Ozzfest: Too Good To Be True?

Now that the hollering about a free Ozzfest has subdued, people start asking questions with suspicion. A free show that thousands once paid a pretty penny to attend is now free of charge? It raised some eyebrows, to say the least. How could such a business model for this epic tour be supported? One tours for two reasons, band promotion and generating revenue. Sharon Osbourne, the shrewd business woman that she is, has her sleeves full of tricks this year. She will never set up a tour without intent of making profit, bank on it, my friends!

People want to know exactly how much it would cost to run a national tour of this sized magnitude. Sharon Osbourne mentioned that band’s salaries were becoming increasingly over-inflated over the years. She once remarked that the band who got their start on Ozzfest, was now demanding well over $100,000 to be included in the tour. Apparently, it was System Of A Down’s price tag that grew to be the last straw in the camel’s back. System of A Down was demanding a reported $325,000 to be included in the Ozzfest gig list. Given , a band does have huge tour expenses over the course of a national tour, for room, board, transportation and crew.

But now, Ozzfest is a whole new ballpark. This year, no matter how popular the band, no matter how good their act, each band was rumored to cough up $100,000 to Ozzfest to be included in the tour. This tour has morphed into the notorious business of the Hollywood music venues: Pay to Play.

After some casual research, the expense figures changed. An anonymous tipper at Century Media, a label who supplies a healthy number of bands for Ozzfest, has confirmed that each band must submit a fee upwards of $75,000 to be included in the tour. In reality, this expense fee could be going to actual tour costs, but there is still no confirmation as to how this fee will be used towards the tour.

The official at Century Media has also remarked that he is unsure if bands can or will recoup from the expenses. He predicted that given, merchandising is also limited and taxed by Ozzfest, it will only cover so many costs. He also mentioned that if anything, Ozzfest’s intention (for bands at least) is to promote their bands. With the high volume of new people coming to see Ozzfest because of it’s cost-free nature, new markets will be exposed. The tour is to generate band hype, from a record label’s point of view.

In addition to how Sharon plans to profit from such a tour, Ozzfest has recently announced that if fans pre-purchase Ozzy Osbourne’s new album which debuts May 22nd, they are automatically given a secret code that allows them to reserve 2 seats for an Ozzfest show of their choice, 4 days in advance of the general public. The web page from Sony, titled “Pre-order Black Rain to get first dibs on FREE tickets to Ozzfest” gives directions as to how to obtain tickets ahead of the rush.

Indeed a sly move on part of the Osbournes, but all the more bold and inventive. Regardless of intention, the Osbournes do deserve credit for trying something new, in order to stay afloat from sinking business models in the past. View the details, here: http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/catalog/MerchandiseDetails.jsp?merchId=117577&skuId=117583&sms=alt-ozzy