Cliff Richard for example

I'm another who'd have to be paid to go and see Cliff! But I happily paid £100 to see 'Hamilton' the musical - so each her own.

Back to Cliff and other such singers I expect they put on quite a show with full orchestra, lighting, dancers, etc., so it keeps a lot of people in work.

Exploiting his fans? This is really unfair . if He is exploiting his fans so are all performers .

The sad thing here, IMO, is that Cliff’S lovely voice has gone. It sounds thin and weak now. I feel sorry that he does not realise this and retire gracefully. Ticket prices for all shows are expensive. If I buy one I expect my money’s worth and I heard on the news this week that Cliff had cancelled due to a throat problem. I doubt that he will put on a good show.

If I am being exploited by Willie Nelson or was exploited by Sinatra, that’s fine with me ?

I did see Cliff Richard interviewed on The One Show recently, made me sad

Poor old Cliff, yet another undeserved battering! No, I'm not a fan but the poor guy is doing his best, he brings work to lots of people, must pay huge amounts in tax and lots of people enjoy his concerts. He even had a live recording of a recent show at the cinema, the poor deprived fans could perhaps have gone to that instead.

He got his knighthood for his charitable work and I have personal experience of him doing good by stealth.

Do we really have to knock everyone who is rich or famous? Surely we should celebrate the success of others?

We go to the theatre quite a lot and some of the tickets are very expensive but then we lead modest lives, don't have a huge TV and don't replace our cars very often. We make choices based upon our income. Everyone can't have everything and I would have thought that concert tickets came pretty low down in the order of priorities.

I agree Nonnie!

I think you should be paid £100 to go and see Cliff Richard

This. Nothing to do with his faith. Everything to do with him being past it.

Jane10 Just taking a rare opportunity to agree with you

Lots exploit their fans. I'm not picking just on Cliff Richard. I'm using him as an example. Its greedy in my opinion.
Same as football clubs charge too much to watch matches. But I can see no one agrees. And its interesting to hear other views .
Yes we can choose not to pay. But its a shame that some are deprived because of greed.
A question then. If you employed someone to clean would you pay minimum wage because everyone else did, or would you pay a decent rate?

I don't know if they still do it but the National Theatre used to have a nimber of seats available at £10 so that those with lower incomes could be included. Perhaps rich pop stars could take that on board

AnnieB - I hope you mean Sir David Attenborough as his brother Lord Attenborough died 4 years ago at the age of 90. And yes, Sir David is still working, though all the real work is being done by wonderful camera operators and researchers. He is mainly the voice of his broadcasts nowadays.

annodomini thank you, I got the names mixed up. Yes he is the voice but still gets the applause .

annep A question then. If you employed someone to clean would you pay minimum wage because everyone else did, or would you pay a decent rate?

I pay £13.92 per hour for my cleaner. This is to an agency. It includes VAT and some of it pays employer’s National Insurance contributions, so that my cleaner will be entitled to state benefits.

What do you pay yours?

Sorry I’ve just checked. I pay VAT at 20% in addition to the £13.92.

annep your complaint about Cliff Richard was him making money and being a Christian .

I don't doubt Cliff's religious convictions.
But I often wonder about the recent(?) trend for popular singers and groups to keep going to the end.
eg the Stones. And Bob Dylan and Neil Young are giving a concert next year in the UK.
Leonard Cohen almost until he went to a better place.
Is it the money, or an addiction to the lifestyle?
Or no home to go back to after the constant travelling?
As well as the Spice Girls minus Posh.

Remember that Cliff doesn't just work alone but with a whole lot of assistants, and that stage acts and all their techie guys only make money when actually performing, not while waiting for their agent to organise a gig.

There is an article at www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/30/where-does-concert-ticket-money-go about how the cost of putting on a concert and how the ticket money is split. It is all in dollars but the percentages are probably much the same.

The promoters have " . . things that they had to account for. These included (deep breath): venue hire, stage hands, venue staff, electricians, power, spotlight hire, scaffolding, barriers, catering, public liability insurance (in case anyone is injured at the show), backstage furniture (yes, really), forklifts, rigging, medical staff, transport and even towels."

And "The artist’s share then has to cover its own mini economy. The act will have their own crew (roadies, sound engineers, lighting crew, catering, tour manager, backing singers, extra musicians, dancers and so on) as well as transport trucks, with 30 articulated trucks on the road not being uncommon for the biggest shows. One huge act’s manager reportedly said it cost them $750,000 a day to be on the road, whether they were playing a show or not. Talking of which, don’t forget that the manager also needs their cut of the band’s share – normally 15%-20%.

Before any of that happens, rehearsal time has to be paid for as well as the design and build of stage sets. . . they can’t just show up and play to 80,000 people with a few lights and screens, hoping for the best."

Cliff was the first rock performer I ever saw, but I was very young and didn't know any better. I've progressed since then. Would I want to see him again for any price? No I wouldn't. But then there aren't many people I would pay that much to see. I might make an exception for Dylan and Neil Young- £75!

well I wouldn't pay to see Cliff, but Willie Nelson....oh yes Anniebach what a voice, even at his age. Sorry, as you were.

Same here trisher!

A CD or DVD of Cliff (or any other pop idol) can be bought for £10 or £15, and played again and again. OK, it doesn't have the immediacy of being present at a concert, but for most of us the immediacy of, say, being present at a Royal Wedding, or seeing Everest in reality, or watching lions in their natural surroundings is impossible, so we watch it on TV.

Gill, ‘ yes his voice and his genius with the guitar, magic, who plays a guitar better than Willie , no one

I did see Sinatra at one of his several goodby tours at the Albert Hall in 1981, he was 66 , would have gone if he had been 86

A thought - perhaps a Christian like Cliff might take less than the going rate for his work, but should all the technicians follow suit, the lighting engineers, stage hands, venue staff, electricians, riggers, medical staff, roadies, sound engineers, lighting crew, catering, tour manager, backing singers, extra musicians, dancers and so on? Should the hirers of forklift trucks and scaffolding, the drivers of articulated vehicles, work for nothing because the main artist is a Christian?

The labourer is worthy of his hire, (That is in the Bible) Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's (so is that)

It costs a great deal of money to stage lavish productions like these and £100 is less than some other entertainers will charge.

My SIL is in a band which supports many of these top stars and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of skilled and well-trained personnel involved in putting on a concert - including paying the other musicians involved. Then there is the cost of travelling and transporting to other venues, perhaps overseas too.
Add to that the cost of promoting and agency fees etc and the costs mount up.

I'm sure that Cliff pays his due taxes and I understand he donates a lot to charity.
As long as people are happy to pay the price then that seems fine by me. He's not running a Christian charity for his fans.

BTW my SIL has never been in a supporting band for a Cliff Richard concert but I'm sure they wouldn't turn down the opportunity - it's work, isn't it!