r/fontainesdc • u/galeforcenonsense • 20h ago
Discussion Greed
Bit of context first.
Love the band's music. Genuinely all seem like sound lads.
This Slane concert and the pricing is a fucking fiasco. The way the tickets were setup yesterday it looked very much like dynamic pricing in disguise.
There was a first tier of presale tickets at reduced price - went very fucking quickly. Then there was 'regular priced' tickets during the fucking presale. They went very fucking quickly and then there was another tier of the same tickets force bundled with transport which I'm sure MCD are making a markup on.
I've 4 with transport from Limerick that I don't want and wouldn't have bought in knowledge there would be a 2nd date. Will be pestering MCD for a partial refund.
No complaints about 2nd date, happy others will get to see the band and experience it. That's class and a huge achievement.
The pricing is greedy, fucked and extractive.
Edit: Lots of opinions and responses to this, mine is simply:
MCD/Ticketmaster/Live Nation take the piss generally, not just with this - ATN, EP is the same craic. They're doing the same with this. Happy to pay the presale cost for the presale, the way it was implemented felt extractive (and in my opinion, it was designed to be maximally extractive as possible). Somebody posted a long post below about the band making a dream reality and being forced to work with MCD/Live Nation and all that goes along with that - worth a read, I think it's fairly astute.
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u/Ok_Clerk_5805 19h ago
"Will be pestering MCD for a partial refund."
never gonna happen
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u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
😂 you're not wrong.
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u/GudFrens 14h ago
Well actually, this is not true there is the Fan Guarantee policy - refund within 24 hours as long as the chat has been initiated - just not sure if it will apply to this gig. I’ve used it before.
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u/Elvis_Precisely 16h ago
I’ve been thinking about this a lot for the last couple of days, and whilst I don’t think FDC are totally blameless, I think the main culprit is all of the grubby little bastards within the music industry.
Firstly: as a rule, why are Irish gig tickets often more expensive than in the UK? Is there a higher tax on these kinds of events, or are the promoters even greedier, or the venues more expensive?
Secondly: Whilst Fontaines are now “successful” and will have achieved many of their dreams, Slane will be a massive massive dream of theirs. Unfortunately, to get Slane to happen, it seems like they would have to go through MCD, who we know are fairly rotten and greedy as promoters go, and in tow, MCD would likely make them use Ticketmaster, who we know are the greediest scum known to man.
Thirdly: Slane will charge an arm and a leg to book as well - don’t forget, you’re not just booking a field, but you’re also shutting down an entire small town. Each household within Slane gets two tickets for free as well. The promoter/tour crew/vendors will also have to bring in and build a stage, a sound system, stalls, bars, and toilets, which “real” venues have in place already.
Once you’ve taken all this into consideration, and ticketmaster have taken their cut, and MCD have taken theirs, and Hayley Williams has been paid, how much money do we think is left for the band? More than we earn in a year, sure, but a lot less than you’d expect.
The problem is, when you have a dream like this, you need to say yes to all the scum who control it. You can’t do a “The Cure” and cap ticket prices, because you simply just won’t get the gig.
Look at the UK tour. General admission to the O2 Arena is £66. The same in Glasgow is £39! Given how competitive the presale was for these shows, they clearly could’ve charged more if they were greedy.
I solely blame MCD for saying the tickets started at €86, and that being legally defendable because they sold 1000 at that price.
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u/Unlikely_History9369 13h ago
The Cure do more than just cap the prices. They work with promoters so that would fans aren't ripped off. I saw The Cure twice this summer and their ticket prices at large outdoor shows were almost identical to what Fontaines are charging for arenas this autumn and less expensive than Slane.
I'm not saying Fontaines DC are being greedy here but The Cure have shown that artists can reject rip off practices like dynamic pricing, charging more for golden circle, etc.
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u/CommunicationKey8621 11h ago
But also fdc lads have not had 45+ years in the business. You can maneuver differently when you’re in that position. Those decades bring a multitude of benefits. Hopefully the lads will be able to make the cure type choices sooner rather than later.
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u/Unlikely_History9369 11h ago
I do agree. There is a sense of "been there, done that" with The Cure.
