ANVIL frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow has shared his thoughts on why some of the biggest metal bands in the world charge so much for their tickets and merchandise.
In a recent interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice, Lips said: “It’s all about the merchandise. It’s all about t-shirts. I could give a rat’s a*s whether the record company is giving me money or not – I make all my money from merchandising and playing live. That’s how you do it.
“It’s the only way to do it. It’s the way all the bands do it – including the biggest bands in the world. Why do you think METALLICA have pop-up shops before they go play? And what’s a pop-up shop? That’s so that they can sell their merchandise before the show – because at the show, it’s double the price because they have to split all the take to the promoter.”
He continued: “Now, let’s say they’re hiring METALLICA for the night – it costs the promoter a million bucks. Well, it cost METALLICA a million dollars to put the show on – because they’ve got like 180 f**king roadies and 18 18-wheeler trucks, and it takes 24 hours to set up a f**king stage. So yeah, no kidding – it costs a lot of money. That’s the way it works.”
“Or with AC/DC, they manufacture the horns, and they sell them for 15-20 bucks – and they cost 50 cents [to manufacture]. And that’s how AC/DC…pretty much anybody who walks into that show buys a pair of those horns, and they make all the money from the merchandise. That’s their own pocket money. They still walk out with a few hundred thousand dollars each.”
He also highlighted an additional cause for the high ticket prices at concerts, saying: “Insurance policies that these guys have to pay – just to put a show on. It’s not about cancellations. It’s about if something happens to anybody in that crowd – for any reason – the band can become responsible. So the band has to pay a fortune in insurance – to just go play the show. So that’s why I’m saying they get a million bucks but it just cost them $40,000 to ensure the show. People are wondering why it’s $200-300 for a ticket. Well, there you go – everybody’s got their fingers in the pie.”
