Why is there a surge in singing despite inflation?

Even when the crisis can no longer be hidden, when money is not enough and inflation affects the social strata without separating, Argentina is experiencing a period of glory and climax as a concert venue. . How do you explain that despite everything the public is willing to spend from 10 to 80 thousand pesos for a ticket to see their idols? Is it cathartic? Does it matter that everything is about to explode? In parallel, what is the business or window of opportunity that has opened up for the entertainment industry from this strange scenario, in a time of desolation as well as hubbub?

In recent days, the public has conducted an unprecedented exercise in anticipation. Tickets are purchased months in advance. You pay in January for what is consumed in December. Or now, if you prefer, Lollapalooza 2024 tickets are on sale. They are sold in installments, with cards, as investments or bets, or as an opportunity to beat the uncertainty of inflation where there is neither time nor space to fix prices. However, people respond.

Since last year, following the post-pandemic awakening,
Spectacular performances by local and international artists They surprise everyone month after month. Now there’s a real marathon until the end of the year
Over 90 concerts that will attract 2 million spectatorsMost people already have tickets available due to advance sales.

For example, there have been massive shows in Buenos Aires so far in 2023
Fito Paez, Kiss, Romeo Santos, Kaizoo, Rusharking, FMK, Joaquin Sabina, Imagine Dragons, Divididos, La Conga, FMK, Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Miguel and Snarky Puppyapart from the festival lollapalooza 2023 Which added 100 thousand people in every three days.

Why is this happening? From the point of view of social behavior, the consultant Guillermo Oliveto wrote a few days ago. “Last May, about 4.9 million people went to the movies. It was a perfect record. The best May in history. If you take the first five months of the year, the growth in ticket sales was 57%. In the same period, more than 1,100,000 people attended theaters in the city of Buenos Aires. “This is a phenomenal increase of 94% over last year.”

It continues: “The announcement of Taylor Swift’s concerts created something like a frenzy. Three Rivers Stadium would be completely filled. Tickets sold out in hours. If there were 10 like Coldplay in 2022, it would almost certainly be the same. Argentina
Are they living an illusion like Jim Carrey in the famous movie The Truman Show?Other questions: What will happen when they wake up? Would they want to do that?”

All of these phenomena transcend the economy, says Olivetto:
It is of existential order, “We are talking here not just about consumption, but about peculiarities and culture. This is something profound, and not just a temporary banality. It would be advisable not to attribute this pattern of behavior merely to the fact that Don’t fall into analytical simplification by attributing that to “burning pesos.” “That’s one reason, but it’s far from the only reason. Our current behavior contains encrypted disturbing messages for the foreseeable future.”

Other fields and grounds

Everything is not limited to Rivera, Vélez and the Movistar Arena, as there will also be loud calls in other venues, such as
Sarmiento Park(Primavera Sound Festival with Raw Alejandro, The Cure and Blur), Western Railway Club (The Authentic Decadents, The Spirits),
Palermo Hippodrome (Riley B), Geba- (Rod Stewart, Eruca Sativa) and polo field (Babasonics).

in classic Luna Park Important concerts will be: El Mato un Police Motorizado, Danny Ocean, Cielo Razzo, Ecru, Miguel Mateos, Juanse, Miranda!, Estellares, Rata Blanca, Tu Senalmelo, MYA, Ska-P and La Mississippi with ZZ Top.

and traditional stadium plays It will also have its own with Emmanuel Horvilleur, Silvestre y la Naranja and Paces Raros.

Pre-sale boom

The new tradition of advance sales and tickets selling out within hours. In March, after selling out tickets for his October 18 concert at the River in just five days, Canadian artist The Weeknd added a second date for the 19th of the same month.

In May, tickets for Roger Waters’ farewell show in Argentina, which would take place at the Monumental on November 21, sold out quickly, so they added another one the next day.

This phenomenon is not limited to big names: it happens with urban music celebrities and local artists. The curiosity of the fans is such that has never been seen before.

But,
What economic game lies behind the business?Producers talk to booking management agencies. They are lobbying agencies with good negotiations with managers of great artists. Managers pay a fee, a fixed amount consisting of cash and a percentage of ticket sales. An international mainstream artist will say, for example, $3 million and a percentage of the collection. “For this reason,” explains Clarín, an important producer in the media who has already booked his shows for next summer, “many of these booking managers have their own tickets in order to control ticket sales. It’s an office.”

“The fee is always paid in advance. To set the date, it has to be paid. But accounts are also used in which the money is visible to the artist but is blocked until the moment of the concert. When that first song Sings, the money has been released”

“From the moment the show is announced, everything is a long task of recovering the investment. With advance sales it is possible to invest money over a fixed period and make a significant profit with interest. The place is then paid for. It happens when the shows are announced several months in advance. Given the inflationary scenario that is affecting us, it cannot be any other way.”

An important fact: We work with a specific exchange rate for this cultural transfer. Discussion about it began in October 2022 when the government established a “Coldplay dollar” ahead of the arrival of Chris Martin’s band in Argentina. It was barely 30% higher than the official dollar, but not without parallel in those days. How big was that famous?
“Coldplay Dollar”, 200 pesos!

so bionic phenomenon

Also in May, pre-sale tickets for Tan Bíonica in Vélez were sold out, and in just three hours the group sold 90,000 tickets and announced that it would not add more shows at Liniers Stadium.

The band headed out on Tuesday, June 13.
Chano Put the third performance for sale, but on November 4, at the Unico Stadium in La Plata, an iconic date for the group, since it is the day they mention in their hits
tune of god, It suffered the same fate: tickets sold out immediately.

Therefore, a new concert was the logical and expected step and Tan Bionica did it: they announced a fourth date on November 5, also at the Estadio Unico in La Plata, given the high demand of their fans, who wanted to get it. A long virtual queue was formed for your tickets.

Above all, on December 8th they will river.

Taylor Swift, another bounce

In early June, as everyone had imagined, tickets for Two Rivers Day
Taylor Swift, Few people would have guessed the speed: tickets sold out in just three hours after going on sale through allaccess.com.ar

The first sign came on Monday the 5th, when the 24 thousand tickets put on sale in a special pre-sale for Patagonia Bank credit cards were sold out in just an hour and a half.

On Tuesday the 6th, the remainder went on sale, with prices ranging from 16,000 to 150,000 pesos. It is estimated that there wereLiterally 2.5 crore people are in the queueto buy, and only 120,000 lucky people could make it.

Everything seems so big. Extraordinary. But this Argentinian habit works like this. No one complains about the price of tickets. Youth and adults react with trepidation to the diverse menu of artists of all magnitudes. It can be seen as a wonderful cultural phenomenon, which it is, or as another stimulus to the depressing crisis in Argentina.

Advisor Oliveto usually refers to the way in which aspiration is changing. What was wanted is not even possible now. Let’s move on to another topic, Calamaro would say. Along with the economy, aspirations are also collapsing. People moved from longing for home to longing for cars, from cars to iPhones, from iPhones to restaurants, and from good food to concerts. So in free fall, but ringing and ringing.