I thought this was interesting - an ABC News article from March 03. It includes some quotes from Miles Copeland and some tidbits on ticket prices going up - as we are seeing for Sting shows... Prices of concert tickets are rising faster and higher than those for movies, theater even sporting events. But rock 'n' roll is supposed to be the anti-establishment art form, and maybe that's why so many fans feel aggravated that rock once for the masses is now often for only the rich. ... Is Online Downloading the Culprit? So who's telling the truth? Miles Copeland, owner of Ark 21 Records and former manager of Sting, admits that Sting and other artists have a lot of control over ticket prices. If they seem greedy, Copeland says, it's because they're being ripped off every day not by Clear Channel, but by their fans. "Five years, 10 years, 15 years ago every time you wanted music, you'd go to a record store and you'd have to fork out money to buy records. Well nowadays they say it's just OK to steal," Copeland said. Steal online, that is. Apparently, many of us simply cannot resist the temptation of downloading music from the Internet. But all that free music is not without a price. "The public ought to realize as they're complaining about ticket prices, that they're forcing ticket prices up because stealing music from the artists eliminates that source of income. Recording artists like Sting used to make the majority of their money from just that: recording. Now, they're making 62 percent of their income from touring. "So now the only source of income is tickets," Copeland said, "and basically the public will have to pay the price of that." The Stones Get What They Need and Want It's a big price. Bands like The Who that came of age in the 1960s have left all that peace, love, and flower power behind. Now, mega acts like the Stones, with pyrotechnics and large stage shows, have grown into big corporations with payrolls and overhead. "It's a big fat cow, the entertainment industry, and sometimes it's shameless," says Matthews, who was born in the '60s. Matthews is also having his pocket picked by downloading fans. But he says theft online can't begin to explain the huge price tag attached to the ticket prices of the rock 'n' roll idols he grew up with. "There's an obscenity when you get 200 bucks a ticket," he said. Even Matthews' ticket prices have gone up but only a little to $40 for any seat in the house. And he still makes enough money to be one of last year's top money making tours. "If it costs you 25 bucks, or 30 bucks to put on a show for each person and you charge 40 bucks, that seems like a reasonable profit," Matthews said. We asked Stones tour manager Michael Cohl why Mick Jagger and his boys aren't satisfied with 40 bucks a head. Cohl said it's simply a matter of money. "If they wanted to play for free, wouldn't they just go down to the pub in London and play for free anytime they want? They would like to make money too." Cohl said the Stones want to make money for their hard work, just like everyone else. But the Stones live like royalty when they're offstage, renting out entire hotels where a single room can go for as much as $4,000 a night. ...