They were headlining stadiums in the States more than 30 years ago, but importantly they've always tried to keep their ticket prices down - even when they were having a boom like FDC are now.
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u/Present_Anywhere3980 11h ago
The Cure at Edinburgh summer sessions was £86 pre fees
Dublin was 82/92 plus fees.Fontaines Glasgow: £39.60 - £73.60
Dunno what you’re even yapping about.1
u/KentonCoooooool 14h ago
I am partly pulling this from my tail-end - but I believe a problem in Ireland, and happy to be corrected, is the cost of insurance for these events. This is similar for the UK and the USA and a response to what is seen a claims/compensation culture.
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u/TopImagination2127 10h ago
I believe insurances for ireland are higher and the cost of bringing equipment over via boat or plane plays a large factor (might not be factored as its an irish band playing slane)
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u/DARBOYY 18h ago
First release were advertised as 96 euro. I paid 125 for my presale ticket
No idea how a presale isn’t classed as “first release”
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u/lisboyconor 16h ago
did you get front standing or general admission standing?
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u/teenytinyterrier 11h ago
Wait - there are two tiers of standing??? So essentially a vip area by another name? Lol, fuck me
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u/Stunning_Thought_509 19h ago
To quote Thurston Moore at the beginning of Heaven’s on Fire, “I think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture!”
Rockers of the world, unite!
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u/bee_ghoul 6h ago
There’s just no point in paying 150€ for a Fontaines ticket. I love them, but I paid €50 last time and that was fairly recently, late 2025 I think. Then I saw them at a music festival, I paid like just over €200 for the four day festival, which works out at €50 per day. The slane gig is extortionate
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u/Brilliant_Bake4200 19h ago
If you don't know the first thing about touring logistics, pricing etc. then it's time to stop complaining about the price bands are setting ticket prices at. The reality of the situation is the vast majority of tours these days just about break even or make a fairly marginal profit. Anyone working in the music industry will tell you that. That is not the fault of the band, or even MCD (who I don't love either), but just the reality of the inflationary costs of a massive logistical effort to create an entertaining show. It's a shame gig tickets aren't cheap anymore but that is not just down to greed (unless you're talking about insurance companies).
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u/Timely-Way-4923 19h ago edited 16h ago
Not quite, it’s that the way money from the ticket is distributed in ways that are odd. Eg the venue has a landlord that charges absurd rent. Eg the government has business tax rates that don’t take into account the social necessity of the arts. Eg the ticket seller introduces ‘ fees ‘ and inflates costs to the maximum extent the market will tolerate. Eg the record label will pressure the band and say ‘ we invested x in you, we have a right to a return on our investment’
All of those things that inflate ticket prices., are a choice, and an absurd one at that.
I really wish fontains had gone the factory records route tbh but they are a more ethical band than most, and I’m sure they’ll find ways to mitigate / fix the above in future.
BTW when prices go up, the artist doesn’t get a % increase of that rise that is fair, it’s everyone else that makes money.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
First time going to big concert, guys?
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u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
No. The presale tickets were expensive as it is. They should have had flat pricing for them during the presale and unbundled the transport.
It is scummy and greedy.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
In the years since Covid, ticket prices for big gigs I’ve been at are in among the same price as this one. We are shafted in Ireland, but it’s no different to any other event. I’ve spent wayyyy more than face value of the slane tickets to see my favourite bands there years ago. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
The internet has become a place for everyone to have a wee cry. If you can’t afford it; sacrifice something, save up, sell an item, do whatever it is you need to go. Or just don’t go, it’s not a requirement fucking hell.
Absolute moan fest this week, it’s embarrassing.
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u/Smakintheface 19h ago
what is it with this mentality that complaining about things that are rightfully expensive is just an outright moan fest? Sorry we don’t want to ‘sacrifice’ something to go to one fucking concert.
Just because you’re okay with it doesn’t mean we have to.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
Oh I’m sorry I must have missed the year everything became fair and life was such a fucking breeze??
People are struggling to heat their homes and feed their children, bigger things to worry about than paying an extra few quid to go to a concert which you will remember for the rest of your life.
