Last night I trekked down to the Comcast Center to see Phish. Admittedly, I’m only a passing Phish phan, but the ticket was offered, seemed like phun, and off (oph?) I went. In my own defense, I’m far more fascinated by what’s going on backstage and not on stage. Phish, in all their earthy-crunchy, hippy-dippy, love all approach, are also seemingly shrewd business pholks.
Tickets to last night’s show were $50. And if you were way up on the lawn – $50. Phront row – $50. Phair and equal pricing phor everyone. Very cool. They could’ve very easily charged more for the phront sections, but didn’t. Initial ticketing was done through their phan club, and the actual tickets were art. Definitely a custom job, but a really nice souvenir of the show.
Custom tickets, like the ones Phish used, run about twenty-phive cents each. Less when you order in the (presumably) massive numbers they are. But it’s that little detail that makes a difference. Beyond that, the merch on sale was standard phair, but amongst it all was a poster selling for phifty dollars. The posters are printed on archival stock, limited edition, and phar better than something you’re picking out of a bin at Sam Goody. Highly collectible, the posters often resell for phar more than their purchase price.
The point? After your phirst $50, you might want the phancy poster for another $50. Now you’ve dropped $100. And what do you think the actual cost on a $50 poster is? Unlike t-shirts, they’re one size phits all, and produced in a limited quantity. The poster profit, even with less actual goods sold, has to be insane.
The atmosphere in and around the venue was warm, welcome, and celebratory. Granted, this was aided by a variety of substances and potables, but that notwithstanding, it was a happy place to be. As a musician, at any level, this is the environment you want to bring to your performances. More to the point: happy people spend money. And while you’re really in this to get laid, you also need to pay the bills.
In an upcoming post, I’ll offer suggestions for cool, nifty merch items. In the meantime, check out www.phish.com. Pay attention to the committment to quality merch and how it all relates to the band’s overall image. Even if you don’t like the music, they’re rockin’ all the way to the bank…
