What are factors to set ticket price?
Artist fee, hospitality fee (for both artist and artist's staff), production fee, staff/usher team, copyright fee and others.
How to calculate the price?
First, we have to count all costs. How many seats, how many tickets we can issue per each zone of the venue. Then, we run P&L (profit and loss) analysis and set the ticket price, what the price of each zone is, what is the percent of sold ticket to break-even.
Usually, we set the price so we can to break even at 60 - 70% of sold tickets. There is always the high risk of not selling out. Some concerts come with very high cost, we may not even break even at 80%. Yet, we dare to go head on if the artist is so popular that we predict sold out. They are times we give up due to the very high cost.
Why may the ticket prices of 2 concerts of similarly popular artists by 2 different promoters be vastly different?
Despite the similar levels of popularity, the fees of the artists can be widely different. Also, they are production, hospitality costs and such.
Why has the ticket price for Korean artists exceeded that of western ones?
Several Korean artists charge higher artist fees than western ones. Besides, the number of artist's staffers, the demand for hospitality and production may be higher.
From promoter's point of view, where is the satiable ticket price for both promoter and buyer these days?
The satiable price for the promoter and the buyer may be different. You cannot compare the price with the past. The artist fee of Korean artists rises every years. The more popular they get, the pricier they are. Sometimes, they are multiple promoters bidding for the same artist and the fee rises. For Thailand, many artists charge higher than most parts of Asia.
I don't know where is the satiable point for both promoter and buyer. But, for promoter, the price must base on the combined cost and the risk of unsold tickets. For this year (2023), I think the appropriate price is 2,000 - 8,000 bahts.
There are criticisms on celebrities' backstage access.
Mostly, those persons are invited by the artist or the artist's label. In the case of promoter's request, it always must be approved by the label first. We can't just let anyone access to backstage. Sometimes, those persons link to the sponsor of the concert.
Have they been times you take the blame for the artist?
To work with Korean artist, we must sign the deal that we will never put the artist or the label in a bad light or we face a hefty fine. We also have to keep the connection for future works. So, no promoter dares to speak out. They are multiple times where the mistake is the fault of the artist or the label. They are times the artist or the label ignore our warning. And, we must take the heat. Mostly, it is the benefit issue. The label has agreed with us to provide some benefits to VIP buyers but cancel that last minute. We cannot defend ourselves nor demand for compensation.
Is it more difficult to work with foreign artists?
The management of Korean artist is very strict and systematic. Thai artists are more compromising. The Korean also is demanding that we must service them as soon as they set feet on Thai soil. The hospitality fee is hugely different. Also, we may discuss with Thai artist for more benefit when the sell is not going well. For Korean artist, there is no negotiation after the contract is signed.
Sometimes, the artist skips Thailand in Asian tour. Why?
They can be different reasons. The artist fee may be too high, as I've mentioned that the artist charges multiple times higher for Thailand. Sometimes, it's schedule conflict. Some artists just do not want to visit Thailand.
