Cost of Living and Glastonbury

[clasher]

11 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

In addition to the shows I've listed above:

• Arctic Monkeys have sold out a dozen or so stadium dates;
• Springsteen has sold out two night in Hyde Park and few stadia;
• Pink's first BST night has sold out GA tickets and the second night is looking sparse;
• Billy Joel has sold out GA tickets for Hyde Park;

Every major show or tour that's announced these days is selling. There is little evidence that rising prices or cost of living increases is affecting demand.

What is interesting however is that the majority of these shows appeal to slightly older, and more affluent people, so a different question would be are younger people being priced out? It's really been noticeable in the last few years that BST have shifted their booking policy away from younger acts (they still have one or two a year) towards the Springsteens, Stones, Eagles and Adeles who not only guarantee sell outs but bring a more affluent crowd into the park.

In EU as well, I was buying Rammstein tickets some 5 hours after they went on sale. By that time they announced several new dates, bringing the total up to about 30, most had only some far away seating left.

I would say mid- and small-sized gigs are bleeding and the demand for huge stadium shows is much higher than in the last decade or so. Judging only by my feeling though.

[leath02]

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

[scatteredscreens]

8 minutes ago, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

I want this. And I'm not just saying that because I'd be a beneficiary of it, I wouldn't. I guess the big issue with it though is the cost of glastonbury isn't just the ticket, it's getting there, eating there, camping there (if you don't already have camping gear).

Edited November 17, 2022 by scatteredscreens

[Hugh Jass II]

Just now, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

It's a nice idea but not sure how workable it is. Do they means test? How do they stop people trying to game it?

I don't wish to come across as heartless but if you're struggling to live day to day, feed your family, pay the rent, keep the power/heating on... then a Glastonbury ticket isn't, and shouldn't be, a consideration.

[dotdash79]

1 minute ago, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

It's not just the ticket price, it's equipment, transport food and drink that makes it expensive.

Shambala have started something https://www.shambalafestival.org/pay-it-forward-share-the-love/

[Skip997]

Just now, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

Shambala festival are working on doing just that.
 

Quote

 

Pay it forward: Share the love

With the best will in the world, when attempting to make Shambala more inclusive, there’s a massive elephant in the room and that elephant is made of pound coins. Festivals aren’t cheap – especially weekend camping ones. They aren’t cheap to produce and they aren’t cheap to attend.

Everybody should have access to culture – to life-changing experiences, live music, art, creativity, connection and celebration. The festival industry as a whole has an inclusivity problem because all too often, festivals are totally out of reach to people on low incomes. Saving for a festival ticket will never be a priority when you can’t pay your rent or put food on the table at home. 

We’ve been exploring heaps of options as to how we can open up our events to those who are simply priced out. For us it’s not as simple as offering cut price tickets for folks on low incomes, because the ticket price is just the beginning. There’s the travel, the camping equipment, the food and drink, it all adds up. If we’re serious about this, we need to provide more.

This year, we are keen to raise a pot of funds, to kick start this journey and help share the love in 2023 and beyond. We’ll work with organisations local to our site to identify folks who’d love to join the party but haven’t been able to do so, due to financial pressures. 

Funds raised will be held securely in The Kambe Foundation – we will look to match any funds raised and the entirety of these funds will be ring fenced to gift and support festival access packages, from tents to travel to food and drink. There will be various different ways to do this over the next year, but here’s how we’re kicking things off…

Paying it forwards at the bar!

At all of our main bars, our trusty bar staff will be offering YOU lovely humans the chance to donate towards this fund whilst you’re getting your drinks in. We know times are hard for lots of people so we promise not to badger you too much or put any pressure on you (and it is of course absolutely fine to say no!). 

Our staff will offer you the option to add £1, £3 or £5 to your round. Even if you can only spare a quid, every little really does help, and will go towards helping those who have never even been able to consider attending a festival enjoy the magic, culture and creativity of our Adventures In Utopia.

Guest ticket donations

Every year, we ask anybody attending the festival as an artist guest or industry guest to pay a £30 donation to one of our charity partners. In 2022 however, these donations will be added to the Pay It Forward pot in their entirety. 

 

Pay it forward: Share the love

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

2 minutes ago, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

If I recall correctly, we had a hotly debated subsidised ticket thread on here a few years back. Of course it descended into chaos at times (it is eFests after all) but it's an interesting topic and even more relevant in the current climate

[leath02]

Kudos to Shambala, interesting to see how that turns out

Yeah I do also worry it might get people trying to game it... I have absolutely no idea how you'd be able to means test it

[stuie]

5 minutes ago, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

I don’t think so… about 50000 don’t buy a ticket already. There’s already ways in if you can’t afford it.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Just now, stuie said:

I don’t think so… about 50000 don’t buy a ticket already. There’s already ways in if you can’t afford it.

Probably not as many for families but I take your point

[DeanoL]

15 minutes ago, Jose Pose said:

That’s weird because I’ve taken the exact opposite stance, would rather spend £25 on a ticket for a less well know act and have decided I won’t touch stadium gigs at £100 a pop. I’ve been to three £25 ish gigs in the past two months.

Weirdly in 20-odd years of regular gigging, 10+ shows a year (30+ if we count comedy) I'm going to my first ever stadium show next year for Springsteen.

12 minutes ago, leath02 said:

Reckon there's ever a possibility Glasto start allocating a small amount of tickets for those who cant afford full prices ones? In the name of inclusivity?

No idea how that would be costed in / subsidised, but pricing out whole swathes of the population is a shame

There's a massive volunteering system, far bigger than any other festival I've seen, and that's pretty much how Glastonbury do the subsidised ticket thing. 

