Compared to other types of event-related memorabilia, like tour programs, backstage passes are stark and simple affairs. The pass is printed on paper and inserted into a laminate hung around the wearer's neck. Security staff can quickly scan the wearer's laminated name and credentials to decide where they can go and which areas are off-limits. Passes are granted by a performer's or venue's management, though individual passes may still be required for specific events, such as pre- or post-concert parties.
Getting access means securing one of four different passes. Crew passes go to the technical staff that prepare the venue, while press passes are for journalists and photographers covering an event. VIP passes usually go out to friends of a particular band or fans winning a chance to meet their heroes in person. As their name implies, all-access passes are the most desirable, since they permit entry to all areas of a venue.
Striking a sexual or personal connection with a favored icon is the most common reason for trying to get backstage. At best, however, these relationships amount to nothing more than "regional girlfriend" status, according to an August 2004 "Boston Globe" article. Gaining a performer's autograph or "face time" is the second most common reason, although recent events--such as the Station nightclub fire, threats from celebrity stalkers and even the 9/11 terrorist attacks--have led many venues to tighten their own access policies.
Meeting and greeting fans has, in recent years, become a revenue stream for a music industry reeling from file sharing and falling CD sales. For fans like Janine Clark, paying $365 seemed like a small price for access with her hard rock heroes, Godsmack, the "Boston Globe" noted. The fee allowed Clark to gain an autographed drumstick, tour the backstage area, meet the band members and watch the show from the wings with their families. Such arrangements are becoming more common among large and small bands, the newspaper reported.
Reliving chats with a favorite performer may be entering the digital realm, the "Guardian" newspaper reported in May 2009. Fans of the British boy band Take That were given an opportunity to purchase a "digital tour pass" of exclusive backstage footage, interviews and live tracks. By unveiling the material over the band's six-week tour, Take That's management and label were looking to create a new way of generating income--one that promised to update the backstage pass for a 21st century listening audience.