I'm definitely not the first to raise this, but it shits the hell out of me,
so I'm gonna rant about how small local shows mostly being ticketed is
bullshit.
We all know that since 2021, a lot of shows in a licensed venue, even small ones (say 100
max. capacity), are ticketed through a very large external company. Given
pandemic restrictions at the time, it's easy to see why tickets were
implemented as a simple and effective way of making sure capacity restrictions
were met at any kind of event, including shows. But fast forward 3 years and
it's now the norm. A lot of people going to shows don't seem to see a problem
with it - of course, without thinking about it beyond the consumer's
perspective, it seems like a good idea. You don't need to get there early to
make sure you don't miss out. You secure your spot ahead of time. All good,
right? Nope. Here are a few reasons why.
1) Do massive ticketing companies need to be making money off grind, punk and small time
metal shows? FUCK NO. Any money made should stay local and in the pockets of
the people and businesses that are needed for stuff like this to happen. This should be bleedingly obvious to anyone.
2) It takes WEEKS at minimum to get paid as the money has to go through these companies, then to the venue, through their books, then eventually to the bands. Sometimes months, even. How the hell are touring bands and people trying to make a living off performing supposed to deal with this?! No one sees any money at the end of the night anymore, ever. It's by far the worst part about all of this. It's not so bad for chumps like me that have secure jobs and do bands strictly as a hobby, but it's fucked for actual artists, who have it bad enough already.*
3) It unnecessarily inflates ticket prices. Shit is expensive as hell across
the board, a lot more than it was in 2019. Tickets make shows more expensive to
get into because venues have to up the ticket price to cover the booking fee.
What was $15 to get into a few years back is now more like $20 (yeah, inflation
and other costs going up) and with the booking fee, a few bucks on top of that,
so more like around $23-24. That's a big increase. With the cost of living so
high, seeing some drongos from around town blast some shit out on a stage
shouldn't be something else to have to budget for. And if you want a few
drinks, yeah, fuck that, way too much (not a new problem). Shitty vodka and records at home it is.
4) All this worked just fine without tickets in 2019. Very few shows with just
local bands (and with interstate bands, even bigger ones) were ticketed then. It just didn't happen, and
no one was asking for it to happen. Why are we still doing it? Venues might use
it for collecting data on who/what sells and which bands to put on, but bookers
did this anyway without tickets. A good booker knows which bands to get, plain
and simple. Why is it so necessary now? There are some venues still doing
cash/pay at the door only shows, and bloody good on them for it. Support them
wherever possible.
Thing is, I dunno if the genie can be put back in the bottle now. Venues don't
seem to be budging on it. What do they really have to lose? More should do the
right thing and just ditch the tickets, and punters shouldn't bitch about how
convenient it is when they're copping it in the wallet too, all for the benefit
of huge ticketing companies that don't know or care about anyone's Thursday
night grind, punk or metal show. Keep the money where it belongs, I say.
*updated shortly after posting as others reminded me that I'd forgot to include that no-one sees any fucking money at the end of the night anymore. I've not been paid on the night for a show I've played and/or organised since March 2020.
