Music business hits jackpot at casinos

[Sounds Great]

Music business hits jackpot at casinos

The music industry is striking it rich at casinos. As casino venues target concertgoers from all walks of life through creative artist bookings, the effort hasn't gone unnoticed by those in the business.

"If you're an agent, you love casinos," says Greg Oswald, a William Morris agent for such acts as Big & Rich, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd. As new casinos boomed in the past 15 years, "it's found money," he adds.

Most casinos are proactive in booking top-selling rock and pop acts, with the specific intent of drawing younger gamblers. But, as Oswald says, casinos appeal to a broad base of fans, therefore allowing booking opportunities for multiple genres.

[Eric Greedy]

Yuck.

Ever played at one? I have been to more than quite a few. The acoustics suck... great for comedy usually, very dead. Often the venue papers the show handing out tickets to casino guests. You get a very jaded apathetic audience usually who aren't really there for the acts playing so much as they're bored with the all you can eat. And the said same audience doesn't want to bye merchandise.... they're saving that for the slots.
Good as a story if your a reporter or a casino.

[Ironklad Audio]

i've noticed that ticket prices for casino shows in this area are consistently at least twice what other venues charge...not sure if any of those extra bones go to the artist, though

[lowfreq33]

Typically concerts at casinos work the same way cd's do at Best Buy; they're loss leaders. In other words, it's no problem for a casino to give a really high guarantee to an artist and sell tickets at a pretty low price, because the point is to get people in the casino to gamble. I'm not sure about vegas or reno, but in the more rural casino's (Mississippi, Kentucky, etc.) concerts are always pretty affordable compared to local arenas.

[midnightsun]

from 1980 to 1985 I was in college in Reno, Nevada. Back then you could go to the Cabaret Shows at Harrah's Club for a two drink minimun. I couldn't even afford the two drink minimum but the casino would issue two free drink Tokes if you cashed a check in the casino more than about 300 dollars. The next day I would deposit the 300 dollars back in my checking account less a modest tip for the coctail waitress. Sometimes I would hit more than three shows a week. The likes of BB King and Chuck Berry would do runs lasting up to a couple of months. It was a blast seeing these guys night after night. BB King was a very consistent and had a tight band. On the other hand, Chuck Berry changed keys, temp, and arrangements on the fly which kept the audience as well as the pickup band guessing. If anyone else had done this I would have called it sloopy but when Chuck Berry performed this way it made for big fun and entertainment.

Sorry, to get off track a bit.

[OVERNIGHT]

I saw Foo Fighters at a casino in Atlantic City. I went with a friend who got free tix thru a radio station. It was a rock concert. The room sucked, a big box. But so do lots of rooms that aren't in casinos.