Following a rough year for ticket sales in 2010, many concert promoters are promising more affordable concerts in the new year. This should come as a relief not only to cash-strapped fans, but also to artists and venues — many of whom struggled with empty seats and tour cancellations through the typically lucrative summer months.

The hope for many promoters is that lower ticket prices will serve as a loss leader, and that the money fans save on tickets will be spent at merchandise booths and vendors at the venues.

Read why prices were slashed on concert tickets last summer

Though fans will still have to pay top dollar to get close to the stage, audience members content with seats in the back of the house will find some good deals, including some ZZ Top tickets for as low as $10 before service fees. Of course, those deep discounts will mostly apply to artists who are having a hard time selling out large venues. Ticket prices for hot acts such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, who currently have no trouble selling out arenas — or Taylor Swift, who now sells out stadiums — within hours of going on sale, will continue to be fairly high.

Photos: Random Notes

The drop in prices may indicate that the concert industry is learning some lessons in a harsh economy. When the average ticket price went down by a dollar in 2009 as a response to the recession, sales went up by 12 percent. However, when optimistic promoters raised prices in 2010, sales crashed. Until the economy picks up significantly, promoters may need to be content with lower prices and smaller profit margins in order to maintain a healthy market.

Cheap concert seats due after cruel summer of 2010 [Yahoo! News]

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