A Subscription Fee

So The Who are finally going to launch their “official” website in November. It is strange that one of Rock’s greatest legacy acts has not been operating a full-service site. They have had some specialty sites surrounding tours over the past couple of years and Pete Townshend’s website (which he took down about a year ago) and then later his blog always somewhat acted as information central for The Who. But a strong dedicated internet presence has been lacking.

During the past couple of weeks www.thewho.com has been the subject of speculation and discussion amongst fans. Of course it will have the standard information such as band history, music info, pictures, message board, merchandise, etc. But there is more! After paying a subscription fee, you can get a free 2CD package of unreleased “early” Who recordings. Free? You mean after you pay for the subscription? Oh, you also get a discount on future purchases from the website.

As a fan or even a curious casual consumer, in order to legally obtain rare Who recordings from the vault, you have to pay a yet-to-be determined subscription fee. Why charge a fee at all? Do they want Who fans to partially finance the website? These guys are very wealthy. Some will argue that they didn’t cash in during their prime like current mega-star acts do today because the money wasn’t there back then. Well, you can bet Live Nation paid them a guarantee of 8 figures alone for their U.S. tour dates during the 2006/2007 run. Fans have purchased loads of the band’s albums (in many cases multiple versions of the same album), DVDs, live releases from their official live bootleg series, and very expensive concert tickets. And don’t forget Pete Townshend has a very lucrative publishing catalogue. We the fans, the consumers, have made The Who very wealthy. We should not have to pay a subscription fee to join their soon-to-be launched website just to obtain some rare recordings. A lot of us have already paid our dues.

While this is highly annoying and just another reminder of how artists completely shaft their fans over and over, the most important thing has to be the music. This is an amazing band. The opportunity to hear unreleased gems from The Who’s prime years is something special to look forward to. But, it is disappointing that one can’t rely on any class or integrity from artists. They screw you with high ticket prices all the way down to little things like subscription fees.

Don’t give me Pearl Jam as an example of what The Who are doing. You can join their fan club for an annual fee of $20. The main incentive is not the Christmas single they send out to members every year, it is that they do their best to make sure members get access to the best concert seats. And they live up to their word. If you are part of the music business and have access to purchasing tickets directly through the promoter, you won’t be getting house seats for Pearl Jam because their fan club members will have those great seats. You will be stuck somewhere far away from the stage. A couple things to remember here; it will be shocking if The Who’s subscription price is less than $50, Pearl Jam tickets are well under $100 and if you want quality Who seats, prepare to spend up to $250. The Pearl Jam Ten Club business model works because they aren’t trying to suck every last dollar out of their fans’ pockets – they are trying to provide a service to dedicated and loyal fans so they don’t get screwed by promoters.

In the current state of disarray in the music business, artists should be fan friendly. They need to be creative about promoting their music and the legacy of their work. The Who can get away with extracting excessive amounts of money from consumers because they have a large and devoted following, but they have a very short-sighted approach. They should be trying to develop a new generation of fans by making their music easily accessible and by making their concert tickets affordable. For some reason the band wants to price fans and potentially interested consumers out of the picture. The subscription fee is not a nice gesture; it is a middle finger all done in the name of greed. But, the devoted like me will suck it up and take it for the price of being dedicated to the music, but a lot of people will continue to turn away.