The Concert Runner

As I was attempting to find a recent news article about the concert industry to post on my blog this week, I thought about what it really was that brought out my passion to pursue a career in concert production.  From 1992-1998 I was a Runner/Production Assistant in Vermont.  Although being a runner is really the bottom of the ladder in the concert industry, it isn't as easy as you may think and several performers and road crew have told me that there are few good runners.  

Just like the road crew for a concert tour, a runner is the first one to arrive at the venue and the last one to leave after the trucks are loaded and the crew are ready to go.  Many times the runner picks the bus driver up at the hotel when it's time to leave.  It's kind of like that song The Load Out  by Jackson Browne, which by the way brings me to one of the many duties I had as a runner.  One time when I was copying a set list for Jackson Browne to hang in various places on stage, etc. I mentioned liking that song and he asked me to join his tour manager and crew member on stage to sing part of the chorus in Stay.  Some other duties were things like finding a certain shampoo, hairdryer, taking the performers bored teenagers sightseeing, finding the right birthday present for the performer, finding certain kinds of food that they didn't have in that area, buying all the cigarette lighters in the store, picking a performer up at the airport in a snow storm using my own vehicle, and following a tour bus to the hotel to retrieve stage clothes. These are just a few of the things you will be asked to do as a runner/production assistant.

What made being a concert runner fun was that you never knew what you would be asked to do from one show to the next.  And you were able to meet many interesting people, while seeing how a concert is produced from start to finish.  If I could make enough money to survive I would find a job as a runner again.  I believe it prepared me for something bigger.  

The Concert Business Update

Concert ticket sales declined in 2010 but what does it look like for 2011?  With the merging of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and signing contracts with Madonna, U2, and Kanye West, things are looking up for the concert industry.  It seems like the promoters are trying new ideas to sell tickets and it must be working.  The new thing this year is pairing up top headliners together to sell more tickets, for example, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks.  Some other reasons concert ticket sales may have increased are artist playing smaller venues at higher ticket prices drawing the attention of concert goers by making it a more intimate setting bringing the audience closer to the artists.  Better artist packages are something fairly new and though it increases show costs it offers the fans a better value for their dollar.

According to Pollstar reports, concert business sales are up 11% in the first half of 2011 (Lewis, 2011)  Totals from 50 tours added up to $1.65 billion, despite a 2/1% drop in the number of tickets sold to 194 million.  This means that the bump in the total box office is the result of higher ticket prices.  Ticket prices increased at an average of 13.6% or $10.23 worldwide.  North American ticket prices are better than worldwide at 16.2% to $1.12 billion.  I have to mention that leading the concert tours in ticket sales is U2 (my favorite band).  U2 sales had a total gross of $164 million in 6-months, the last leg of their 360 Tour, now the highest grossing tour of all time.

Following behind U2 is Roger Waters with an average ticket price of $112.99 selling $97.9 million, Bon Jovi, $96.26 average ticket price, $921 million, and Lady Gaga, $96.77 ticket price, at $65.3 million.  Compared to eight tours last year, 12 tours in 2011 charge more than $100 per ticket, and there were 22 tours charging more than $90 this year compared to only 12 last year.  In conclusion, even though ticket sales have increased, the consumer is still willing to pay the price to see their favorite artist(s) live.


Retrieved on August 6, 2011 at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/07/concert-business-is-up-11-in-first-half-of-2011-pollstar-reports.html

Marketwatch report on the concert industry