Concert Industry In For Tough Summer. But Is Lack Of MegaTours Really The Problem?

We spend a lot of our days in the live touring world and an Amusement Business story has confirmed what we’ve been fearing"  this is probably going to be a tough summer for live touring.  Absent a slam dunk mega-tour (U2 in outdoor stadiums, for example) a lot of second tier artists are being asked to carry the ticket selling burden and most of those acts are heritage artists of one generation or another (Streisand, Tom Patty, Dave Mathews). This is leading critics to accuse the live touring industry of the same lack of forethought attributed to major labels and radio. In short, where are the new artists?

But in a age of fractured media and self-controlled content delivery can the mega-stars of tomorrow ever get traction enough to sell out stadiums?  And is it a bad thing if the big money that once went to $200 tickets for the old headliners gets divided 10 ways to 10 developing artists?  Does the future of live music lie in not worrying so much about how many mega-shows we sell, but in making sure that these dollars are not lost to a competing source of entertainment?