A recent Bob Lefsetz article brought of the topic of dynamic pricing.
This LA Times article touches on the subject quite well. Basically, the idea is that the faster tickets sell, the more they will cost. The slower they sell, the lower the price. Supply in demand. It's like oil prices ...well kind of.
According to the article, this has been implemented in a number of theaters for theatrical productions and is seeing some success. It's only a matter of time before this model is adapted by the music industry.
With dynamic pricing, you're not just making more money. For larger shows, yes, it will bring in more revenue. However, for smaller shows, this will also bring in more people. In theater, I would imagine that would land some sort of word of mouth respose where you tell your friends after you've stumbled upon some show. Maybe they'll see it ..someday. But the opportunities this can bring to music have greater potential, as the impact of word of mouth can lead not only to others seeing live shows, but also listening/buying the music, buying merch, etc. Fans.
Similar things are already done at some music venues. A couple years back I saw Dream Theater somewhere in Jersey. They had 3 or 4 openers, from what I remember. However, due to rather ridiculous prices, many of the front seats were unclaimed. Front row tickets were nearing $200 a pop. Rather ridiculous. The tickets we had were a lot closer to $60 - nosebleed seats. However, since there were a lot of open seats in the beginning for the openers, people who showed up early were moved to fill in the seats. It gave the impression to the bands that they were playing to more people and gave more people the "real" experience. We were moved to 5th row, center. From that experience I got to fully experience what would end up as one of my favorite bands, Zappa Plays Zappa. I told friends. And I saw them again.
As a young artist myself, one of the most rewarding statistics from a gig is the number of people present. Money is nice, but if 100 people see me as opposed to 50, I have a much greater chance of having my name spread around. Playing to a packed house is a great feeling.
That goal of playing to more people is often coupled with making more money. Dynamic pricing could bring both back to music; making people care and putting more capital into the industry.
