Martin Atkins wrote a book!?!?!??!!!

[aquaphase]

I didn't even know he could read.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=92132264

[ifihadahifi]

I heard him interviewed the other day. Man, he's nailed touring down to a science.

Seriously.

I was impressed.

[mere1975]

WOW, such a smart, savvy and courteous way of looking at touring! I almost teared up in a few spots (like the section on a small turnout) because I have been to these shows when the bands dod NOT appreciate the small crowds, and that sucks.

Sorry, Jackie, this makes a lot of sense too:

"If I draw a line from Minneapolis to Texas ... 17 of the top 100 largest are west of that line. The other stuff that's west of that line are all the 900 mile drives, the exploding transmissions, the exploding bass player's head because he can't deal with the 18-hour-a-day drives, the bad shows because you don't have a soundcheck, the lack of human interaction because you smell bad and you probably sound bad. And even if there's 50 amazingly hot girls or guys at the front of the stage, you've got to drive 900 miles to be late for the next show. And that strategy, it's insane. But if you stay east of that line, the drives are 90 miles."

- Mere "just because you don't study business techniques, it doesn't mean those concepts don't apply to you" 1975

[roach]

mls is really bad about this bundling thing.

30. Bundle This is a new trend for concert tickets. Prince did it first — I think with no label. Every concert ticket came with the new CD. Good idea removing the choice, removing the Soundscan hassle, and jacking up sales. Be careful — overaggressive bundling can cause a backlash. Make sure you are giving value to your fans, not ripping them off.

I just called to get tickets for the Chicago FIRE soccer team playing Chelsea FC — one of the best teams in the UK premiership division. "Great!" I thought. "$70 isn't bad for two tickets." The girl told me that was part of the "two-for" deal. Err. No, she called me back to tell me it was actually $90 — you get tickets to see The Fire play DC United in September... ugh! It's not a rip off as such; I can tell myself that at $20 a ticket, I'll take the family, etc. But it certainly is outside-of-the- (penalty) box thinking and aggressive as fuck! At the Chelsea game, there were license plates from New York and Minnesota ... you can bet none of those people came back up to see DC United.

[monet2u]

well he makes lots of good points....but the bottom line is go where you're wanted or where the markets is. Short trips to towns that don't know you or want to know you aren't going to do anything (but save miles). SF/west coast are viable tour destinations (and this is why almost every tour will stop here). Touring isn't cheap, but if you can sell out a show in several towns for certain, including doing a bang up merch job (where the money's made) they you'd be wise to do just that. Most bands do tours on one coast and move to the other when done and to me that makes sense. I don't really see any point to playing the midwest anyway.

[jen]

mls is really bad about this bundling thing.

30. Bundle This is a new trend for concert tickets. Prince did it first — I think with no label. Every concert ticket came with the new CD. Good idea removing the choice, removing the Soundscan hassle, and jacking up sales. Be careful — overaggressive bundling can cause a backlash. Make sure you are giving value to your fans, not ripping them off.

I just called to get tickets for the Chicago FIRE soccer team playing Chelsea FC — one of the best teams in the UK premiership division. "Great!" I thought. "$70 isn't bad for two tickets." The girl told me that was part of the "two-for" deal. Err. No, she called me back to tell me it was actually $90 — you get tickets to see The Fire play DC United in September... ugh! It's not a rip off as such; I can tell myself that at $20 a ticket, I'll take the family, etc. But it certainly is outside-of-the- (penalty) box thinking and aggressive as fuck! At the Chelsea game, there were license plates from New York and Minnesota ... you can bet none of those people came back up to see DC United.

ok, reading this i thought that was you talking, and i was wondering why the hell chelsea would be playing chicago here. and why justin hadn't mentioned it before.

[mr_j]

not only that, the man's on Bloodshot Records, where he releases records of...Chinese music!