Ringmybell Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Ongoing chatter that the Madonna tour, and by extension her multi-rights deal with Live Nation, are underperforming is "baseless," according to sales figures provided by tour producer Arthur Fogel, chairman of Live Nation Global Touring. The precipitous drop of MDNA in its second week, while certainly not something an artist would want (though the nature of the beast when pricing strategies are geared toward impressive first-week sales), actually has little to do with the performance of Live Nation's 10-year, $120 million multi-rights deal with Madonna. The days of tours supporting records are long gone; for some time now, touring drives record sales, not the reverse, and the Madonna touring business is more than solid. Madonna Announces 2012 World Tour Dates -- Her Biggest Tour Yet As for the multi-rights deal, while MDNA is the first album under the 360, the upcoming trek is not the first tour. That would be "Sticky and Sweet" of 2008-2009, which grossed $408 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, the third-highest gross all-time and the highest ever notched by a solo artist. Merchandising is also a component of this tour and in Madonna's case is a significant revenue producer. Finally, given that the entire 360 deal is, at its core, performance-based and assuredly tour-driven in its concept, Madonna is delivering. Madonna's Deal With Live Nation-Interscope Worth $40 Million According to Fogel -- the guy who would know -- these are the facts: 76 Madonna shows at arenas and stadiums are on sale in North America and Europe combined. More than 1.4 million tickets have been sold, banking about $214 million for an average in the $2.7 million per show in a mix of stadiums and arenas. And the tour doesn't even begin until May 29 in Tel Aviv, first hitting America in Philadelphia Aug. 28. Billboard Power 100: Arthur Fogel Fogel's not sure what to make of the detractors. "This tour is completely on track to end up in the top 10 tours of all time, especially considering we haven't put South America or Australia on sale," he tells Billboard.biz. "To say this tour is not performing is so off base I don't even know what to say. When this tour is said and done, combined with 'Sticky and Sweet,' you're talking $750 million in gross ticket sales. That sounds pretty impressive to me." If tickets are still available for certain shows, that by no means spells disaster. "One of the things some people don't get is, I don't necessarily want to be sold out at this point; I keep trying to find tickets to sell," says Fogel. "Every day our people are trying to fine-tune the site lines and production kills. That's my job. It's great when you can say 'sold out,' but right now I want to keep finding tickets to sell. That's the game." Is Madonna Behind Live Nation's Stock Surge? European dates, which are mostly in stadiums, have come under particular scrutiny. Fogel says the $214 million gross banked so far is spread "pretty evenly" between North America and Europe, and there are 43 shows on sale in North America versus 33 in Europe. "You can do the math," Fogel says, reeling off sales figures. "46,000 in Istanbul, 44,000 in Milan, 39,000 in Florence. We sold out two arenas in Barcelona, two in Berlin, two in Amsterdam, we sold 42,000 in Edinburgh, 40,000 in Helsinki, 51,000 in Paris. If that's trouble, give me more." Fogel concedes Europe didn't blow up the way North America did, but cites buying patterns for stadium general admission tickets in Europe, and the huge promotional boost of the Super Bowl performance in America as key factors in that disparity. "She's at the top of her game and she ain't goin' away," he concludes. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/touring/madonna-s-2012-tour-on-track-to-be-among-1006819752.story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikki Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 um. so far. she really needs to add a lot more dates in south america, asia, and australia if she wants to break her own record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Finally some truth. How many will take up this story though. The media are fucked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elysium Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I really hope it's a success for M's sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datf Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 hmm, but about 2.7 million per show? it's far off from sticky and sweet tour's 4.8 million. would that thing rise so much more by the time the tour starts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluejean Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Great article!! I especially LOVE this part which tells us that Australia is very much in the plans. especially considering we haven't put South America or Australia on sale," he tells Billboard.biz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Oriole Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 hmm, but about 2.7 million per show? it's far off from sticky and sweet tour's 4.8 million. would that thing rise so much more by the time the tour starts? It's likely because the numbers are coming from a majority of US arenas, but when the numbers from Mexico, S America, & Oz are counted, that average will likely go up because of all the stadiums. Also, as the tour sells out more, I think the average should go up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Great article!! I especially LOVE this part which tells us that Australia is very much in the plans. Quick - get Matt Matt; we've got to turn his frown upside down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 It's likely because the numbers are coming from a majority of US arenas, but when the numbers from Mexico, S America, & Oz are counted, that average will likely go up because of all the stadiums. Also, as the tour sells out more, I think the average should go up. Agree. I think they are being wisely cautious. The maths of dates, # of tickets and ticket prices really do suggest she will surpass S&S revenue. Of course this all depends on (near) sell-outs, which as everyone can concede, will mostly pan out as such over the coming months. When we see two for one deals, then we'll know something is up. No need to answer this, but I still can't get my head around why it is that the media want so desperately for her to fail. It's just stupid and I sometimes find it really upsetting the way they go after her ALL the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datf Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 then again i have another worry. in s&s, the north american shows sold 680k+ tickets in 30 shows, with 8 stadium shows. for the mdna north american shows, there are 44 shows, with 4 being stadium shows. so there should be around 770k tickets for the north american shows this time. with 97% of it sold, nearly 750k are sold already. the middle eastern shows have a capacity of 30000x2 for tel aviv, 22000x2 for abu dhabi and 50000 for istanbul, and is mostly sold out, probably selling near 150k already. 