Rocking In a Recession?

By Andrew William Smith, Editor

March 10, 2009

Is there such a thing as a recession-proof profession? Is it rock and roll?

Late last year, I asked a friend whose father owns a liquor store how the recession was impacting business. Intuitively, it was almost a joke, because everyone within earshot already knew the answer. The economic downturn bodes well for the drinking business, and the friend’s family shop is indeed flourishing.

A recent article posted by a New York magazine makes a similar claim about rock n roll. Certainly, dancing one’s proverbial posterior off to some poundin’ tunes is a decent diversion in dark times; or to put it another way, if you are going to drink away your economic sorrows, why not do it at a club with a few hundred of your best friends and great house band. But are the assertions about rock’s economic resilience true?

Recently, the Langerado Music Festival-scheduled to sizzle for screaming fans in south Florida over spring break-was canceled due to sluggish ticket sales. But the larger festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella will likely succeed. Even though last year’s ‘roo was the first in years not to sell-out, this year’s stellar line-up looks sure to draw a large and diverse crowd.

According to a recent report from Live Nation, the concert business in general performed well in 2008. “Our fourth quarter results capped an outstanding year for Live Nation,” said Michael Rapino, the company’s President and CEO. While some have criticized the merger of Live Nation with Ticketmaster, Live Nation celebrates it as one of the company’s recent successes, creating “the world’s premier live entertainment company with a combined enterprise value of approximately $2.5 billion.”

One of Live Nation’s most prestigious performers is, of course, U2. The much-anticipated declaration of the band’s “360º Tour” of stadiums in Europe and the United States has fans both excited and anxious. We are thrilled about the coming shows but thoroughly concerned about our ability to afford them. The band claims to have anticipated this.

Recent quotes from frontman Bono, manager Paul McGuiness, and Live Nation had hinted at having tickets available in carefully-planned tiers, so fans from every bracket with any budget can get on their boots to boogie at some of the band’s biggest gigs ever. A Live Nation press release from March 9^th confirms this.

“With 85 percent of the tickets priced at less than $95.00, general admission floor tickets priced at $55.00 and at least 10,000 tickets at every venue priced at the $30.00 price range, we have worked very hard to ensure that U2 fans can purchase a great priced ticket with a guaranteed great view,” says U2′s manager Paul McGuinness.

With on-sale dates for shows beginning in Europe this week with the United States to follow, we will soon learn how well the U2 and Live Nation collaboration will fare, selling stadium rock to the masses during a recession.