On the right track

Although some things will change at the Real. Texas. Festival., there is definitely one thing that will hold steady.

Ticket prices.

We believe we are really on the right track with the ticket prices for this thing. We were polling the ticket prices for some of the highfalutin music festivals around the country. It was shocking.

There is a new music festival at Churchill Downs featuring some huge names -- Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi and others. The single day ticket price once all Ticketmaster fees are factored in is more than $300. Now there is a multi-day pass available for $250 or more.

Know what a multi-day pass to the Real. Texas. Festival. is? $25.

That's it.

If we are able to sign Eli Young Band to headline ... and we're hoping this is the case ... the two-day pass for the entire festival will be slightly more than the ticket price fans expect to pay for an Eli Young Band show. According to pollstar, EYB average tickets are a little more than $19 per show.

And remember, that two day pass will include whoever we get to headline Friday ... which could be Kevin Fowler, Stoney Larue, Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights or maybe even Pat Green.

The tickets for the festival also include the car show, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and even general admission parking.

Concert tickets have been a point of contention in a lot of circles these days. The industry has changed under the avalanche of on-line music options.

The general opinion in all facets of the industry is that it's difficult to make dreams come true as an artist by selling records. I didn't used to be that way. At one point in the not-too-distant past, artists would release an album then try to back it up with a tour. The album provided the impetus for the tour.

Now it's the other way around. Artists will announce a tour to promote the album.

And, with record sales not providing the revenue they used to, artists and their managers are asking for higher and higher performance fees. For the most part, concert promoters and venue managers have paid those higher fees.

Well, something has to give. Someone who used to pay $50,000 for a performance fee who is now paying $100,000 is going to have to find ways to increase revenues to make the concert salient. The natural and easiest increase is the ticket price.

So, as artists continue to demand and get higher and higher performance fees, ticket prices continue to soar. Enter a less-than-stellar economic situation and you get what's been happening across the nation right now.

Shows are being cancelled. Entire music events are in jeopardy. Artists are dropping out of their commitments (see Lilith Fair). Big time promoters like Live Nation and AEG can't sell out their own venues and they are citing weak ticket sales as the reason for the cancellations. The fans just can't take it anymore. It's very difficult to shell out close $500 or so every month to go see your favorite artist in concert.

Those in the know tell us that the shift may come soon when managers and artists take less money to perform shows and the fans can get back to their concert-going habits because they can again afford the tickets.

And, that day may be here sooner than later. Less than 1,000 people attended the headlining concert of an event benefiting the Oregon Trail Days organization -- a concert featuring Julianna Hough.

So in essence, the Real. Texas. Festival. is ahead of the curve -- featuring quality entertainers and artists and striving to provide the best bang for the concert and event-going buck.