Music concerts more expensive in China

Music concerts more expensive in China

A growing number of foreign pop acts are putting on shows in China, which is good news for music fans even if many complain that ticket prices here are often higher than they are abroad.

Justin Bieber, Suede, Metallica, and the Pet Shop Boys... are among the big name artists from abroad who have performed in Shanghai this year. One major online ticket vendor told ICS there has been a surge in foreign shows since March this year, and the number of overseas pop stars playing Shanghai this year will double that of last year. In August alone, nine such concerts were held in the city.

Despite the number of shows, ticket prices remain much higher here than many places overseas. For instance, when Bieber played town earlier this month, the cheapest seats sold for 480 yuan. But when he played Chicago in July, tickets could be had for the equivalent of 275 yuan.

"Tickets for performers like Metallica, and Justin Bieber were all sold out. We sell up to 80 percent of tickets for some other famous artists. In the worst situation, we can at least sell 60 percent of the tickets," Jiang Yutao from Damai. com said.

Beijing-based Live Planet has organized more than 100 concerts by foreign performers in China, and about 70 percent of the tickets are purchased by local white-collars. The agency says when acts from Hong Kong and Taiwan play the mainland they set their own ticket prices. But foreign artists ask local agencies to do that work.

"Before we hold every concert, we will conduct market research, to learn about his fans and his market influence. Based on our research, we will then choose a venue. Then we will set the ticket price according to the venue size and our budget," said Bin Rao, distribution director of Live Planet Group.

Live Planet says most foreign acts don't make a great deal of money from mainland tours, they just want to build up their fan base here. An experienced music reviewer says brokers often make more money from shows than the performers themselves.

"One of the reasons is the high cost like international travelling expense. And another reason is the existence of brokers, who have largely increased the price from Europe or US to China. Normally, it is reasonable to charge 10 percent to 20 percent brokerage fees, but some agents from Taiwan would ask for 100 percent. That will bring great difficulties to the final concert organizer, so they have to increase ticket prices," music reviewer Sun Mengjin.

While Shanghai once had rules on venue rents as well as guideline prices for teenagers and seniors, most of pop show prices are determined by the market. But Sun says a price cap would be a good idea.

"I think there should be a rule limiting the highest performance price and should be reasonably operated, because the situation varies. For example, you can't set the same price cap for both a small band and a big star. Rules for them should be different case by case," Sun Mengjin said.

But some say that would just lead to scalpers making more money.

"I think it's good to put the price cap policy into practice. But I wonder if that can control the problem of ticket scalpers. If scalpers still sell the tickets for very high price, that means the same result to consumers," Chen Libin said.

Some local performance agencies say the opening of the city's Free Trade Zone could bring more foreign producers to town, which could see commissions and final ticket prices drop in the future.