![]() ![]() ![]() The same pattern has held for recorded music. In his fascinating book Rockonomics, the late US economics professor Alan Krueger – a former adviser to president Obama – estimates that in the US the top 1 per cent of performers took 26 per cent of concert revenue in 1982 and around 60 per cent by 2017. Digital media swept away a large part of these earnings and while streaming services have restored some income to artists, live shows are now vital for their income.Īnd the top performers get most of the cash. In the pre-digital era, big performers toured largely to promote their records. It is a sign of both how the music industry has changed and how, in many sectors, a small number of superstar performers get a vast amount of the total revenue, leaving the majority with much more modest returns. It is a complex process which has the effect of getting fans who are prepared to – and can afford to – to pay up early on to be sure of getting a ticket. Irish fans complain about the prices and the process of getting hold of tickets, via an opaque round of presales and general sales which can offer the choice of buying more expensive tickets now or hoping to get cheaper ones in a later round. This spreads beyond local hotels, restaurants and bars to every conceivable type of merchandise sale – cocktails, doughnuts, braids – transport companies and so on. Taylor Swift, in particular, is so big that the Wall Street Journal reported on “Taylornomics” the economic boost in US cities where her Era tour concerts are taking place. The high price and general shortage of tickets for Taylor Swift and Coldplay concerts in Dublin next year are clear proof of one thing: the increasing market power of a small number of really big performers. ![]()
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