2013 is only three weeks old, but I feel like this year is already proving to be one ripe with controversy and open discussion on hot topics throughout the entertainment community. One of the most notable voices so far this year, Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds, recently spoke out against bands who charged for meet and greets and, as you can probably guess, a few bands were put on blast.
It all started when Twitter user @_meg119 tweeted that she hoped Enter Shikari would never charge their fans for “VIP” status at shows. Rou replied to the girl with the following message:
“@_meg119: I hope @entershikari never start selling ‘VIP’ tickets just to meet fans.”No. It’s absolutely disgusting when bands do that.
— Rou Reynolds (@RouReynolds) January 21, 2013
This comment then set off a chain of tweets from fans, and later by Rou himself, addressing the idea of charging fans for priority access to artists. Rou first spoke about artists in general by tweeting in a very general sense about the idea of asking fans for money in exchange for access to you/your band. He started:
“@transformati0n: what if fans really want to meet you? Would you sell meet & greets then?”Never. I’d feel like a fucking prostitute.
— Rou Reynolds (@RouReynolds) January 21, 2013
Reynolds then followed this response with two comments of his own:
If you want to meet us, we’re easy to find after our gigs by our bus. We often still hang out by our merch at smaller shows too. :)
— Rou Reynolds (@RouReynolds) January 21, 2013
The minute an artist is motivated by money instead of interest in simply meeting his fans, he’s lost all integrity and become a prostitute.
— Rou Reynolds (@RouReynolds) January 21, 2013
We have to say we agree with Reynolds’ comments, but if he stopped there this entire sequence probably wouldn’t have made our newsfeed. Reynolds and the rest of Enter Shikari often vent about frustrations with the industry and world at large, so any single occurrence is usually not grounds for reporting. However, things got a bit more interesting one fan commented that they had paid £30 to meet Asking Alexandria at a recent concert. Reynolds reweeted the fan, adding:
“@stfukatie_: asking alexandria charged £30 to meet them”Bands like that had no integrity in the first place so doesn’t bother me so much
— Rou Reynolds (@RouReynolds) January 21, 2013
No further comments were made about the UK based hard rock band, but the discussion sparked by the remark is still going as I type this post.
As fans yourselves, who do you think is right? Do you, or would you ever pay for access to your favorite artists (beyond seeing them perform)? Comment below and weigh in on this ongoing discussion.
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So, just gonna put it out there… I definitely stand with Enter Shikari more so than Asking Alexandria. No doubt about it.
yeah, but when bands becomes too huge everyone wants to meet them? yeah charge them a little extra. ive paid for vip tickets to meet deftones and let me tell ya it was worth it!