Random Thoughts
1. Harrisburg has a “thirty five month inventory” of homes to sell.
Scary, right? That means that if not a single new home is listed for sale in the city, that there is enough inventory to last all of the real estate agents nearly three years. Surely, those numbers fluctuate, but talk about an over-saturated market. Buyers: that’s great news. Sellers: we’re fucked.
2. Thompson or Mindlin will be a one-term mayor.
Regardless of who wins this Mayoral race next month, there’s no way he or she will be re-elected four years from now. Either because they won’t run again or because someone more capable, more humble or more experienced is waiting in the wings.
3. Agents and Promoters are the new power in the music industry.
Remember when FM radio ruled? And when the labels had the power to break a band in a market with strategic placement? With the exception of member-supported radio (like WXPN) when was the last time you heard a great new band on the radio?
That’s what I thought.
Now ask yourself this: When was the last time you heard a great new band at a small club?
See where I’m going with this? You see, there are a handful of agencies that I deal with that “get it”. They understand that a band can gain a great foothold in a market by playing it wisely (see Cabinet and J Roddy and The Business). But there are still the agencies out there who don’t understand that indie promoters are going to be putting the food on the table in the coming years. With LiveNation pricing itself out of existence, we’re going to revert back to the clubs. And the agencies with the strongest relationships with the promoters in the smaller markets are going to come out on top.
Speaking of pricing themselves out of relevancy-
4. Stadium and Arena shows are too damn expensive.
Went to see Springsteen this past weekend with my family. There were seven of us. Who arrived in three cars. It cost $25.00 to park each car in the lot. Our tickets were seventy bucks apiece (in the NOSEBLEEDS). Beers were $8.50 apiece. A WATER, for chrissake, was $4.25. By the time I even LOOKED at the tee shirts I was bitter from the raping we received on the way to our seats. Don’t get me wrong, Springsteen at Giants Stadium was a fun show…but it’s not affordable.
I’ve always believed that “less is more”. Charge less, sell more. Sure, Bruce Springsteen can get all he can get in Jersey…but maybe they’d have sold MORE tee shirts if they were ten bucks apiece instead of forty. Maybe they’d sell MORE beer at five bucks a pint instead of nearly NINE. And twenty five bucks for parking? C’mon.
There was a State Trooper at the gate when we pulled up. I leaned out the window and said “Excuse me, sir? The only criminal activity happening here is those people charging twenty five bucks to park.”