they are not demanding triple-digits for the right to share oxygen with them for an evening. And even then, how much does it cost Tiesto to take his show on the road? It’s some sound equipment, a computer, a few records and turntables. AC/DC brings a fucking TRAIN on stage, and even they were charging $25 than he was. I suppose if you are really into that kind of music, you’ll be willing to pay the going rate. And the beautiful thing about capitalism is you can always charge whatever the market will bear – even when the market it made up of idiots. But really, is it a bad sign that the only thing that’s doubled in price in the last year is the cost of going to see Paul Van Dyk? It’s a recession, guys. Have some sympathy for your fans.
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5 Comments on"Hey DJs, Get Over Yourselves and Stop Exploiting Your Fans"
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pod says:
PvD didn’t cost $30 at Space a year ago. It was around $50-$60. He hasn’t gone for $30 in a dog’s age.
That being said, you’re echoing the same complaint people on my site have been going off for for years.
OK, for full disclosure, the parent company for my site does provide interactive development services for Tiësto. With that being said, it does give me some insight into what drives up the cost of a ticket.
- Classic supply and demand. If you can book any big DJ and charge an arm and a leg for it, I don’t see an issue with it. No one is forcing you to attend the show.
- In the case of Tiësto, you’re actually paying for something akin to a concert. There’s extra sound, lighting, video and LED screens to install for the event. Lots of labor, often at union rates. That being said, if you’re paying top dollar for some guy to play records in a dark room, you’re getting ripped off.
From the perspective of someone who just did 50+ shows with the guy, a Tiësto show is more than “sound equipment, a computer, a few records and turntables.” The rider is as extensive as any rock band rider I’ve ever seen.
Of course local market variances did take effect. You could pick up early presales for a Tiësto show in some markets for $30. And you got the full experience.
Miami being what it is, of course it was more expensive. A top DJ at the “new, hip” club, it’s gonna cost. Even without a DJ, LIV doesn’t want to talk to you unless you’re buying a table. A night at LIV is a few hundred, easy.
Pop over to my neck of the woods and you can see innumerable threads on the subject at hand, if you have a few hours to spare.
Posted on 12/02/2009 at 6:11 PM