Strongbow

Actually, Madonna and Barbara Streisand or closer to U2 and the Police in terms of gross rather than attendance. But neither of them is in the same league as U2, The Police, and the Rolling Stones. The only reason Maddona was able to play some stadiums on her recent tour in some markets was because she had not actually played a show in those markets since the 1980s despite having a continuous active career all those years.

Moggio

That's definitely not true.

This summer, Madonna just grossed over $116 million USD from only 17 UK/European shows. That works out to be nearly $7 million per show.

And recently, in 2006-2007, Barbra Streisand grossed nearly $95 million USD from only 27 shows worldwide. In North America, from only 18 shows, she grossed over $76 million and averaged over $4.2 million per show.

U2, The Police & The Rolling Stones can't do that.

Now imagine how high their overall grosses would be if Madonna & Streisand did 100+ show tours like many other artists...

Whatever. The point is, overall, she's a larger draw than U2, The Police & The Rolling Stones are.

vaz02

The revenue is only high because demand was greater than supply, they could command high ticket prices solely on that aspect. Dont you know how the industry works ?

Strongbow

Your forgetting that most of Barbara Streisand's concerts did not sellout, or if they did, it was only because the venue was set up for a lower capacity.

With both Barbara Streisand and Madonna, when you reduce the number of shows that are available in the market, you increase the demand for the few that remain. If Madonna or Barbara Streisand attempted to play as many shows as U2, The Police or the Rolling Stones, they would not be able to sell most of them out and would not be able to match the gross seen by those three artist. Its economics 101.

Its not to see that Barbara and Madonna are not popular, they are very popular, but are just not on the same level as U2, Stones, and Police.

Moggio

You obviously don't.

Moggio

It doesn't matter. Attendance can be adjusted based on what the ticket prices and venue capacity are set at, in relation to what the gross is. Example:

~ If market A's gross is $1 million and the average ticket price is $100, then 10,000 tickets will be sold
~ If market A's gross is $1 million and the average ticket price is $50, then 20,000 tickets will be sold
~ If market A's gross is $1 million and the average ticket price is $25, then 40,000 tickets will be sold
~ If market A's gross is $1 million and the average ticket price is $12.50, then 80,000 tickets will be sold

Etc., etc., etc.

She grossed more. Therefore, she is the larger draw. It's pretty simple.

Not necessarily.

I don’t know how you could say that based on the fact that a) Madonna outgrossed them in virtually all markets in the UK/Europe and will do the same this fall in North America & South America in the winter. And since b) Barbra only played 27 shows in major markets but she grossed more than U2, The Police & The Stones did in almost all of those markets. So it's incredibly easy and obvious to see that if she played just as many shows as U2, The Police or The Stones, she would end up with an overall higher grossing tour than the aforementioned artist(s).

Promoters schedule tours based on how many shows the artist(s) in question want to play and then they calculate demand based on a few main formulas relating to album sales. They then schedule the tour according to the above in order to make the most $$$ possible. Promoters already know what the gross is going to be before tickets are put on sale in each market. They're not going to risk spending tens of thousands of dollars booking venues, setting up production, etc., if they weren't sure what demand was...

vaz02

So you think if supply was greater than demand ticket prices would be just as high ?

Moggio

Demand was met. That's my point.

vaz02

So how can they possibly be a bigger draw if they only played 27 shows ?

genesis199125

so moggio, are you saying madonna could possibly hold sold-out stadium shows in Tennessee and Montana like the Rolling Stones have? I highly doubt it.

Moggio

Barbra played 27 shows on her 2006-2007 tour. This year, Madonna will be playing around double that amount of shows.

I really can't believe you're still on this. The stats clearly show that Madonna & Streisand outgrossed U2, The Police & The Stones in most comparable MAJOR markets. So, do you really think that if Streisand & Madonna played as many shows worldwide as U2, The Police & The Stones have per tour, that they wouldn't outgross them in most other major & secondary markets?

Moggio

Not necessarily in those particular markets. But what I am saying is that Madonna & Barbra Streisand can outgross U2, The Police & The Stones, overall.

Yahweh

If U2 played 10 concerts they could charge 10 thousand for a ticket and they would all sell out. Its called supply and demand, very simple economics. U2 could outdraw Madonna very easily in every market around the world with the same ticket prices. The Rolling Stones are right now the only band that is able to draw the same kind of numbers as U2.

If ABBA and Led Zeppelin came back they would be on the same level as U2 but Madonna is not on that level. Shes popular but shes not the biggest live draw around.

Moggio

Not necessarily. It depends on which venue & market you're talking about.

The facts show that to be wrong.

If ABBA toured, they would do very well. But if Led Zeppelin toured again, they would crush U2.

Again, the facts show that to be wrong.

Yahweh

What facts the facts are that the Vertigo Tour grossed 360 million dollars. The Bigger Bang Tour grossed 558 million dollars. Madonna has grossed 195 million on her Confessions Tour. This is not even close in numbers and yes she did play less shows but it is not to be assumed that she would have still been drawing the same type of crowds in other markets, it is likely the demand was met.

I would challenge Madonna to tour the world with exactly the same ticket prices as U2 has and play the same venues and see who would win the battle. I would put my money on the 4 Irish legends.

Extrapolating information and making assumptions isnt good enough until she grosses more then U2 on a tour, she hasnt done the level of business as them. As much as I hate The Rolling Stones I admit they can draw a crowd all around the world and have been the only competition in pure numbers for about the last 20 years.

U2 may be able to do 600-700 million next tour depending on how well the album is recieved and if they play all out stadiums all around the world. Madonna couldnt do that in her dreams.