‘House Scaling’ Means Best Seats Will Cost More

Whether convenience fees rise as a result of Ticketmaster’s expected acquisition of Ticketron, insiders predict that the base price of concert tickets is certain to soar in the years ahead.

Venues, promoters and ticket agents aren’t the only ones responsible for pushing the price of tickets up these days. Artists are also demanding more money.

Many industry officials believe that the exorbitant rates commanded by scalpers and brokers for front-row seats offer concrete proof that tickets--as a free market commodity--are dramatically underpriced.

As a result, a new artist-endorsed practice called “scaling the house”--in which consumers are asked to pay significantly higher prices for front-row seats--will debut during Steve Winwood’s concert Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood. Promoters are charging fans $50 for “golden circle” seats in the first six rows, twice the cost of the $19.50 general admission ticket price.

Claire L. Rothman, general manager of the Forum, believes that “house-scaled” seating is destined to become the blueprint for rock concerts in the ‘90s.

“It’s just a matter of time before it catches on everywhere,” said Rothman, who has also mapped out a “golden circle” seating arrangement for Yes’ Forum concert Wednesday.

“We accept the idea that the best seats cost more everywhere else--in boxing or theater--so why not at rock concerts?” Rothman asked. “At first, artists were a bit reluctant to charge higher prices for the best seats. They thought people might get the wrong idea. But after seeing so many people scalp tickets for such astronomical prices, we thought, well, why shouldn’t the artist get that extra money? It’s not as if we created the demand for the higher ticket prices. The public did.”