The price of rock 'n' roll

How much is too much for a concert ticket? It all depends on your perspective.

The announcement this week that American music legends Aerosmith will perform at Prospera Place this summer immediately got rock fans hot and bothered.

It's the first time the band will play Kelowna, and the demographics and economics of the Okanagan fit right into Aerosmith's fanbase. We've got a large number of slightly older, relatively wealthy baby boomers in the Valley, so we see the promoter having no problem filling the arena.

But social media lit up with comments about the $199.50 price of the tickets – plus service charges.

Too much, many people said.

Sure, that's a lot of money. Especially for those of us who can remember the days of $50 tickets for big-name acts. However, the music business is not the same animal it was 30 years ago.

Today, concert revenue is often an artist's main source of income.

Who buys albums anymore, for example? With the advent of file sharing and digital downloads, not only do many people pirate their music, those who do pay for it rarely buy a whole album, but rather just a song or two. It's a technological change that has flipped the music industry on its head.

And people's expectations in a stage show seem to get bigger all the time. More lighting, more effects and so on. All these things cost money.

Some argue promoters need to charge more in smaller venues compared to Vancouver and other big cities, where bigger arenas mean the cost of the show can be spread out over more seats.

But, the reality is, even if tickets were half the price in Vancouver (Aerosmith isn't performing there anyway), by the time you factored in travel, accommodation, food and other expenses, it would cost more than seeing the show close to home.

Plus, there is a good argument to be made for seeing a band perform in a more intimate environment, where you are closer to the stage and more connected to the ambience.

Rock on, Kelowna. And enjoy the show.

— News Director Jon Manchester