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Even though the economy in the United States is not at its best, amphitheaters did quite well in the first half of the summer in 2008. Both attendance and gross per show went up when compared to the year before. While the artists that were on tour this summer at these outdoors venues helped with the success of the season, there were also other contributing factors that added strength to the mix. The over all business of running and booking an amphitheater is now operating more efficiently and because of this the number of people attending has risen and operational costs are down. Marketing by way of the Internet has shown to be a promising way to cut costs in advertising, while also enabling these venues to reach a larger audience. Another positive asset that amphitheaters have is that two-thirds of the venue is usually sold as general admission because of the lawn space that they have to offer. This offers concert goers more favorable ticket prices, and when tickets for that area are presented in a ticket package format the venues have noticed that they receive a great response from its buyers. Even though the past few years have showed a downward trend in amphitheater business, the work that has been put in to turn things around is showing and paying off. Even though fans are faced with hard economic times and higher ticket prices, this summer was evidence that live music is important to many people and that they are willing to skip on other luxury items to be able to attend outdoor music events.