(2005-04-13) Live Event Sales Dropping

Live Performance sales may be dropping, and one factor may be competition from digital media. Jones said tickets sales for live performances are slumping, and audiences are becoming wary of spending what little leisure they have at the theater... Jones argued that rising ticket prices play a small role in deterring audiences... The center is also selling more single performance tickets, Kramer said, instead of subscriptions for series... "There are a lot more choices than there used to be," Kramer said. "With all the new technologies, you can sit in your own home and hear a symphony orchestra, probably at higher quality than you can even in any concert hall."... Patrick Madden, vice president of external affairs at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, said he is not seeing the same national drop in ticket sales, and discrepancies can be found across the country.

Personally, I have been put off by the prices of live events, whether it's Broad Way, the Circus, or conferences.