[clarkete]

Just now, leath02 said:

Yeah I do also worry it might get people trying to game it... I have absolutely no idea how you'd be able to means test it

There's no might about it, there's always someone prepared to test the generosity of others, then boast about it here 😉

It was easy in the old days, when they'd offer reductions for nus and UB40s 

As regards cost of living, the places I've been to (in the west country - Cotswolds, Bristol down to Cornwall) there's still plenty of folks spending lots of money, whether it be shopping, eating out or holidays. 

But we know that entertainment wise smaller bands are struggling with costs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-62691136

And that massive quantities of pubs are closing. Many music venues will obviously have similar pressures too. 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/30/thousands-of-uk-pubs-face-closure-without-energy-bills-support

[p.pete]

7 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

It's a nice idea but not sure how workable it is. Do they means test? How do they stop people trying to game it?

I don't wish to come across as heartless but if you're struggling to live day to day, feed your family, pay the rent, keep the power/heating on... then a Glastonbury ticket isn't, and shouldn't be, a consideration.

Fully agree - it couldn't just be a slightly (or considerably) cheaper ticket, because there's so much more expense involved getting to Glastonbury and you're then walking around a site looking at £8-10 pints and food that costs about the same.

But I do quite like the sound of the Shambala scheme people have pointed out.  From that you could see that it could maybe be organised via a charity, and preferably local, it doesn't make sense to me for Glastonbury to be bringing people on low incomes from 50+ miles to the festival when there are presumably tons of people within that zone who have a festival on their doorstep they can't access.  

Are there also ways of creating more places for music-related volunteering for the festival that could also be targeted towards people who'd struggle to afford the festival but who have a massive interest in music?  Presumably there's scope then for them to access more of the crew facilities and catering.  Not sure what those roles could be, but I'm sure there's loads of value that could be added.

[balti-pie]

18 hours ago, sauceageroll said:

Is this a smart place to enquire if any kind souls would bring several cases of beer/cider in their transport for me and a mate? We are on a coach from Scotland and limited space. All in the name of reducing costs and those assisting will be paid for the help of course 

Yes! possibly! i'll be working it, so can probs bring along a couple of crates. Hit me up nearer the time! Its entirely down to which footy team you support though 🤣🤣 

[Crazyfool01]

i just dont think Glastonbury is immune to the shit show ... however much of a pedestal we all hold it on . just this week we've had 2 big firms go bust .... not sure those people will be prioritising Glastonbury any longer if they have tickets or big gigs for that matter 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

7 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

i just dont think Glastonbury is immune to the shit show ... however much of a pedestal we all hold it on . just this week we've had 2 big firms go bust .... not sure those people will be prioritising Glastonbury any longer if they have tickets or big gigs for that matter 

Related to Glastonbury or local firms to you?

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Related to Glastonbury or local firms to you?

nationally ... made.com  and joules . 

[fraybentos1]

18 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

i just dont think Glastonbury is immune to the shit show ... however much of a pedestal we all hold it on . just this week we've had 2 big firms go bust .... not sure those people will be prioritising Glastonbury any longer if they have tickets or big gigs for that matter 

Maybe it won't be immune forever but clearly had no trouble selling tix as usual this year despite the price going up a chunk.

Demand for tickets could probably half and a) it would still sell out b) it would sell out very very fast

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, fraybentos1 said:

Maybe it won't be immune forever but clearly had no trouble selling tix as usual this year despite the price going up a chunk.

Demand for tickets could probably half and a) it would still sell out b) it would sell out very very fast

I guess decisions for some might well be based on what happens over next 6 months .... some unfortunately will have made those decisions already . and yes i agree at the moment demand is above supply 

[fraybentos1]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

I guess decisions for some might well be based on what happens over next 6 months .... some unfortunately will have made those decisions already . and yes i agree at the moment demand is above supply 

You seem to be viewing this from a position of fictional other people and what they might do.

You don't seem to suggest you would reconsider Glastonbury or that the cost is an issue for yourself. If you'll continue to pay it, why won't 150k others?

 

[p.pete]

23 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

i just dont think Glastonbury is immune to the shit show ... however much of a pedestal we all hold it on . just this week we've had 2 big firms go bust .... not sure those people will be prioritising Glastonbury any longer if they have tickets or big gigs for that matter 

It's definitely not immune.  They've put their prices up and probably it won't be by enough and they'll be squeezed when it comes to actually delivering the festival.  There'll be enough people wanting to go still, because stadia are selling out it means people are prioritising fewer but bigger events, so glastonbury will fall into that category.  Also the age-profile for glastonbury is slightly older, so not as squeezed as the youth though it does have large numbers from all ages generally (basically there are enough people waiting in the wings for tickets when inevitably some can't afford it).  So the tickets will be sold, but there might be a noticeable difference in the profile of who is there.

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, fraybentos1 said:

You seem to be viewing this from a position of fictional other people and what they might do.

You don't seem to suggest you would reconsider Glastonbury or that the cost is an issue for yourself. If you'll continue to pay it, why won't 150k others?

 

im viewing it as a realist ... I will be reconsidering at a point likely not this year though ... im on minimum wage 

[Jose Pose]

6 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

im viewing it as a realist ... I will be reconsidering at a point likely not this year though ... im on minimum wage 

Ok, so you’re on minimum wage but still put £50 down for a ticket. Who are you imagining the people for whom £50 was too much are?  I don’t think the people who worked for made.com and who also had Glastonbury tickets are statistically relevant, especially as unemployment is still at historically low levels.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Jose Pose

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Oh definitely, and I do wonder if the current climate is making the bookers for stadia and festivals a little more risk adverse and doubling down on older acts they know will be guaranteed sellers.

APE have Stormzy, that will be an interesting barometer for sale.

45k for stormzy in london should be a breeze. in the ape forums someone is saying theres an extra date planned

[Crazyfool01]