As everyone knows, every time someone clicks on a schedule listed on this Web site, the Internet mails off another 25 cent check to Pollstar.com, thus giving credence to that old urban legend that we’re the richest concert data specialists on the Net. Of course, that also provides fuel for our detractors, the Anti-Pollstar crowd who love to accuse us of being overpaid, overfed and oversexed data geeks who make way too much money for what they perceive to be simple data input.

But, truth be told, only a small fraction of that 25 cents is payment for plugging in dates for The Wonder Stuff, or adding new dates for Motley Crue or Asleep At The Wheel. In fact, the lion’s share of that two bits is payment for all the trials and hardships we must endure so that we may present fresh dates for acts like Mary Chapin Carpenter and Swing Out Sister each and every day. There are certain occupational hazards involved when collecting and arranging concert information – hazards that might not be so apparent when viewing a schedule for, say, Steve Winwood or Avril Lavigne.

For example, take a good look at the schedule for Nine Inch Nails. Sure, it looks like your average itinerary. All the dates are in order and most of the cities actually exist. However, did you know that three of our workers ended up in the emergency room while preparing that routing? That’s how we earn our fee; by taking all the bullets, knife wounds and emotional scarring inherent in tour date gathering so you won’t have to. That’s how we really earn our 25 cents per click.

Oh, the stories we could tell you! Stories about our past exploits, like sneaking past armed guards in order to acquire the Tishamingo routing. Or braving snakes and crocodiles so that we could post the dates for Sam Brown and Patty Loveless. Or disabling a nuclear warhead buried deep underneath Fort Knox so that we could get a jump on the U2 tour (and provide the name for the band’s latest CD, we might add). In other words, we take the slings and arrows of the concert industry so that you don’t have to. We’re tough. We’re strong. We’re Pollstar.com.

However, we’re not too sure if we’re tough enough to handle a second viewing of that Fred Durst sex tape that recently leaked onto the Web. Sometimes this job just doesn’t pay enough.