Man, Blabbermouth is commanding way too much of my attention today. The big announcement Sharon Osbourne had today was that this year's Ozzfest will include free tickets.
To be honest, this is quite a suprising move. Not because I don't think it will work, but because the people who organize Ozzfest are the last people I would have expected to take this direction. It definitely could work though. Now I haven't actually _been_ to Ozzfest in almost a decade, but I do know a few things about it. I know I've played with bands whose labels coughed up fees in the mid five figures to secure a spot at 9am on that bill. I know the only bands that make any money on that tour are the top 2-3, and even if you do sell merch, something like 40% of the revenue (that's gross, not net) must be paid back to Ozzfest. In short, if you think the bands are the ones making the cash on that tour, unless you're playing for System of a Down, Slipknot, Black Sabbath or Slayer...just ain't so. Ozzfest is always a losing venture for 95% of the bands who have ever done it. They continue to cough up the dough to play this event cos quite frankly, it's the only chance in America these bands have of being exposed to a mass audience.
Sponsorship has always been a huge part of Ozzfest as well. More businesses jump on the sponsorship bandwagon for this tour than any other tour in America (I swear I saw that somewhere). If you've ever been to Ozzfest, they don't try to hide this fact at all. It's essentially a big metal mall, brought to you by Best Buy, Red Bull and about 50 million other sponsors. Sponsors are no different than bands. They pay squillions of dollars to represent themselves on this tour because sponsoring Ozzfest makes you "cool" to an otherwise hard-to-reach market (remember, your average Ozzfest fan isn't lining up to buy a Justin Timberlake ticket).
The point is that Ozzfest isn't free because Sharon Osbourne has a bleeding heart for young metal heads, it'll be free because they simply don't have to bother charging for tickets. Just go back and look at the grosses from shows of previous summers. Seems like a lot right? Well when your 9am band pays 50k for the tour, and that's the starting price, the figures start to add up.
I think this is interesting though because this could be the next evolutionary step in concert organization (at least on a mass scale). By eliminating ticket prices and putting the admission in the hands of your sponsors, you are giving your sponsors and invaluable resource and wealth of information. In addition, the fan doesn't have to pay exhuberant prices for tickets ( I promise you, this will be problematic for Ticketmaster and big promoters like Clear Channel). The major downfall of course is going to be that if you thought Ozzfest was corporate before, you're in for a full on metal Mary Kay now. I'd even say we're only a few years away from the headliner closing their show with the phrase "Thank you and good night! Remember,Red Bull! It Gives You Wings!"
God, where'sWesley Willis when we need him?