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    Opinion: It’s Time for Local Bands to Raise Show Prices

    Death To The $5 Cover

    Last week, my band played a showed with four great local bands. The stage had passion. The sound was warm. And the energy in the room was communal and real. We charged a $5 cover. And after nearly four hours of really great music, each band member left with $6.

So I did the math.

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    Bands: Don’t be mad at me for breaking the news. But even if you play 50 shows in a year, for more than 500 people each, and charge a $5 cover, you’ll be making well below a poverty level income. Most venues won’t offer you a guarantee if you’re only charging $5 for a ticket because your experience won’t be seen as valuable. And to make matters worse, trying to sell your $10 CD or $20 t-shirt when people just got the full live experience for $5? Well, that’s a tough ask.

    I looked at the model of a $5 cover on a local and national level. Want to tour on a $5 cover? You could Groupon a cruise to the Bahamas. Or, you could drive across the country for a couple of weeks, stay at hostels, and play 10 shows with your band. Both will cost you about the same if you’re charging a $5 cover.

 Check my math. Try your own numbers in the spreadsheet I’ve included. I think you’ll see why I’m calling for death to the $5 cover.

    But I’ll slow down for a second. Making music isn’t always about making money. But music certainly can make money. The music industry is a $16.5 billion industry. And that’s not just record labels and Justin Beiber who make that money. Actually, Barbara Streisand sells way more records than Beiber. And if you look at the changed industry, you’ll see that independent music accounts for over 50 percent of Pandora streams.

    Neilsen reports that 34.5 percent of the music business is now controlled by indie, which has a larger market share than signed. And OK, Les Wexner’s net worth is almost half the size of the global music industry. But if you would rather make a living from music instead of selling women’s underwear (you might want to consider this for a moment), I believe you can.

    But you need a plan. And that plan should start with removing every idea that led you to believe that a $5 ticket price will help you make a full-time living as a musician.

    I’m a musician, too. About five years ago I opened for 21 pilots at Skully’s for a $7 ticket price. Look at them now. It’s hard for us to think that people, friends, and followers would pay $10 or $15 for our live show. But this fear shouldn’t exist. We work hard to perfect our music. Let’s not let this fear get stuck in our music, and stop us from reaching our goals.

I launched an informal survey on social media a few days ago, and asked people if they would be willing to pay $10 for live music they actually enjoy. I found that 48 of 62 respondents said that they would. 14 people said they would not (and 10 of those 14 were musicians).

    “Why not, it’s cheaper than a movie ticket, more social, and more fun!” — Guy Jacks

    “Yes. Because it’s a relationship with the artist. There are certain people that I will go out of the way to see live, because I truly love their work and I’m proud of them.” — Evelyn Mars

    “Yes. But I still regularly hear people bitch about the $5 cover charge.” — J.D. Johnston

    I’m not looking for an argument. But let’s throw in some economics and say that the value of music is much lower than it used to be. Reasoning? Market saturation. Let’s say marginal utility is lower. After all, everyone can create music these days. But Don Pitts, the Music Commissioner of Austin once told me, “Really great music is always in high demand.” Austin is the live music capital of the world. They have a billion dollar live music scene that he helps facilitate. He shares his philosophy and research with many other cities around the US who have developed fearless, live music cultures, too. The more I think about it, the more I see his point.

    Live music is a unique experience. No band sounds the same. And there are only three ways your ears can experience music: headphones, speakers, or live performance. Without live music, your ears are only getting 66 percent of the value of music they could be enjoying.
 
Bob Breithaupt has another point to make. He is head of entertainment at Copious, which will include Notes, a new music venue that is opening this September.

    “When I moved to Columbus in 1977, cover charges were $5 dollars or less,” he said. “Almost 40 years later, we still see $5 covers. The ticket price gap between clubs and ‘legit’ concert venues continues to expand. Music venues may continue to charge small covers. Artists may be scared to ask for more. But to move the local music economy forward, revenues must increase so individual musicians can make more money.”

    So in the ‘70s, you could see a live show for $5. You could also get a candy bar for a dime. Now, you have to pay at least six times more for that candy bar. The overall experience of live music has improved with advances in stage and sound systems, but the price remains the same.

    I’m calling for death to the $5 cover. Let’s declare war on the poverty level standard that many great, local musicians have come to accept. And let’s work together to change it.

    Musicians, fire the first shots. Team up with other bands that have great music. Then, work together to improve your experience. Set the price tag for what you’re worth. Be consistent with a higher ticket price. Stick it out for a while. If we’re already making a poverty level wage from the $5 cover, what’s the worst that could happen?

    “I had a conversation about charging more money for our next show in front of another local musician,” said James Allison, frontman for local band Digisaurus. “He said, ‘Ew, don’t be one of those bands, that’s lame. I have to leave this conversation.’ Next week I got an e-mail from his band asking me to donate to their Kickstarter to fund their $7,000 album.”

    Venues: You’ve got to team up, too. Three smaller venues that have a high level experience could set a new standard for our city. Make a pact. Work together. You can put death to the $5 cover. Worst case scenario is, you lose some people who don’t love music that much. And then you attract more of the best kind of customers who truly take pride in local music.

    “Maybe this is me hoping that other people also see that music has value and artists need support,” said local musician Lucas Gladman. “For a $10 cover to work, people will have to see it this way. People will have to realize that the $10 cover will support the artist, that their cover for this show is actually an advance payment for the next one, otherwise the artists will not be able to continue making music.”

    Audiences: Band together and pay a little more for live music you actually enjoy. Pay knowing that a cheap experience was never the goal in the first place. Pay knowing that you’re surrounding yourself with people who share your convictions, passions, and love for music. Make friends. Build community. People like you do this. What’s the worst that could happen?

    “The experience is worth the money,” said Lee Blake. “Great, novel music that can lift you up, evoke emotion, and move you. There is just no substitute. I would pay $100 for live music I liked. I usually pay a $5 cover, and its worth it every time because their music moves me, gets me on my feet and let’s me forget, even for just a few moments, about all of life’s stressors. Simply put, good music is good for the soul and well worth the price.”

    Questions? Email: [email protected]

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    Joey Hendrickson
    Joey Hendricksonhttp://www.jazzartsgroup.org
    Joey Hendrickson is the Founder of Columbus Songwriters Association. As a marketing consultant, Joey has supported organizations, startups and major events including How To Build A Music City, a panel that will be presented by SXSW in 2016. His work has been featured in Billboard, Examiner, Music Canada, Music Dealers, Columbus CEO, Columbus Underground, and other publications. www.joeyhendrickson.com.
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