Tempus comment: Material girl
It may only due to the fact that they are on the other pond, but the London Times Online is not as cautious as the US press about the future of Madonna – they simply say that she is to leave Warner Music to sign a $120 million deal with Live Nation.
But the article by Dan Sabbagh goes further on and adds some interesting notes about how live music and recorded materials play different roles in today’s industry:
Die hard Madonna fans were charged up to £160 to see the pneumatic singer at the Wembley Arena last year; it is hardly surprising that her recent Confessions Tour grossed $260.1 million worldwide according to Billboard magazine – with £11.8 million coming from her residency in London alone. You have to sell a lot of records to match that – her most recent album, Confessions on a Dance Floor sold 8 million worldwide, grossing maybe $80 million after the retailer’s cut.
So it’s not that surprising she has walked away from her lifelong record company, Warner, and signed up with Live Nation, managers of the Wembley Arena and the Brixton Academy, which is getting a cut of both the album and live rights for the next decade. After all, at 49, her best albums are probably behind her.
Some say, in the week of Radiohead‘s honesty box approach, that this is another blow for the beleagured record company. That’s not so convincing when you consider that Warner spent 20 years helping build her up, and now she’s got $120 million from Live Nation for her pains. Without Warner Madonna would not be so big. And, even if Warner had signed her up again, it would not have been anything like as profitable as her first deal; still they get to keep her catalogue as more than adequate compensation.
What is true is that live music is healthy and can’t be pirated – and record companies are not big enough in the live business. But they won’t be able to reinvent themselves by paying up to keep bestseller acts, in return for a slice of live revenues, because that costs too much. And while everybody raves about the future of live, there is a limit to how much people will pay too – £160 stretches most wallets after all.
Live Nation has paid dearly for its coup, and the company will have to hope that Madonna has another 10 years of athletic performances in her. But it is the Material Girl who has done best of all, with $120 million in the bank.
Source: Times Online.