Who Keeps the Interest

Motley Crue

I'm just curious here, if anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.

I - like thousands of others - booked a ticket to see Queen and Adam Lambert in London in June 2020. Gig was rescheduled and currently should go ahead June 2021. I booked the ticket, I think, around Nov 2019 if memory serves.

So my money for that ticket, and everyone else's money, has been sitting in a Bank Account and - possibly - accumulating interest. Naturally the artists and venues have contracts and receive % payments possibly before the gig even happens, but where a gig is delayed so long - and might be continued to be delayed until June 2022, I'm curious as to how much interest could accumulate and who would take that? Would anyone be entitled to that?

To be clear, I'm not suggesting each person be refunded with interest for their tickets should the gig need to be cancelled and the contract breached - but I would be quite interested to know if there is a contingency for this? Do concerts on this level - and there's about 10 dates in London and 3/4 dates in Manchester at the very least - do these dates planned in advance anyway need to go into a Bank Account which doesn't accumulate interest - or can someone earn any sort of money on these funds?

Anyone who has any knowledge of how such operations work, I'd love to know the logistics behind it, having been attending gigs for such a large portion of my life.

Irishphotodesk

Motley Crue wrote: »

I'm just curious here, if anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.

I - like thousands of others - booked a ticket to see Queen and Adam Lambert in London in June 2020. Gig was rescheduled and currently should go ahead June 2021. I booked the ticket, I think, around Nov 2019 if memory serves.

So my money for that ticket, and everyone else's money, has been sitting in a Bank Account and - possibly - accumulating interest. Naturally the artists and venues have contracts and receive % payments possibly before the gig even happens, but where a gig is delayed so long - and might be continued to be delayed until June 2022, I'm curious as to how much interest could accumulate and who would take that? Would anyone be entitled to that?

To be clear, I'm not suggesting each person be refunded with interest for their tickets should the gig need to be cancelled and the contract breached - but I would be quite interested to know if there is a contingency for this? Do concerts on this level - and there's about 10 dates in London and 3/4 dates in Manchester at the very least - do these dates planned in advance anyway need to go into a Bank Account which doesn't accumulate interest - or can someone earn any sort of money on these funds?

Anyone who has any knowledge of how such operations work, I'd love to know the logistics behind it, having been attending gigs for such a large portion of my life.

most if not all banks charge fees for holding large amounts , interest rates are close to zero and in the case of larger accounts there are negative interest rates applied.

so, the money resting in some account somewhere is probably costing the promoter money (my understanding is that the promoter in each country would be the one holding the money and covering the costs).

in the good-old days when interest rates were high, yes, the promoter would most likely have the money put aside earning interest, but those days are gone probably 10-15yrs now .

Motley Crue

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

most if not all banks charge fees for holding large amounts , interest rates are close to zero and in the case of larger accounts there are negative interest rates applied.....in the good-old days when interest rates were high, yes, the promoter would most likely have the money put aside earning interest, but those days are gone probably 10-15yrs now .

Thank you for your response, that is interesting to know.

The Davestator

If they were really smart, they'd use the capital to buy short term bonds which might give them a couple of %. Doubtful that is allowed though

johnnyskeleton

Some promoters would be working on the basis of debt, while others would have a cash reserve. They are entitled tk keep any interest on cash, but equally are liable to interest on debt and also to bank fees etc. As set out above, the interest is tiny at the moment so I wouldnt worry about it.

One of the guys from King Kong Company did a great interview with Averil Stanley where they go into the finances of festivals etc last year, well worth a listen:

https://www.imro.ie/industry-news/irish-music-industry-podcast-back-with-a-bang/

Granted, festivals are a different beast to one off gigs.

However, the real problem isnt the interest, its the delays caused by covid and more generally the high demand for tickets usually means a scramble to get tickets over a year in advance. Neither of these issues can be fixed at the moment.

Fanirish

Promoters don’t have access to the money until after the show has occurred. Ticketmaster/equivalent ticket companies hold onto the money until the show has happened and then transfers amount due to the promoter.

Promoters have to pay all upfront costs for a gig/festival and then only receive monies till after