Montgomery County wants concert promoter Live Nation to rock downtown Silver Spring 70 nights a year. No problem, says the company’s local guy in charge.
“It’s my anticipation to book as many nights as possible,” Ted Mankin, Live Nation’s Washington-area vice president, recently told local bloggers. In fact, he said it was a matter of survival.
“If I booked only 70 gigs a year, I’d be out of business,” he said over hummus dip at The Quarry House in late March.
According to the 30-year industry vet, profitability in the concert-promotion business depends on volume — and not the kind that ruptures eardrums. “You have to draw a steady volume of people,” Mankin explained.
For example, a well-known act would have no problem drawing crowds to the future Colesville Road venue. And it’s the big-name performer — not the concert promoter — who dictates the ticket price, Mankin said.
At Virginia’s Birchmere nightclub, prog rockers Asia and the folk duo America are hitting up fans for $60 per ticket. And at The District’s 9:30 Club, post-punksters Joe Jackson and Crowded House are asking for $40 and $45, respectively, per ticket. Meanwhile, at Live Nation’s Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore, a James Brown tribute featuring Bootsy Collins and Public Enemy’s Chuck D is going for $40 to $45 per ticket.
At those prices, a venue would have no problem turning a buck, Mankin explained.
But local and lesser-known artists draw smaller crowds and can’t demand big money from their audiences or concert promoters, Mankin added. Translation: smaller revenues to cover the same overhead costs.
“If Sara Bareilles was to come through, I couldn’t ask for more than $10 a ticket,” he said.
That’s where volume comes in. Venues will add performances during slow months to cover existing expenses, even if that means closing the balcony section or hosting a DJ night, Mankin explained.
“You can’t base [profitability] on ticket prices,” he said. “We’re going to have to be aggressive to make it work.”
August 21, 2008
22 Comments at "Music is a volume business, Live Nation VP says"
I’ve actually been listening to Sara Bareilles on my Zune - she’s surprisingly talented. It’d be good to get her in town.
Bareilles is playing the 9:30 Club in the immediate future, but it’s a sold-out gig.
I’d love to see Ghostland Observatory in Silver Spring.
The Austin, TX-based duo recently played the 9:30 Club. But the band’s smoke machine belched so much fog that I couldn’t see a damned thing (literally). The sound was also a little too loud for my eardrums. Not sure if that’s a club-specific thing, or if I should blame the band.
Mr Mankin, bring Ghostland Observatory to Silver Spring!
Quote from article: “But local and lesser-known artists draw smaller crowds and can’t demand big money from their audiences or concert promoters, Mankin added. Translation: smaller revenues to cover the same overhead costs.
‘If Sara Bareilles was to come through, I couldn’t ask for more than $10 a ticket,’ he said.”
Which is exactly why we need a Black Cat sized venue in DTSS. It would be great if a club entrepreneur found some property suitable for live music but on a smaller scale with crowd capacity reaching 500 tops. The property can be on the fringe of DTSS (maybe south Silver Spring). Real estate in the Colesville/Ellsworth side of town is too expensive for local business investors. A smaller venue with less overhead cost will allow the owner to charge $10 or $15 per ticket for artist performances.
I have to hike to the Black Cat, Rock & Roll Hotel and Grog & Tankard in DC to view local artists. I always hit Iota and Galaxy Hut in the mega-trendy area of Arlington, VA for access to local talent as well. However, you won’t find anything in Montgomery County, MD and this is a crying shame.
Yeah, Live Nation might bring in cool alternative acts but I am not holding my breath. Long after Live Nation opens The Fillmore on Colesville Road, I will still be hauling my ass to DC and Virginia to see the kind of music that I enjoy.
Jennifer.. I congratulate you on the simple fact that the Washington Area VP of live nation sat down with a bunch of bloggers at the quarry house. Clear evidence that folks are taking note of how much community reporting is impacting public opinion. I think this site’s been particularly to our area in that regard… so congrats!
That said.. I think Clear Channel is like every other mega-business out there - most interested in profits. And in the end, they will do what’s in the best interest of those profits… I just hope that *mostly* lines up with what’s inthe best interest of DTSS…. we shall see.
Thanks for your thoughts, Paul. You said:
I think that goes for any business. Admittedly, small businesses have to think more about solvency. But I’m sure most aspire for profitability. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If a club has to leave the lights on longer to turn a profit, other businesses (namely restaurants) might benefit.
Of course, the increased activity will have a ripple effect on residents’ quality of life, for better or for worse. How much change residents are willing to tolerate will be up to them.
To YuppieHater: I agree that a smaller venue, perhaps in the Ripley District or in South Silver Spring, would be the shit. I propose the condemned pawn shop on the west side of Georgia at Ripley Street.
Can anyone say “rave”?
DMZ: seriously, a Zune?
