Sales are slow this year! WTF?

[chappiepunk]

I remember the last year they had the box office, it was chaos.

[mrtourette]

I always used to get my ticket that way, it was usually just people from Reading wandering down the night before. No problem. Then one year the world and his wife came down from everywhere trying to get a ticket and it went nuts.

[jump]

I reckon if tix sales are still slow in a months time they might start running loads of competitions to drive publicity.

[h1210]

I've just found a couple of confirmation e-mails from 04 and 05.

I bought my tickets on the 1st June in '05 (presumably when the lockup/concrete jungle stage was announced) so 2 weeks without selling out is hardly a catastrophe. What does make me a little more angry is that I got 2 weekend tickets for roughly the price of one of this years (£268.95 inc all fees).

[Joe-]

Still not sold out...

Strokes have put that they're at TITP too, guess this isn't gonna make Reading&Leeds look much better.

http://www.myspace.com/thestrokes/shows

[gooner1990]

I think most of the reasons why has been covered above.

IIRC the first year I went in 1999 didn't sell out..but has done ever since, and like someone elses said this trend of it selling out within hours only started happening in 2006 so it's not as if it's unusual for R&L to take some time to shift all the tickets.

Add in a recession, a lot of bands that have appeared at R&L or other major UK festivals in the last couple of years and it's a perfect recipe for it not to sell out straight away.

I'm sure it will sell out eventually, but it's no major disaster just because they don't within a matter of hours!

[Benj]

I'm not so sure if they will sell out

There must be loads swilling about on eBay and with the capacity increase along with the price increase, it may have naturally met it's maximum anyway

[saints15]

I think a lot of people will be waiting for Lock Up and the Dance Tent to be announced, before getting their tickets. I would be surprised if Reading doesn't sell out but I would like to think that tickets won't go up for next years as surely the cost has put a lot of people off

[BishSWFC]

Still not sold out...

Strokes have put that they're at TITP too, guess this isn't gonna make Reading&Leeds look much better.

http://www.myspace.com/thestrokes/shows

Edited April 14, 2011 by BishSWFC

[Matticus]

ive never got the notion of people getting angry about a band being slightly highter than they are elsewhere. Surely for the fans of that band, its better as they get a longer set? And if its the middle of the day main stage, it makes no difference between playing 3rd on or 5th on as they usually have the same set length anyways. Its just a symbol of status which is bulshit.

[JohnsonWHU]

I think that they've probably tried to save money this year, so that they can really pull out a good line up next year (isn't it an anniversary year or something?) plus with no glasto next year, sure there wont be any problems selling the tickets.

[Banana Co]

I think that they've probably tried to save money this year, so that they can really pull out a good line up next year (isn't it an anniversary year or something?) plus with no glasto next year, sure there wont be any problems selling the tickets.

[mrtourette]

ive never got the notion of people getting angry about a band being slightly highter than they are elsewhere. Surely for the fans of that band, its better as they get a longer set? And if its the middle of the day main stage, it makes no difference between playing 3rd on or 5th on as they usually have the same set length anyways. Its just a symbol of status which is bulshit.

Edited April 14, 2011 by mrtourette

[saints15]

Let's hope it sells out so they have the money to get some great bands next year.

[mrtourette]

It would be interesting to see if sales picked up when Muse made their set announcement and now the Glastonbury line-up is out with Pulp, The National and The Strokes. It seems Glastonbury has been identified as the main competition and targeted by FR as the festival to try and steal/keep bands away from and that they don't care whether R&L bands play T or Oxegen.

Since tickets have sold out before the dance/lock up announcement in previous years I wonder how much effect the announcement will really have on ticket sales snd whether it will just be day ticket sales.

[Matticus]

but R and L is essentially ran by the same company as Glasto? so thats makes no sense.

Glasto dont have a great deal of bands that also play reading because its 2 months before. The festival touring cycle a band usually does is Late May-Early July or Early July- Late Aug

[mrtourette]

I don't think they're run by the same company, FR helps out with certain aspects of Glastonbury but it's more to do with the infrastructure rather than the entertainment. There's still competition there, it's not as if FR lose money if R&L sells well and Glasto doesn't because FR would get a flat fee for the services they provide and Glasto is a non-profit organisation anyway. If Glasto struggles FR still get their money, if R&L struggles their money is affected.

I can't see the touring cycles explaining why Pulp are playing R&L and not Glasto, and The Strokes fit into both your cycles as they're playing T and Oxegen early July.

[Banana Co]

but R and L is essentially ran by the same company as Glasto? so thats makes no sense.

Glasto dont have a great deal of bands that also play reading because its 2 months before. The festival touring cycle a band usually does is Late May-Early July or Early July- Late Aug

[dirtymookie]

People think that they aren't getting value for money if they're paying for sub-headline bands to headline, and that's 'proved' by the fact that they don't headline other festivals. It doesn't matter that the bands that they are playing under are shit, it seems people would rather have big bands headlining than good bands just to make their ticket worth the price.

[TalkShow Bob]

What!? Glasto is ran by Michael Eavis' company Glastonbury Festivals Ltd. Melvin Benn is a promoter of Glastonbury but he is not from the same company as Eavis.

[thetime]

Eavis owns a company called Glastonbury Festivals limited. Each year Glastonbury Festivals limited and Festival republic make a joint venture company called Glastonbury Festivals (year) limited so this year it will be Glastonbury Festivals (2011) limited. The (year) company is owned 60% by Glastonbury Festivals limited and 40% by Festival Republic. Though I'm not sure how the profits are shared out, if its a strait 60/40 split off the top, if good causes are paid then its split or what.

[Joshuwarr]

Its not ALL the profit mate haha. There wouldnt be any money for the following years otherwise haha.

[MEGABOWL]

Its not ALL the profit mate haha. There wouldnt be any money for the following years otherwise haha.

Edited April 16, 2011 by MEGABOWL

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

All the money Glastonbury Festivals LTD makes from Glastonbury Festival (20--) is donated to charity. So it is all the profit made by Glastonbury Festivals LTD.

I don't think they are in real competition.

[thetime]

Its not ALL the profit mate haha. There wouldnt be any money for the following years otherwise haha.