The American heavy metal giant Metallica has pushed forward its latest European tour by a year. The band will also be in Finland already this coming summer - the reason is the eurozone crisis. At current exchange rates, the tour may be more profitable now than in a year's time. If the eurozone crisis worsens, there is even the chance that organizers in some countries will not be able to pay for Metallica's spectacular and expensive shows.
The eurozone crisis may be reflected in what concerts are on offer in Finland, as well, according to the concert agency Live Nation Finland.
"At the moment, the downward trend of the euro is not so steep that it's being seen in the number of our available artists. But if it goes further down than this, it will indeed become evident," says the agency's CEO Nina Castrén.
Problems in European economies are, however, already being reflected in ticket prices.
"We have already had to raise the prices of tickets for a few artists for the simple reason that their fees are so high," explains Castrén.
At this stage, the higher prices affect tickets for concerts by big-name performers, such as a summer concert in Helsinki by Madonna. So far, prices have gone up only by a few euros, but if the exchange rate against the dollar continues to slide, prices could well go up even more.
Nightwish still solid
One of Finland's international best-known groups, Nightwish, has a European tour booked for this spring and tours of both North America and South America coming up later this year.
"I haven't seen that Nightwish has been affected at all. Ticket sales have been normal in Central Europe," says the band's manager Toni Peiju.
According to Peiju, Nightwish is one of the few big names that is a sure draw.
"I have, in fact, heard that smaller and mid-size bands have been hit somewhat by the crisis. Maybe fewer tickets are being bought, and more are being bought especially at the last minute, so not as many are being purchased in advance," Peiju notes.
Another factor influencing sales, according to the Nighwish manager, is that there are simply more concerts on offer than in the past.