1.4 million tickets are sold in the 76 shows. minusing the middle eastern and north american shows, around nearly 520k tickets would have already been sold for the european shows. in s&s europe, she did 42 shows inclduing 37 stadium shows, with total 1.98 million tickets sold. and in mdna europeean shows, she's doing 28 shows including 17 stadiums, calculated out by me to be a capacity of around 1 million. so only over 50% of the european tickets are sold. is that not a good sign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elysium Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 then again i have another worry. in s&s, the north american shows sold 680k+ tickets in 30 shows, with 8 stadium shows. for the mdna north american shows, there are 44 shows, with 4 being stadium shows. so there should be around 770k tickets for the north american shows this time. with 97% of it sold, nearly 750k are sold already. the middle eastern shows have a capacity of 30000x2 for tel aviv, 22000x2 for abu dhabi and 50000 for istanbul, and is mostly sold out, probably selling near 150k already. 1.4 million tickets are sold in the 76 shows. minusing the middle eastern and north american shows, around nearly 520k tickets would have already been sold for the european shows. in s&s europe, she did 42 shows inclduing 37 stadium shows, with total 1.98 million tickets sold. and in mdna europeean shows, she's doing 28 shows including 17 stadiums, calculated out by me to be a capacity of around 1 million. so only over 50% of the european tickets are sold. is that not a good sign? Once the tour starts there will be a media blitz like you have never seen before. That will help to sell quite a few tickets in Europe at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apples388 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 then again i have another worry. in s&s, the north american shows sold 680k+ tickets in 30 shows, with 8 stadium shows. for the mdna north american shows, there are 44 shows, with 4 being stadium shows. so there should be around 770k tickets for the north american shows this time. with 97% of it sold, nearly 750k are sold already. the middle eastern shows have a capacity of 30000x2 for tel aviv, 22000x2 for abu dhabi and 50000 for istanbul, and is mostly sold out, probably selling near 150k already. 1.4 million tickets are sold in the 76 shows. minusing the middle eastern and north american shows, around nearly 520k tickets would have already been sold for the european shows. in s&s europe, she did 42 shows inclduing 37 stadium shows, with total 1.98 million tickets sold. and in mdna europeean shows, she's doing 28 shows including 17 stadiums, calculated out by me to be a capacity of around 1 million. so only over 50% of the european tickets are sold. is that not a good sign? I know right? I'm so worried I don't know how I can sleep at night!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ai Papi Si. Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I hope this tour breaks Sticky's record so I can rub it in everyone's face. Do you guys think it'll happen? This is going to be an amazing tour. After the joyful sassy Sticky I have a feeling she's gonna go back to Perfections Tour level artistry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Case39 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I hope this tour breaks Sticky's record so I can rub it in everyone's face. Do you guys think it'll happen? This is going to be an amazing tour. After the joyful sassy Sticky I have a feeling she's gonna go back to Perfections Tour level artistry. I'm not sure. The tour will be AMAZING and insanely successful, no doubt about that, and it will certainly be the highest grossing tour of 2012 but i don't think she will break the Sticky & Sweet record. I could be wrong, just wait and see... I'm only sure of one thing: the tour will outsell BTW tour, no matters how much shows Gaga will add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ai Papi Si. Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Who cares tbh. Why bring her up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Case39 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Who cares tbh. Why bring her up? I was just thinking about that, that's all. You're right, it's not important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeMySoul Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 that cunt whore caca can only dream of selling tickets like Madonna 30 years into her career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whyme? Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 It's not going to break Sticky's record, even though she's pretty much doing the same amount of shows. He says in the article that both tours will gross a total of $750 million - that's $400m for SS and $350m for MDNA tour. Both are great numbers, but still it would have been nice to break U2's record. She pretty much did two European tours on her last tour, so I think there may be some madonna fatigue there. The fact that she can't sell out Londom proves this. She could have done an extensive asia tour and that would have grossed more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtzlplk Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 It's not going to break Sticky's record, even though she's pretty much doing the same amount of shows. He says in the article that both tours will gross a total of $750 million - that's $400m for SS and $350m for MDNA tour. Both are great numbers, but still it would have been nice to break U2's record. Is that $350M figure just for the first leg?... $408 of S&S is for a two-leg tour... if Live Nation makes her do another leg later in 2013 that will include Japan and Asia, it will be very easy to break S&S... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal1974 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 42,000 in Edinburgh in a full Murrayfield configuration is not a total sell out. I think it can take up to 60k, Live Earth was 50k, but it depends how much of the stand is blocked off for the stage etc.. Still impressive and she would have had to play five or more nights at the SECC to play to that amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal1974 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 then again i have another worry. I would not worry. Its not like she will have to take out a crisis loan from the DSS to feed her kids. At a $1,000,000 appearance fee for each show she is rumoured to charge, I am sue she will be laughing all the way to the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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