A couple of days ago CBC Canada Newfoundland and Labrador news services reported a local motorcycle club had reportedly been scammed by a ticket operator promising to deliver Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnan for a personal appearance. The fans paid $250 for the meet and greet last November, the star didn’t arrive and fans still don’t know whether or not they will meet the star or get their money back.
Today when actors from one of my favourite television
shows come to my city for a convention I have to pay for an entry fee into the
event, to meet them, have a photograph taken and something signed. It can be an
expensive event. Now is seems common practice for not only actors in popular
television shows to attend conventions and arrange tours around the world
charging fans for meet and greets, photographs and autographs but also celebrities,
musicians and artists.
Years ago my favourite actors from my favourite television
show would come to my city to promote their show and meet the fans for free. We would
wait in a cue for hours, have a few words, our photographs taken with them and
get our merchandise signed. It was great fun being with other fans and we would
leave very happy fans and continue to watch the television show. It would
create a lot of good will.
I have been very fortunate when it comes to meeting my
favourite celebrities (actors musicians and sporting stars). I have met my
favourite television show actors and sporting stars walking down the street in
the city where I live, music groups in airports and sporting stars at official
meet the player days and training sessions. Most of the meetings were by
accident. It is hard to describe what it is like meeting your favourite
celebrity or sporting star walking down the street in your city or by accident.
On most occasions they don’t mind giving you an autograph or posing with you
for a photograph. They are very gracious and nice even after years of meeting fans and some of them very annoying I imagine.
In the country where I live sporting teams organise official
meet and greet days for free. Some days are for members only and other days are
open days for members of the public. Official members and members of the public
can do sports workshops with the players, get merchandise signed, have
photographs taken and have a chat. The clubs and players get to show their
appreciation for the support they are receiving, and it makes fans feel like an
important part of the team. Meet and greet days create a lot of good will as
previously mentioned. There was a kind of an unwritten agreement if players do
these meet and greets they will then be left alone to get on with doing their
job, that is training, playing the game and winning without being bothered by
fans during the season. Of course there will always be fans who step outside of
these opportunities, and bother the players when they are off the duty and out in
private. While players and clubs recognise fans are very important part of the
club, they like their down time.
On social media I noticed a number of fans in the fandoms were meeting the musicians socially. After
looking at The Cocksure Lads official site I saw there were opportunities to
pay for a meet, greet and a drink to help support the making of a movie. Fans were
paying for meet and greets with the musicians and artists. (This is distinct as
attending an event for a small fee and meeting them or meeting after a concert or accidentally). As a consequence the
musicians and artists get to know these fans.
If a fan has money, they can increase their status within any fandom by buying
access to the artists and musicians concerned and then share their experience on
social media and engage in social media interactions. In some cases these meet and greets can increase a fan's status within the fandom very
quickly.
While this is all good and fine
for fans who have the money and time such as @lyndahere, but what about the
fans who can’t pay for access in this way and where does it leave them in the
fandom. Many musicians and artists don’t like charging for meet and greets as
it distinguishes between the rich and poor with the poor being excluded. In the
case of the sporting teams where I live it is inclusive as those without a lot
of money may be able to watch the games on television and buy the occasional
piece of merchandise but not attend games. The free access to the players and
these events can create inclusion of members of the public who may not be other
wise able to afford to attend.
As a fan I draw the line at
paying for autographs, photographs and meet and greets (unless it is part of
attending a play or an event for a small fee and everyone has the same
opportunities). I feel that if I watch their television show, pay for concerts,
CDs, DVDs and merchandise then that should be enough. While the product they make
gives me heaps of pleasure in my down time to be honest meeting these people
won’t make much difference to the quality of my life. In a year or two it will
most likely be someone else and they will be a distant memory. This however is
not the case for all fans who meet celebrities.
I found a great article called ‘Celebrities charging fans to meet them. Is it pure greed?” by
Alison Boshoff in the UK Mail Online. She discusses how artists and musicians who are charging fans thousands of
dollars for meet and greets and provides a list of the number of the musicians
and artists doing it.
Not so long ago, if you wanted to meet your musical
idol backstage after a concert, there were only two ways to go about it — to
win a competition, or to sneak past the burly security guards into their
dressing room.
Now, however, if you have deep pockets then pretty
much anything is possible. The Mail can reveal that a lucrative ‘meet-and-greet’
industry has grown up around pop stars such as One Direction, Justin Bieber and
Cheryl Cole.
Meetings last only seconds before fans are sent
packing with a photo of themselves with their idol (and a poster and T-shirt if
they are lucky), but they pay hundreds of pounds for the privilege.
And it isn’t just teen pop stars getting in on the
act — even veteran artists such as the Beach Boys are joining in. Tickets for
these ‘meet-and-greets’ start at around £100, but ticket touts are snapping
them up, often selling the tickets on for eye-watering sums.
This money-spinning industry hit the headlines last
week when Cheryl Cole was criticised for charging £350 to meet-and-greet
concert goers. But insiders insist the trend is driven by fans — not stars.
As music PR Stuart Bell, who represents Sir Paul
McCartney, says: ‘Some stars’ fan bases are used to engaging with the stars
directly through social networking. There is a sense in which they kind of
expect to be able to get direct physical access to them as well.’
But he conceded: ‘It’s true that with record sales
going down, you have to look at every bit of revenue that you can.’
Meet-and-greets can add up to £600,000 to tour
revenues, if you assume two dozen per show on a 50-date tour. It is notable
that most pop stars who have been in the business for a few decades don’t do
ticketed meet-and-greets.
