Summer Is Cold For Live Nation

Poor Ticket Sales

LIVE NATION is entering the summer concert season on a downward slide, reports THE NEW YORK POST. "Widespread reports of a poor summer concert season -- including high-profile cancellations, poor ticket sales and the move by the company to drop its $13 per ticket service fee -- have hit the company's shares hard." Things on WALL STREET haven't been kind, either. "Since APRIL 1st, LIVE NATION shares have fallen 16% compared to a 5% decline in the S&P.

Among the concert cancellations are SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, U2, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, THE EAGLES, RIHANNA, JOHN MAYER, THE GO-GO'S and JORDIN SPARKS.

Ticket prices are pointed to as being the main issue in this poor economy, with the average concert ticket price hitting $69 in the first quarter.

POLLSTAR Editor-In-Chief GARY BONGIOVANNI said, "Everybody recognizes there is a problem. The biggest problem is that everybody [artists and promoters] makes their prices individually."

Industry blogger BOB LEFSETZ, wrote that as many as 200 shows have been cancelled, although a LIVE NATION spokesperson disagreed with that figure, saying "the percentage of canceled shows is comparable to prior years."

EMI CEO ROGER FAXON told THE POST the slump was likely cyclical. "There are years when there's a lot of major artists touring and a lot of demand and there are years when it's not that much. We're probably in that."

[What's the concert scene look like in your market? Are your listeners complaining about the cost of attending shows? Please share your thoughts below.]

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