Markus Larsson: A gated community for big and small children with rich parents
Sport, especially football, is a show for the rich.
It hardly needs to be said anymore.
But music is unfortunately not far behind in the gloomy development.
Plain language is underrated.
As when the expert commentator Behring Safari calmly states in the VM studio on SVT:
“Football is for the rich.”
The conversation between him, André Pops and Therese Stromberg takes place at the beginning of the basic game and in this case is based on the ticket prices during the football World Cup. It is, to be public service, refreshingly hard and clear.
During the WC, there can be a big difference in prices in different cities. In May, the average price for a ticket to the matches in the group games fluctuated between just over SEK 2,000 and over SEK 10,000. The Fifa boss Gianni Infantino stubbornly tried to cover up their luxury item with the fact that a quarter of the tickets were sold for less than SEK 3,000 each.
But since the majority of tickets are subject to dynamic pricing where demand determines prices, Infantino’s words don’t mean much. In the American secondary market, the sellers can also put whatever price they want on their tickets. Which causes private credit companies such as Eagle Point Credit Management to invest half a billion kroner in buying up tickets in order to sell them at a profit.
A situation where tickets can quickly cost five-figure sums. It is, for lack of a better word, madness.
In the shadow of the world’s biggest sport, the live industry paws in the same direction. According to a survey by the financial service Zmarta, for example, shows that the prices of various cultural events have increased by 55 percent in the last ten years in Sweden. That’s twice as much as inflation. The passes to the festival market’s two biggest dragons, Sweden Rock and Way Out West, have become even more expensive and increased by 70 percent. Spectacular bookings and game schedules cost.
The price increase at the biggest arena concerts is more difficult to measure because soon more different types of tickets are sold than there are seats. But even there, Zmarta shows a doubling.
Sports can be done. With the Super Bowl as a horror example, or any NBA Finals in basketball, there is no ceiling. Six-figure sums? No problems. When it comes to music, however, there seems to be a pain threshold, even in the US. There, poor ticket sales have been given a name: “blue dot fever”. The name refers to the fact that blue dots mark empty seats in the giant Ticketmaster’s system.
There are many theories as to why ticket sales for certain concerts are failing in the world’s largest music market. People like to talk about how artists overestimate their own popularity and book too big venues without mentioning the obvious – it’s too expensive.
The Swedish live industry is not as shamelessly expensive as the American one, not yet. But there is no indication that concerts will be cheaper in Sweden either. The rich can see and experience as much as they want, the poor can do without.
It usually means a reaction. The essence of music is to be created by, and reach more, than those who are dense. Those who do not have a stage must build it themselves and do something that is better and more fun than what costs too much money.
Something that shows that established live music is basically a gated community and breeding ground for big and small kids with rich parents. And where a significant part of the audience stands in various VIP areas and sponsor tents with their backs to the stages.
They rattle their jewels and are more interested in filming themselves than watching artists.
This is how a culture dies.
Larsson’s top three
1. Bad Bunny (artist)
Sometimes the expectations of a concert are almost more important than the actual experience. If Bad Bunny fulfills even half of them, the upcoming gigs in Stockholm at Sweden’s national arena Jordgubben next weekend could break some sort of record.
2. “Jealous lover” (song, The Rolling Stones)
There is life in the Stones. “Jealous lover” is the best newly written song the band has released in many, many years. Jagger’s falsetto has always been underrated.
3. “The final score” (book, Don Winslow)
If short stories are singles and novels are albums, the American writer Don Winslow masters both. His latest collection of short stories is in the same class as the previous one, “Broken”. He is, if possible, even more core and human in the short format.
