Pollstar has released it’s data on the 20 top-grossing concert tours in North America for 2007. Here’s how it sussed out.
1. The Police $131.9 million
2. Kenny Chesney $71.1 million
3. Justin Timberlake $70.6 million
4. Celine Dion $65.3 million
5. Van Halen $56.7 million
6. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill $52.3 million
7. Rod Stewart $49 million
8. Genesis $47.6 million
9. Josh Groban $43 million
10. Rascal Flatts $41.5 million
11. Dave Matthews Band $41.1 million
12. Billy Joel $39.1 million
13. Roger Waters $38.3 million
14. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band $38.2 million
15. Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus $36 million
16. Elton John $35.7 million
17. Jimmy Buffett $35.6 million
18. Barry Manilow $34.8 million
19. Toby Keith $34.3 million)
20. Mana $33.9 million
To my knowledge, no information was collected from either The Bearded Clam in Kimberling City, Missouri or The Double E Steakhouse up in Highlandville. That aside, we will have to assume that the figures are somewhat accurate.
As with all data, we can look at it from different angles.
We could say; “Wow, old people really kick ass in the music business”. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing at all against geezers making a good living playing music. I’m a geezer myself. But, looking at this list, the only performer that could be considered as a genuine product of the iPod generation is Miley Cyrus. And, as a child T.V. star, she’s a ringer. Once again, don’t get me wrong here, I have no beef with little Miley. At least she’s not pregnant, you know. All I’m saying is that there is generally a good stretch of highway from point A (tweener phenom), to point B (genuine, concert performance career).
I’m afraid that this data can be perceived as much more foreboding to the music business. You can’t come to any solid conclusions but you can make some assumptions that all seem to point in this direction; The concert business is heading down the same rabbit hole as the recording industry.
Reuters said this about Pollstar’s numbers.
The top 20 tours generated $996 million, down 15.6 percent from the year before, according to preliminary data issued on Friday by Pollstar, which covers the concert business. The previous low was $951.1 million in 2004, when Prince and Madonna topped the box office, it said.
15.6 percent is a whopping one year decline. And, this comes at a time when the music industry is shifting the paradigm to try and make the most of the performance revenue streams.
Why, is this happening?
Well, here is another bit from the Reuter’s piece.
He (Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni) suggested that some major artists may have been a little conservative with their ticket prices, noting that the Dave Matthews Band (No. 11, $41.1 million) charged an average ticket price of $49. Bruce Springsteen, hitting the road with the E Street Band for the first time in three years, came in at No. 14 with $38.2 million. But his average ticket was just $92. Both acts are noted for their fan-friendly policies.
Dion’s average ticket price was the most expensive in the top 20, at $141. Genesis, with drummer/singer Phil Collins back in the fold, charged an average of $130 per ticket, which put the British art-rock band at No. 8 with $47.6 million. The Police charged an average $114 and Van Halen an average $111. Chesney was a relative bargain at almost $63.
This clown, Gary Bongiovanni, thinks that they aren’t charging enough for tickets. To be fair, the editor of Pollstar is a very peripheral job as far as the music biz goes but, one has to wonder how many insiders actually do think this way. Good for Dave Matthews, by the way.
No, raising ticket prices is not the solution Pollstar guy. Any moron can look at the above list and figure out that; Young people aren’t going to shows.
Young people… aren’t going to see Elton John, or Rod Stewart, or Roger friggin’ Waters. And, in some insane, alternate reality, if my 17-year-old stepson wanted to take a girl to go see Phil Collins, he damn sure would not lay out the cost of a PlayStation3 to do it.
Young people are smarter than that. They wouldn’t spend that kind of dough to see an act that they were interested in.
Compare the above list to SoundScan’s top 10 digital songs for 2007.
Top 10 digital songs:
1. Daniel Powter/Bad Day: 2.02 million
2. Nelly Furtado/Promiscuous: 1.71 milion
3. Justin Timberlake/SexyBack: 1.66 million
4. Gnarls Barkley/Crazy: 1.63 million
5. James Blunt/You’re Beautiful: 1.62 million
6. Fray/Over My Head: 1.57 million
7. Fray/How to Save a Life: 1.56 million
8. Sean Paul/Temperature: 1.53 million
9. Chamillionaire/Ridin’: 1.42 million
10. Shakira/Hips Don’t Lie: 1.41 million.
That’s what young people are listening to on their iPods. Only one artist in common with the concert list. You go J.T.!
Somehow, the music industry has to figure out how to make concerts interesting to young people. I don’t know how but, price gouging isn’t the answer. The music biz seems to be banking on the concert sector for sustainability.
Here’s the thing about that sustainability; You may be able to convince a Baby Boomer with an I.R.A. and lot’s of disposable cash to get out and go see Billy Joel or Jimmy Buffett. But, that isn’t going to last. It’s going to be far more difficult to play this marketing trick on the, dope addled, booze soaked set that follows them in the parade. Hell, they had to wait on Eddie Van Halen to recover from hip surgery and go through rehab before he could shake his money maker and, he was the one touring. How are you going to continue to pry those fans off of the couch to risk D.U.I. in an attempt to rekindle a bit of misspent youth?
I’m afraid that the bottom line is that all of gloom and doom coming from the music industry is not hype. If anything, it’s a sugar coated fantasy. The musicians will do what they do, “it’s in ‘em and it’s got to come out”. But, the people who built the music industry, the salesman, better start figuring how to sell concerts to kids or, they are going to find out the true nature of the light at the end of the tunnel.
Pop in that 8 Track and crank it, boys!
“Let the Midnight Special, shine it’s ever loving light on me”.
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Tags: Pollstar, SoundScan, the further decline of the music industry
Hannah Montana fan wrote,
I thought the latest Miley Cyrus & Hannah Montana best of both worlds concert cashed in more than that. People said the tickets to the concert sold out faster than to The Police and Justin Timberlake concerts.
Are you sure you’ve got the figures right?
Hannah Montana fan’s last blog post..Miley Cyrus Sings G.N.O At Kids Choice Awards
Link | March 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Pribek wrote,
Glad you weighed in Hannah Montana fan, I think that what you say is true.
The figures are taken directly from Pollstar. Here’s what I think is going on. The data was probably compiled a little bit before it was released. I’m guessing that the totals reflect the early part of Miley’s tour and don’t include most of her dates.
I think that another factor would be the cost of tickets. The numbers for say, The Police, may appear inflated but they are dollar amounts and not number of tickets sold. I know that those guys average ticket price (retail not scalper) was quite a bit higher than Miley’s.
I didn’t mean to slight Miley in any way. Actually, I think that it’s remarkable that she has such devoted fans, that are eager to fill auditoriums at a time when when many veteran performers can’t do the same.
The Miley Cyrus fans of today, will be running the show in a couple of years and, I think that is something that a lot of “industry” types didn’t see coming and still aren’t getting.
Link | March 30th, 2008 at 9:04 am