Ticket Prices Soar as Concert Promoters Await Federal Aid

Tickets for Trey Anastasio's concert at the Beacon Theatre on June 22 & 23 reportedly cost just under $100

Tickets to see Limp Bizkit when Irving Plaza reopens for concerts on August 13 will cost $74.50 to $124.50 before service charges. Tickets to see the Eagles at Madison Square Garden on August 22 and 24 run from $129 to $750. Tickets to see J. Cole at Barclays Center on October 2 run from $129 to $245. The Strokes reopened concerts at Irving Plaza on June 10 with a campaign fundraiser for Maya Wiley's mayoral bid, and those tickets cost more than $100. Numerous shows at City Winery NYC have cost more than $100 since the venue reopened.

Avid ticket buyers report that ticket prices are no longer necessarily fixed for the bigger shows. One music fan said that on the first day of sale for Genesis at Madison Square Garden, he saw seats in the same section increase four times within a few hours. This was face value, he said, not resale, as the promoter repeatedly reassessed the value of that section of the venue. Service charges have increased as well, averaging about $30 per ticket for most large-venue shows.

While these price escalations are not indicative of all concerts, consumers are finding that, in general, admission to live music shows is increasing. Venue operators and musicians may be trying to recoup lost finances after 16 months of shutdown. Despite the odds, most venue operators were able to stay in business, in some cases through crowd sourcing, merchandise sales, and pay-per-view live streams, but now is the time to collect revenue from concert sales.

Fortunately for club goers, many smaller venues featuring local non-touring artists have been able to keep ticket prices at $20 or less. Many still have free admission. Nevertheless, all music venues, large and small, are hanging on a thread in their recovery from more than a year of little to no business.

Amy Helm at City Winery NYC on June 24 was a cheaper ticket; recent shows by Rufus Wainwright and Patti Smith have cost over $100

Liz Cooper helped reopen Mercury Lounge on June 24; tickets for most shows there remain low at $10 to $12 in advance

Concert Promoters Await Federal Assistance

Shortly after the closures began in March 2020, the National Independent Venue Operators Association (NIVA) formed and lobbied the federal government with the Save Our Stages Act in order to rescue the live entertainment industry from collapsing. This effort evolved into the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant (SVOG), and was ratified by congress in December 2020, even as the weight of nine months of financial debt weighed on the venue operators. The $16 billion fund was created to help sustain the industry until in-person entertainment could resume. Operators and promoters of music clubs, theaters, and other venues would be able to access grants of as much as $10 million based on their gross revenue from 2019.

Nearly a half year later, the funds only now are starting to trickle to the venue operators and promoters. The Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Assistance, which administers the grants, issued the following data on June 28. A copy of the report can be viewed on the SBA website.

The SBA received 14,638 applications for aid requesting $11.6 billion. The agency has resolved determinations on 52 percent of the applications. Of these, 2,390 grants were awarded, amounting to $1.5 billion, of which $720 million has been disbursed. So far, 227 applications were denied. In round numbers, about 12,000 venue operators and event promoters are still holding on, as bills continue mounting.

Maya Donovan at the Bitter End on June 15; reserved seats typically are $10 to $20 at the venue

The Story/Spady Band at Terra Blues on June 22; admission in usually $20 at this blues club.

Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, who has been an advocate for the cause, stated on June 23 that the Small Business Administration plans to process most of the aid applications from its Shutter Venue Operators Grant program by early July.

“I was encouraged to hear during a constructive discussion today with Administrator [Isabel] Guzman that SVOG has her full attention, the team implementing the program has been revamped, the agency will work with applicants that simply had technical mistakes, and that SBA will aim to process most applications by early July,” Hagerty reported in a news release.

The Joe Taino Trio at the Ear Inn on June 6; the venue charges no admission for its Sunday afternoon and Monday night concert series

Strange Majik at Marshall Stack on June 19; performances at the venue are all free admission

The plan for the disbursement of awards has been three-tiered, each with a distinct 14-day period. Priority One applicants, who lost 90 percent or more of their revenue from April to December of 2020, will receive funds of up to $10 million in the first 14 days of disbursement. Priority Two applicants, who lost 70 percent or more of their revenue in the same time period, will receive funds over the next 14 days. Priority Three applicants, who lost 25 percent or more of their revenue in 2020, which will receive funds in the 14 days after the second round of funding closes. The amount of funding for the second and third tiers would be based on what remains after the SBA awards grants to the first priority group. Conceivably, the funds may exhaust before getting to the third stage of applicants.

Venue operators and concert promoters in the New York City area would not speak on-record regarding their applications. Several simply said that the money was needed to pay outstanding payroll, rent and utilities. Some pointed to the irony that this aid was designed to help them during the lengthy closure but instead is being issued after the venues sustained the pandemic and are reopening. The venue operators referred to their financial instability as justification for the increased ticket prices and, in some cases, the requirement on customers to purchase an entire table of seats rather than single tickets.

J'Royce Jata at Berlin on June 8; admission at Berlin is typically $10 to $12

Bentley Robles at Berlin on June 8

Goldilocks at Berlin on June 8

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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music developments as they happen. All photographs are by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise. For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music." For a listing of upcoming concerts for live audiences, visit The Manhattan Beat's June or July 2021 calendars.