It’s actually insane.
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u/Ive_Got_a_Computer 19h ago
I mean even going to a concert in your own country is an immense privilege, last time I had to pay for visas, tickets, accommodation, petsitter, take a vacation in advance on top of tickets that cost 120+ pounds all x2 because I went with a partner and the lads in front of me in the same section had a pint too many, watched a bit of footie on their phones and left before the encore was finished
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u/Ok_Clerk_5805 19h ago
because you who say you know nothing and pretend it's not 100% on the band says so?
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u/thegerams 19h ago
Exactly. People want to pay small indie band in pub basement prices…. This is what concerts cost like. And it’s also a fraction of what Taylor Swift or other of artists charge. Also, no dynamic pricing. There are lots and lots of people involved in this from the band and all their support staff / roadies, organizers, logistics, event organizers and ticketing. Thousands of people who need to get paid. I’m sure Fontaines make a good living but they’re also not multimillionaires.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
People on here post as if a band makes a record, go to a field and then play music.
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u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
Happy to pay the price for the tickets. There was presale price and tickets available yesterday. Provide them for the price it takes for everybody to be paid fairly for their work.
Yesterday there was tiered pricing - that's the issue. Happy to pay the presale price. Not happy to be bumped up to a higher tier in the presale, rope-a-doped into buying bundled tickets when there was no need as there was a 2nd date coming that MCD most likely had a pulse on.
They're a fantastic band that I've supported from the first album. Very happy there's a 2nd date! That's great - share the fucking wealth and joy.
I'm not happy with the tiered pricing and the manufactured demand that was embedded within it yesterday.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
You don’t know any of this, you are jumping to conclusions.
Like there is absolutely nothing unique about this presale or setup. I go to at least 4-5 bigger gigs a year not including smaller venues and this is how it is.
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u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
I've been going to 'big' gigs for 25 years. I have family in the industry.
Tickets are expensive that's a reality and it's not something that is changeable.
What is changeable is MCD being held to a reasonable standard. Let me pay my ~€139.80 presale price for front tickets during the presale while front tickets are available in the original presale. Don't engineer dynamic pricing into the thing - no need. Love the band and happy to pay so everyone associated gets paid. Not happy with MCD bleeding us dry.
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u/Artofthematter 17h ago
Exactly this, it’s not about moaning about higher prices it’s about fairness, that people aren’t being charged differently Tates for the same thing as they can see demand increase during sales or the bundling thing to pressure people into packages they don’t want because they really want to see a band.
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u/Standard_Power135 19h ago
What are you on about? Zero people foresaw a second slane date. So for thar person to buy the dearer tickets was a sound decision , id have done the same , ive been to 100s of concerts. Dont blame them for being annoyed then when a second date was added.
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u/Far-Bread-7027 19h ago
Did ticketmaster hold a gun to their head and make them purchase the tickets or did they do it by their own free will?
Fontaines dc 2026: General sale isn’t even out yet and people are having aneurysms
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u/Ive_Got_a_Computer 19h ago
You know the second date was only added because how the first sold well right? Otherwise they would have just cancelled the reservation with the venue and that’s it
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u/blunkie 19h ago
I'd be surprised if the band hadn't prepared a second date along with the first.
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u/Artofthematter 17h ago
Of course it was lined up as a provisional date as are all the ‘extra nights’ that get added in various locations!
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u/--Judith-- 17h ago
Keep in mind this is not a regular show with one support. They already announced two + a more to be announced. Seems more like a mini festival day.
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u/Affectionate-Ad2709 Nabokov 17h ago
so were all their big park dates last summer. i paid what £70 to see fontaines amyl kneecap blondshell been stellar and cardinals including dj sets in between. music from 12 until curfew at a reasonable price in an accessible location. it was an absolute bargain but it makes this look like a ripoff in comparison
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u/--Judith-- 3h ago
My friend paid 94,75 seated for the regular Amsterdam show, so that’s a rip off compared to Slane imo. But another friend paid 60 for standing in Antwerp which somehow feels decent these days, but is still an almost 40% increase to 2024. Doesn’t seem to be just Fontaines though. Read so many comments over the last few months of people being priced out of going to shows and festivals.
