Econ 101: In times of financial strain and hardship, people start re-prioritizing their expenses. And an individual's entertainment budget is usually the first thing to get a selective "dialing down."
In his "Turn It Up" column in today's Trib, Greg Kot gives a run-down of how the present economic downturn is impacting the concert industry in Chicago:
"Because bands don't make all that much money from recorded music, their primary source of income is the road, and they need to tour more frequently," [Jam Productions vice-president Nick Miller] says. "They look at Chicago, and they plug it in every three to six months, and that's where we will see attendance fall off."
That and more in the full article.
Also in related news today: If you blog, Twitter, or just routinely share YouTube vids with friends, the New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones points out that you might encounter some obstacles -- starting now.
