Why are live music shows not selling out?

Are the days of the 9am Ticketmaster craziness when it comes to big shows over?

With the exception of Bruce Springsteen at Croke Park and the Electric Picnic, this has been a summer when you could get tickets for most of the big shows and festivals the week of, if not the day of, the event – which is quite a turn-up for the books considering how things used to be.

Beyoncé is a good example of how things are now. She plays Croke Park on Saturday night and you’d expect the show to be sold out weeks ago.

Yet on Friday, there were still tickets available on Ticketmaster for the show, and there were still advertisements doing the rounds. There have also been reports from her UK and US tours earlier this year that a lot of her shows have been well under-capacity, with some dates being rescheduled.

It’s not just Bey. Rihanna’s Dublin show was noticeable for the fact that RiRi was a bit teary and the large number of empty seats in the Aviva Stadium. When she played London’s Wembley Stadium a few nights later, photos from the venue also showed huge numbers of empty seats for the A-list superstar.

One of the interesting points being made about the empty seats has to do with touts getting hold of large numbers of tickets and then not being able to flog them at inflated prices. It would seem that there is a finite price point when it comes to seeing a pop star on a screen in a big field or stadium.

But while that might explain why sold-out shows can look far from sold out on the night, it doesn’t explain why you can still get tickets for Beyoncé 36 hours before she steps on to the stage, picks up a hurley and fires a sliothar in the direction of the Hogan Stand.

Wet summers
One of the biggest reasons punters are holding back has to do with the weather. Ireland has wet summers and there's nothing worse than paying a huge sum of money to stand in the open air and watch live music with rain pelting down. Many of those who want to see acts who've visited here this summer such as Bey, Rihanna and Sigur Rós might well prefer to see them in a proper water-proof venue.

Then, there’s the competition from festivals. You’re going to get far more bang for your buck when it comes to bands-to-see per euro spent at a festival. Okay, you’ll probably only see a 10th of the acts you want to see in the end, but the gigonomics are persuasive when you’re working out whether it’s €100 for a standalone show by an artist who plays Ireland every 18 months or €130 to €180 for a festival.

It might help if tickets for the bigger shows were more keenly priced. Other solutions might include more indoor winter shows, though venue logistics and touring schedules could dictate otherwise.

You might also see more A-list superstars popping up on festival bills (remember that Beyoncé headlined Oxegen in 2011) or even festivals such as the forthcoming Desert Trip from the makers of Coachella, which is dedicated purely to superstars and heritage acts.