How Much Would it Cost to Bring Your Favorite Band to Billings?

There's been a lot of talk lately about the lack of quality concerts coming to town.  In Metra Park's defense, booking shows ain't cheap.

To prove that point, the website priceonomics.com just published a list of the fees charged by many major acts from all genres of music.  According to the article “How Much Does it Cost to Book Your Favorite Band?”, these figures were obtained from a major booking agency and represent asking prices from third party companies when they enter into negotiations with a promoter or venue.  It’s important to note, these rates are negotiable and often tend to be a lot lower.

Some of the bands on the list range from ridiculously expensive to outrageously "are you freakin' kidding me expensive?" expensive.  For example, if you try to bring Quiet Riot to town, a band that's on their 7th lead singer, they'll ask for $10 k.  Wanna book Joan Jett?  She'll set you back $40 k. How 'bout Cheap Trick?  They'll want $45 k.  And those are the cheap acts.

Steve Miller's rate is about $100 grand per gig.  Pearl Jam will play for $300 k.  The Foo Fighters will start at $500 k.  And then it gets really crazy.  Both Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen ask for over a million dollars a show.

Keep in mind, the promoter is on the hook for those fees regardless of how many tickets they sell.  If people don’t buy tickets, the artist still gets paid.  Plus, those prices don’t include the cost of renting a venue, hiring a road crew to set up the event, and promoting the concert.  Now we know why Metra Park has been hesitant to gamble tax payer dollars on booking big shows.  Because they should be.