The $ it takes to get a band like Fleetwood Mac into town

Many people think that getting a band to play in a town is as simple as picking great responding cities to singles and radio airplay and mapping their journey thru the country. Nuh-uh. You talk about being to the cent with these bands, you realize exactly how much the music industry is a buisness.

My boss has been in the industry longer than I have been alive, and he let me in on exactly how much its costing the Don Haskins Center to bring in Fleetwood Mac. In order for them to even appear here in town, they require their up front fee of $750,000. This is just for the band to make their appearance. They also get everything that the sale of t-shirts and posters bring in.

Now, that $750,000 is given to the band by the Don Haskins Center for the concert. They also now have to pay for security, arena staff, and concessions. The sale of tickets are shared by the Haskins Center and Ticketmaster, and Ticketmaster is in turn turning over a percentage of the sales to the band again.

After everything is figured, the band gets their $1 million dollars for 2 hours of playing music you can hear on a CD, the Don Haskins Center is in the red for not getting all the seats filled (not a sell-out) and the concert goers are milked something close to $140 total for tickets and souvenirs.

God Bless Corporate America!