Post by merg on May 30, 2004 23:40:59 GMT -5
Reuters
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Billboard) - Prince's new CD, "Musicology," has hit platinum based solely on his tour ticket sales, which include a copy of the album.
On May 20, the outing hit 1 million tickets sold, according to John Meglen, Concerts West co-CEO. Meglen is producing the tour with co-CEO Paul Gongaware. The tally includes shows that have already happened, plus sales for a number of upcoming dates.
The Musicology tour has grossed more than $26 million and drawn 435,756 people to 32 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore.
The tour, which provides a free CD with each ticket purchased, is expected to move more than 1.2 million tickets for 90 shows before it concludes in mid-September.
Concerts West, the touring division of national promoter AEG Live, became promoter/producer of the Prince tour after the artist saw a production of Celine Dion's "A New Day ..." at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, also produced by Concerts West.
"Prince saw Celine's show, saw how we operate, and he seemed to be very impressed with that," Meglen says. "I kind of classify it as, it is his tour, and we're just providing operations, structure, and all of that, to promote the tour."
Indeed, when the tour was announced, Concerts West's role was downplayed.
"Nobody is coming to see Concerts West," Meglen points out. "Everybody is coming to see Prince."
Many now consider the inclusion of CDs in the ticket price to be a master stroke. Other bands are implementing the concept, including Gomez and the Cure.
Prince's CD, released by Sony Music Entertainment, is also available at traditional retail.
"It was pretty much an idea that Prince himself brought up," Meglen says of including the CD in the ticket price. "He knew he had his fans coming to the shows, so why couldn't we simply, when you sell a ticket to the fan, sell them the CD at the same time?"
About $9 was added to the ticket price to account for the CDs. "Basically, we pay for the costs of the CDs, and Prince gets paid for providing the CDs," Meglen explains. "He's his own record company in that situation."
Gongaware and Meglen say they were a little surprised by the controversy Prince's strategy ignited in the industry.
"We're just doing what the artist wants," Gongaware says, "and this is an artist that wants to reach the most people he can with his music."
Even with the additional cost for the CD, Prince's ticket prices are extremely competitive. In most markets, they run $49.50 to $75.
The theory was to make the ticket affordable to everybody, Meglen says.
"We felt that we could do more seats and more people by having a lower ticket price, and when you have an artist that loves to perform as you do with Prince, time is really not fighting against you," Meglen says.
"That's what allows us to go do five Staples Center and break the attendance records of Madonna and Springsteen, because more people can afford to go to shows."
The CD distribution "takes a little more time to set up in terms of the execution," Gongaware says. "We have a system down now, and it works very well."
Arenas have adapted to the system easily. "We handed the CDs out at all the entry points, and it amounted to less than $500 in extra labor," says Mike Wooley, assistant GM at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Nashville venue's May 6 Prince show grossed $983,425 and drew 16,680.
The tour, currently averaging about $812,500 per show, should pick up some financial momentum as the summer progresses.
"We played mainly secondaries on the first leg," Meglen says. "All the major markets and multiple dates are coming in the next couple of legs."
Bottom line, the Musicology tour will end up as one of the elite treks of 2004, with a final gross likely to be close to $100 million.
Reuters/Billboard
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