Here's something that might help the Symphony

In the press, the Seattle Symphony has stated the following in justifying the price increase:

Because the Third Tier has been selling out while more expensive seats on the main floor remain unsold, the Symphony administrators decided to raise Third Tier prices and reduce some orchestra level prices.

Acting executive director Mary Ann Champion said she wants to "see the main floor looking full and lush." Offering an economical method for people from the third tier to move down is one way of overcoming that problem.

(Of course, if they had just offered the option to move rather than automatically re-assigning all third-tier subscribers to the main floor, they would not be having the problems they have now.)

But, why use live subscribers as potted plants that you move around to make the main floor look "lush and full"?

Drake suggested they just buy a bunch of Safe-T-Men to fill out those less-desirable main-floor seats:

Safe-T-Man

Dress him up a bit in a suit and tie and voila - Concert Man! For opening night, dress him in a tux and you've got Gala Man.

More seriously, the symphony stated in the P-I that "Rows of empty seats, often seen in October and November, create a negative feeling in the house in general." I would love to see the data that supports this assertion -- that empty seats create a negative feeling among concert attendees. I strongly suspect the Symphony is creating a problem here when none exists.  The fact is, some concerts sell well, others don't. It's obvious in all sections when a concert is lightly attended (and since we attend about 25 concerts per year, we get a pretty good sample). And it's certainly ridiculous to use this as even a partial excuse for a 250% price increase in the Third Tier.