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Welcome back Bonz, but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal.
Post by mizvalentine on Jul 5, 2011 14:27:33 GMT -5
Was the $1M/headliner number ever confirmed? I'd find that kinda hard to believe, but I'd like it to be true! I would've guessed more like $500k for Eminem and $200-300k each for Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. And then it drops off precipitously from there.
I'd bet the bands in the bottom quarter of the lineup made $5k or less.
Was the $1M/headliner number ever confirmed? I'd find that kinda hard to believe, but I'd like it to be true! I would've guessed more like $500k for Eminem and $200-300k each for Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. And then it drops off precipitously from there.
I'd bet the bands in the bottom quarter of the lineup made $5k or less.
Depends on what you mean by "confirmed." This is all hearsay, but I understand from a friend who books a festival considered competitive with Bonnaroo that DMB initially turned down $1.2 million to play Roo 2010. I have no word on what number appeared on the final contract.
Was the $1M/headliner number ever confirmed? I'd find that kinda hard to believe, but I'd like it to be true! I would've guessed more like $500k for Eminem and $200-300k each for Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. And then it drops off precipitously from there.
I'd bet the bands in the bottom quarter of the lineup made $5k or less.
Depends on what you mean by "confirmed." This is all hearsay, but I understand from a friend who books a festival considered competitive with Bonnaroo that DMB initially turned down $1.2 million to play Roo 2010. I have no word on what number appeared on the final contract.
Wow, 1.2M, that's nutty! I just meant was $1M a total guess or did it have some basis... I wonder if $1M is just fee, or if they're rolling riders, production cost, hospitality etc in that number.
Depends on what you mean by "confirmed." This is all hearsay, but I understand from a friend who books a festival considered competitive with Bonnaroo that DMB initially turned down $1.2 million to play Roo 2010. I have no word on what number appeared on the final contract.
Wow, 1.2M, that's nutty! I just meant was $1M a total guess or did it have some basis... I wonder if $1M is just fee, or if they're rolling riders, production cost, hospitality etc in that number.
That number had some basis because his festival was trying to book DMB as well. I didn't get any detail beyond the initial turn-down.
Wow, 1.2M, that's nutty! I just meant was $1M a total guess or did it have some basis... I wonder if $1M is just fee, or if they're rolling riders, production cost, hospitality etc in that number.
That number had some basis because his festival was trying to book DMB as well. I didn't get any detail beyond the initial turn-down.
I wonder how that works when their manager is also pretty much the booking money behind Bonnaroo?
Didn't Morrissey say the Smiths got offered 5m or something to reunite for Coachella? Also, Radiohead got 1.2 million to play in 2004 at Coachella, so I would guess that headliners get somewhere from 750,000 to 1.5mil.
Welcome back Bonz, but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal.
I am not sure about $1 mil for a headliner unless they were super exclusive, but it is my understanding that the payout for a festival gig is more than what an artist would normally receive. that kind of makes sense since there are restrictions and stipulations on the contract to where and when said artist can play when preforming at a particular festival. It is also no coincidence that some musicians like The Flaming Lips, Girl Talk, and My Morning Jacket are playing a lot of festivals.
I am not sure about $1 mil for a headliner unless they were super exclusive, but it is my understanding that the payout for a festival gig is more than what an artist would normally receive.
^^that number has always sounded really high to me too. I think a legendary act like Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band might have been paid a cool mil or even more, but I doubt any of this year's headliners made much more than 500K. Eminem might have gotten as much as 750-800K, but I think even that's a bit on the high side.
And I always thought that the paycheck for a festival was slightly less than normal? Just because of the shorter set times and the fact that it gives the lesser-known acts a ton of exposure to new audiences. Then again, I have virtually zero experience in booking concerts or festivals, so I'm not really sure of everything that goes into the process.
Last Edit: Jul 8, 2011 0:41:36 GMT -5 by jack324 - Back to Top
I would think the "reunion" bands would be offered more, simply because you can guarantee to draw a unique audience with that. A band that's disbanded or doesn't tour anymore back together for this one festival will draw a huge crowd, sell more tickets, etc. But I have no idea how it works.
Post by mizvalentine on Jul 8, 2011 13:25:07 GMT -5
I can say from personal experience that festival fees are definitely higher than regular gig fees.
As to why, from the booker's perspective I'd guess its because the festival market's pretty bloated right now, so if you want good headliners you're going to have to pay well. Festivals also draw more people and have more sponsorship, and are less dependent on any one headliner...when risk is less and guaranteed take is high, bands make out better (or rather, bands know that risk is low and take is high and can demand more money accordingly).
From the band's perspective, most festivals have lockout clauses that you can't play within x number of miles of the festival within x number of days on either side (at least with regional acts, I dunno about big names). So you have to travel farther out of the way on your tour, or play less, which costs money. Any 'one-off' gig is also always more expensive than club fees...you may hit a festival as part of a tour, but its still treated like a one-off.
For mid- to low-end acts (or anybody without major tour backing), festivals are sort of your slush fund.... you can afford to play some crappy club shows for half your usual guarantee if you know you've got a festival for 2-3x your usual guarantee on the books every few weeks. And if a festival is really out of the way, you're gonna have to take less than great club bookings to get there and back. There's also a certain annoyance factor to any big event...if you're a more moderate act, the call times for festivals can be really early, and they make you stick around all day, which blows. I've waited 5 hours to play for 45 minutes. Festie bookers know all this, so if they want you, they'll pay you to be there.
I recently met a friend of a friend who is a booking agent (she works heavily with festivals too). She refused to give me any info tho.. all I asked was for a general statement (whether the 200-300k or 1.2-1.3 mil numbers are more correct).
"There's no way I'm answering that...haha. I will say though that it depends on the name and whether the act is already on the road, how bad the fest wants the act and how bad the act wants to play the fest. And some fests have more money than others too... Sorry, fees are confidential! "
Welcome back Bonz, but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal.
but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal. 