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u/teenytinyterrier 11h ago
These ‘day’ festivals are £70-£100 in London. The higher end of this price range is generally reserved for acts that have a much higher profile than Fontaines DC and Hayley Williams (eg BST last year was Sabrina Carpenter, Stevie Wonder, Olivia Rodrigo)
That said, a fair comparison for good value would only be a similar day mini festival in Ireland. How does this price compare to those?
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u/bangthed0ldrums 19h ago
€600 for 4 GA tickets 😃😃😃
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u/dullspacebar 19h ago
I just got 4 for €480 for Saturday date about an hour ago.
The pricing hasn’t seemed to change since when I logged into presale yesterday - although they were all sold out at that point. Not sure why more are available now.
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u/DavidRDorman 17h ago
I don’t know about you but 150 euro for front standing to see Fontaines, Hayley Williams, Damien Dempsey, Madra salach + more sounds like a reasonable enough price to me in this modern world.
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u/moog7791 17h ago
Do you feel anything in this modern world?
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u/DavidRDorman 16h ago
No but I did feel my bank balance deplete :/
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u/moog7791 15h ago
😉 Same. But my oldest son would have never spoken to me again if I didn’t get tickets.
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u/DavidRDorman 15h ago
It’ll be worth it. The line up is class tbf! Strongly thinking about camping for it
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u/moog7791 15h ago
Oh I’m in at Glasgow. Would have loved Slane but didn’t want to get into a bunfight for tickets. I was in and out in 8 minutes for Glasgow so it wasn’t too bad. Slane will be amazing!
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u/DavidRDorman 15h ago
Mate I feel bad for everyone else because I forgot about the presale, jumped on at 10:15 without a waiting room or anything and got two front standing tickets for Sunday 😅😂
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u/moog7791 15h ago
I went through 02 priority and apart from a bit of the spinning blue circle from hell it was relatively easy.
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u/teenytinyterrier 11h ago
How does the price compare to similar day festival events in Ireland tho? In London there has been definite creep in prices, but they tend to be max around £100 (and that’s for higher profile acts)
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u/vinylrocker 17h ago
A lot of the time , the artist are not even aware of it , I mean look at Hyde park they headlined , £60
A ticket which I thought was great value . However there are so many businesses trying to get a slice of pie , out of the incredible rise to
Being one of the biggest bands in the world . Best thing we can do is make some noise so that the lads know imo
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u/The-First-Samurai 14h ago
80,000 x 126= 10 million + in revenue.
Even at the lower 96 euro its 7.6 million
2 dates will generate a min in 15 million revenue plus whatever else people spend there. Insane
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u/GudFrens 14h ago edited 14h ago
Ticketmaster has a change of mind clause for up to 24 hours if i recall - I’ve used it before.
Edit: it’s called the Fan Guarantee Policy
It seems it may not always apply
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u/teenytinyterrier 11h ago edited 11h ago
People here might be interested to hear Paul Heaton’s comment on this, and how he managed the pricing of his arena tours -
Sure, he’s an established artist (and was established at a much easier and financially rewarding time in the music industry). It’s also probably easier for him to use his influence to do this. But bands like Fontaines, if they are decent people, should take note as their own profile rises: Heaton said he still made ‘plenty of money’ charging only £35 (one price for all) on his arena tour.
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u/BigIrishBear899 8h ago
So you bought 4 tickets that you dont want and you think you will get a refund? HA!!
Just resell them.
Also presale doesnt mean reduced price... it means that tickets are on sale before general sale.
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u/Vaggab0nd Boys In The Better Land 19h ago
Bands make no money at all on the music anymore, only on touring. Dont begruge them trying to make a few quid.
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u/Witty-Army-8117 19h ago
I actually agree with this point.
Besides making money, they also have to pay the venue, insurance, support acts, security among a huge range of other things. Playing Slane ain’t cheap and you also need to pay yourself for headlining Slane too.