I thought we established that Live Nation is not owned by Clear Channel, and Clear Channel has no hold over anything Live Nation does. Anybody?
If you’re going to give “The Man is bringing me down” speech, you might want to get the right “Man.”
BTW, here’s some video shot at Tuesday night’s public meeting with Mankin. Videography by Ron Pace for The Penguin.
Thayer Avenue: Yes, they were spun off in 2005 to avoid massive regulatory disaster that even their executives contributions to Bush’s last 2 campaigns couldn’t get them out of. But yet, the founder, CEO and CFO of Clear Channel (i.e. Lowry Mays and his sons) ALL sit on the board of Live nation. The board also includes Connie McCombs, the daughter of BJ McCombs, who is *gasp* cofounder and board member of Clear Channel. Live Nation’s current CEO and CFO both came from Clear Channel, and that’s only the connections you can make without digging any deeper than the Yahoo finance pages.
Pardon me if I fail to make a distinction between these two CLEARLY seperated companies.
I think Tool said it best in their song Hooker With A Penis (can I say that?), on the Anemia CD. It’s all about a guy wearing Vans 501″s, Beastie Boys T, drinking coke, and accusing them of selling out.
Well now I’ve got some advice for you little buddy.
Before you point your finger you should know that I’m the man.
And if I’m the man,
Then your the man,
And he’s the man as well,
So you can point your f***in finger up your a**.
All you know about me is what I’ve sold you,
I sold out before you ever even knew my name,
I sold my soul to make this record,
And you bought one!
Most of the acts at the 9:30 club are doing better than me, and I can’t hold it against them. The Rolling Stones, well past their prime, still put on a good show, because they love what they do and it shows. They make more in a month than many of us will ever see in a lifetime, and it;s not for the money, but the fact that Keith & Mick love to entertain.
I end by saying that if coperations are so evil, and everyone here against Live Nations is that socially conscious, then Lee wouldn’t have had to pay homeless people to fill out his protest.
*GASP* You mean people from Clear Channel sit on the board of Live Nation? Oh no! Call the cops! Corporate America is taking over Silver Spring!
Who frakkin’ cares? The board also has Harvey Weinstein and Ariel Emanuel (on the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute and is active in P.S. Arts, an industry supported non-profit agency working to bring arts education to public school students). I think we’ll be just fine.
Editor’s note: Frakkin’? Really?!? Oy vey. — JD (Apr 10, 2008)
To paraphrase the Republicans, Silver Spring is a big tent. We’re all in it and we all like some of it.
Selling out is relative. Honestly, my biggest disappointment in this whole business is how quickly people who seem otherwise reasonable will cave when it increases convenience for them. I bet you LN defenders like KFC’s failure bowls.
I hope LN at least comps the bloggers a few tickets.
Colesville Rd. between Wayne Avenue and Spring Street really ought to be a mini-entertainment district — sort of like 18th Street, but with some way of keeping the obnoxiousness to a minimum. If the Fillmore can pave the way for more and different venues (can we hope for a jazz club?), then it will have done a great thing.
Question: how do we rid ourselves of that ridiculous T-Mobile store wasting the prime real estate at the corner Colesville and Fenton?
Further question: will Fashions at Time ever disappear — say, at one of those times when it’s not in fashion?
Don’t get fooled by the man.
I had to look up what a ‘failure bowl’ was. I believe you intended to refer to a failure pile in a sadness bowl.
As far as what I consider ‘convenient’ is the place opening up before I frakkin’ die. That building laying empty for over twenty years is not acceptable. I just like to see things get done.
I work for a corporation that dwarfs Live Nation, so if I took a position against big businesses in general, I’d be a bit of a hypocrite.
I hope Live Nation comps the Bloggers a few tickets as well. And Chaz: if it’s a show I don’t care for, like Peter Paul & Mary or Captain & Tennille, I’ll be happy to sell you the tickets.
Jen: Yes. Frakkin’. :-)
Peter Paul & Mary are still alive? I remember hearing Puff the Magic Dragon on the radio when it came out, and my mother said that Rock & Roll was just a fad and that no one would remember it in 10 years. Just goes to show that you can’t trust your parents.
Indeed they are. And they don’t look like they’re getting any younger.
I thought they sucked back then, but do they look as bad as Keith Richards? The Stones haven’t put out a great album since Some Girls, but Keith still rocks. The best line I’ve heard about Richards is that Dr Kevorkian saw him and offered to finish the job for free.
I would never pay to see the Stones again though, as I saw them in San Fran back when they were still relevent. The oldest group on my must see list is Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Green Day came back with American Idiot & I’d pay to see them also. Number 1 on my list is Arcade Fire. After hearing their last album (2006) Neon Bible I’d call in sick for a week to see them. Google (Antichrist Tetevision Blues) if you don’t know them.
.sorry… be sure to watch the video from Cochailla, as the other one has crappy sound.
Holler back.