The United States Department of Labor provides a very handy Consumer Price Index Calculator on its website (http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm) This calculator tells you how much an item worth X dollars in a given year should be worth today. When Phish played Hampton Coliseum in 1997, the ticket price was $22.50. The CPI inflation calculator tells us that $22.50 in 1997 is equal to $32.73 in 2013. The ticket price for the three night Hampton run in October is $65.00. To me this is indicative of two major issues with Phish’s current business practices. For one, admission cost to a Phish show has been allowed to increase at essentially double the rate of inflation since 1997. Allowing for subjective dissent, it is more or less universally accepted amongst Phish’s community of fans that 1997 saw the band’s finest playing and most treasured shows. So, do we think that what we are seeing now is worth more than double what we saw in 1997? That would be a pretty tough argument to make. In this post-economic meltdown, tepid-recovery economy, we all need to be wise consumers. I love the music of this band, but am I not foolish to spend so much money on a product that has skyrocketed in price without an equivalent trend in quality? Hmmmm.
The other issue to be concerned about is the fact that tickets for arena shows have gone up $5 since just last year. That increase far exceeds the rate of inflation, for according to the handy CPI calculator, $60 in 2012 is equal to $61.02 today. Can we expect a price hike every couple of years, just as a matter of policy, from now on? Again, there is no discernable increase in quality, or certainly not an empirical, objective one that makes the shows of each year better than that of the year before.

I suspect that this may be a result of Phish relinquishing their operations management and allowing Redline to handle their affairs. However, I think the band should in some way be made aware of this ticket price issue. As a band and a business, Phish endeavored for over 20 years to provide a unique product that was constantly evolving and rewarding their audience. They went to fairly extraordinary and unprecedented lengths to satisfy their audience, to great effect. Now that they are older and no longer able to devote their every waking hour to Phish, it is troubling to see that they have been mildly gouging their devoted fans for a few years. Indeed, this issue dovetails fairly well with the current dialogue regarding the limited selection of songs they are playing. Are they really delivering appropriately to how they are charging us?

I think Phish still cares a great deal about their fans, and I for one think it would be great to see them address this issue. It would demonstrate real care and involvement with their community of fans, something they have always strived for.