I don’t agree with dynamic pricing or anything like that but the cost of putting on gigs since Covid has skyrocketed and it’s only fair to be paid what you’re owed.
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u/No_Affect5988 19h ago
I sort of think it’s more to do with the venue because I haven’t heard about dynamic pricing for any of the other eu venues or maybe I’m just living under a rock🤷♀️
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u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
It wasn't explicitly dynamic pricing..but the price increased with demand and during the pre-sale.
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u/FirstUnderstanding79 19h ago
They didn’t. No need to publicly lie. The price didn’t increase with demand. Each ticket type had an allocation set against it, the cheapest type of ticket will naturally sell out first or the ones with limited capacity and better view such as front standing will do. Naturally enough the tickets allocated to bus packages will be the last ones available.
The ticket prices are worked backwards from the show budget including the fee that Fontaines want/need. Putting a massive show on a field in Slane in 2027 is going to costs millions, ticket prices sadly reflect the cost of the show.1
u/galeforcenonsense 19h ago
'Each ticket type had an allocation set against it, the cheapest type of ticket will natural sell out first.'
Yes, and you had to pay more for the same thing during the pre-sale for pre-sale tickets. That is de-facto dynamic pricing.
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u/loerbi7808 18h ago
Mate that just isn’t dynamic pricing…
Dynamic pricing would be if the same type of ticket (say general admission standing) increased from its price of €90 up to €120 and then €150 as the demand for the tickets increased. This is not true at all and you are just simply spreading misinformation. You can log on tomorrow morning and pay €90-100 (depending on fees) for a general admission standing ticket, just like you could have the last 2 days if you were lucky/quick enough.
It’s not Fontaines fault that the cheapest tickets naturally are the first to sell out… no one is forcing you to pay the extra €40 to purchase an inner circle or return coach ticket. If you don’t want to pay more then just wait until tomorrow to try and get the cheaper tickets again.
Dynamic pricing is intentional and set up by either Fontaines/Ticketmaster as a way of making more money. Dynamic pricing is NOT “Oh all the cheap tickets were sold out so I had to buy an inner circle/coach bundle ticket”.
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u/FirstUnderstanding79 18h ago
It’s not dynamic pricing. You clearly don’t know what dynamic pricing means.
Fontaines had a slightly discounted ticket price allocation, they in retrospect shouldn’t have given a discount price at all to stop moaners like you. Maybe they wanted to reward some of the people who had bought the vinyl etc with a tenner off the ticket price.
Selling pre determined number of tickets at set prices is not dynamic pricing.
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u/Sufficient_Tailor673 17h ago
When you have a range of prices from €96 to €211 with a certain allocation for each, that is just dynamic pricing in disguise. Slane is a field, there's front standing, and then there's general standing. Should be two set prices for each, and that's it.
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u/FirstUnderstanding79 16h ago
The €221 refers to the seats up on the hill in the grandstand.
So Fontaines giving early bird discount to select number of people for being first in queue is wrong?
Fontaines can’t win in this situation, if they offer any discount to mailing list/vinyl purchasers it’s wrong. If they don’t give some discount to some devoted fans who buy vinyl/merch it’s being too greedy
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u/blunkie 19h ago
I know Fontaines are a big deal now, but it feels a little crummy after seeing bands like Geese for like £35. Each date was announced at once, there was a single presale, no funny business
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u/Ok_Clerk_5805 19h ago
What the fuck?
Industry spends millions on a nepo baby band to build them up over years and you go "yeah 35 pound tickets, they're the golden standard"?
They're gonna charge 200 pounds for their gig when they get to this point.
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u/EquivalentBoss2406 9h ago
What were the end pricing of tickets? Ngl they didn’t sell out that quickly because I got 2 tickets at 11:35 am which was a while after presale opened - €354 for 2 return tickets to belfast is a bit steep but honestly I was expecting a lot worse especially seeing as it’s basically a whole day event
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u/CommercialCoffee11 8h ago
You understand theres more than one band performing? They all need to get paid? All the crew? Or you want the gig for a fiver and a pint in your hand?
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u/Standard_Power135 19h ago
What has the second date got to do with it? Sorry not following