Repost of LA Times blog on concert sales

This month, pop star Rihanna postponed six dates on her Last Girl on Earth tour (fortunately not her shows at Staples Center with opener Ke$ha). The Lilith Tour had to cancel 10 concerts, and even Christina Aguilera axed her 20-date mini-tour because of "prior commitments" in June. Not to be left out The Eagles, the Jonas Brothers canceled shows and "American Idol" producers canceled eight engagements and rescheduled other dates on the "Idols Live!" tour.

"It's brutal out there," Jordan Kurland, manager of duo She&Him told The Times' Chris Lee recently. "The economy is still not great, and there's a lot of distractions people can choose from. Going to big rock concerts is not one of them."

Paul Tollett, president of Los Angeles-based concert promotion firm Goldenvoice, agreed, telling The Times that the company chose to "not be aggressive in buying a lot of shows" for 2010. "You go back 25 years, the big shows were on the weekends," Tollett, the creator of the Coachella festival, said . "Now you could have three shows on a Monday that are good. That's hard for the consumer. There's just so much to choose from."

Readers of the article were not so sure that the problem is too many choices. See some of their reactions after the jump:

ruskinite said: Slow ticket sales due to a "glut" of artists on tour? Oh pleeze. I used to attend FAR more concerts years ago when not only were ticket prices reasonable and affordable, but the QUALITY and quantity were much better. The last concert I attended was a way-overpriced Eagles concert earlier this year and only because the tickets were a birthday gift. The problem is that the ticket agencies (TicketMaster, LiveNation, etc.) have a near monopoly and can charge whatever they please using Mafia-styled intimidation tactics on venues and artists.

Bottom line....40% of tickets that sell in the secondary market (through brokers) sell for below FACE VALUE!