Neither Sir Paul McCartney nor Rod Stewart offer
such packages. Nor does Kylie Minogue. However, they all offer VIP or Platinum
packages which allow fans to attend the soundcheck — like a private concert —
and get guaranteed front-row seating, gifts and food or a party, too. Rod
Stewart sells a ‘Hot Legs’ package along these lines for £1,250.
Fans should be aware that most meet-and-greets tend
to be delivered very much on the terms of their idols. In 2010, Sir Elton John
sold a meet-and-greet package that came with the warning: ‘Photographs are at
the discretion of Sir Elton.’ In other words, if you don’t behave yourself, he
jolly well won’t pose for a picture.
Superstar Beyonce has a ‘no hugging’ rule and her
security team sternly advises her fans of this before they are
ushered into her presence. Some stars object to meet-and-greets on moral
grounds, believing they favour richer fans over poorer ones. British band
Coldplay believe the system simply enriches ticket touts and agents, and opt to
auction their own meet-and-greets directly to fans.
This usually raises around £1,000 per ticket, which
the band donates to the homeless charity Crisis.
Cheryl Cole’s PR representative Sundraj Sreenivasan
says the star plans to donate the money from the planned meet-and-greets on her
current tour to her charity, the Cheryl Cole Foundation.
Stuart Bell adds: ‘The old guard like the Stones
and Sir Paul McCartney do occasional meet-and-greets with competition winners
or for charity, which is how it always used to be. When Sir Paul was touring we
had competitions to find the biggest fans in each territory and then he would
meet-and-greet ten fans in Belgium, ten in Mexico and so on. It wasn’t for
money — they were not paying for it — but he was pleased to do it.’
Although stars stand to make hundreds of thousands
of pounds from these meetings, there are risks, too. X Factor winner Leona
Lewis was attacked by a fan at a book signing in 2009. The older crop of
artists, who may remember John Lennon’s assassination in 1980, are generally
wary of getting too close and personal with the public. Usually fans are
supervised throughout by experienced security guards.
While it is clear what pop stars get out of the
arrangement, fans are increasingly left disappointed by the meetings. After a
minute — at most — with the star, some superfans post the picture on their
Facebook profile and declare they have had the best day of their lives. But
others are not so impressed.
Debra Phillips of Newcastle paid £270 so her
daughter Cassie could meet her idols, pop group JLS, backstage in May this year
and have her photo taken with them — but was devastated when her favourite
singer, JB, was cut out of the image, which was blurry. But then, these very
lucrative brief encounters do have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quality.
ONE DIRECTION: Tickets for VIP
meet-and-greets on their current tour of North America were on sale through
concert promoters Live Nation for £225, but are all sold out. Ticket Agency USA
is offering a meet-and-greet with the boys when they play in Dallas on June 23
— for £1,160 per ticket. That will enable fans to attend the band’s soundcheck,
take home a gift and a commemorative laminated pass, meet the band and have
their photograph taken with them.
JUSTIN BIEBER: The 18-year-old has an army
of devoted fans, and while meet-and-greet tickets are said to be on offer for
£350, they are sold out. Fans who want to meet their idol in October in LA will
have to pay £1,932 for a single ticket via event specialist American Ticket
Broker — cheap compared to meeting him in Minneapolis this October for an
eye-watering £2,725.
JESSIE J: For £110, fans of The Voice
judge could purchase a Very Important Heartbeats package that includes tickets
near the stage and a chance to meet their idol before the show and a signed
print and a souvenir pass. Now sold out, they are available on the eBay auction
website for up to £600.
MADONNA: She so rarely holds
meet-and-greets that there is a single ticket available for her Hyde Park date
in July. The cost? £1,195. It includes a ‘guaranteed photo’ with the star and
one signed item.
WESTLIFE: The Irish band’s ‘farewell
tour’ is very popular and many meet-and-greet packages are sold out. But for
£433.50 via ticketweb.co.uk, fans can buy a ticket to meet them on June 19 at
the SECC in Glasgow, with a ticket to see the show from the first five rows, a
photo opportunity, autograph, a watch and a laminated pass.
RIHANNA: Fans who bought the
‘platinum experience’ on her Loud tour earlier this year had a chance to meet
the Barbadian singer. Tickets, priced at £340, included a photo, a signing
opportunity, a watch and a laminated pass.
KATY PERRY: The American pop princess
offers meet-and-greets to competition winners and those who purchase the VIP package
on sale for £319 — which includes a gift bag, laminated pass, free parking and
a photo opportunity.
LIONEL RICHIE: Meet-and-greet packages are
available on his tour. You can say Hello to the soul star — and pick up a
commemorative laminated pass and a gift in September in Dublin for £405.
BEYONCE: She caused controversy when
she asked for £1,100 for meet-and-greet tickets on her 2009 tour — a big jump
from her 2003 tour when they were £285. Only ten fans were allowed to meet the
star before each one and they had to observe a ‘no hugging’ rule.
CHERYL COLE: Fans can buy tickets for special Platinum
Package meet-and-greet backstage after-shows for her solo A Million Lights
tour. The package includes a photo with Cheryl, a gift, a commemorative laminated
pass and an autograph, all for £350.
THE BEACH BOYS: You can buy a ticket to their June 29
show in New York — part of the band’s 50th anniversary tour — which includes a
meet-and-greet, admission to the soundcheck, a T-shirt, poster, laminated
pass and front-row tickets for £241.
BRITNEY
SPEARS: Britney released
some meet-and-greet tickets on her Femme Fatale tour in 2011, for which one fan
paid £644 for one in Jacksonville, Florida, and declared herself thrilled with
the experience which included a photo opportunity and signed merchandise.
