Prince's "Musicology" tour is off to a phenonenal start (see related thread for complete details). Judging by this story, he's likely doing the best business of any artist currently on the road.

http://www.usatoday.com/l...tour_x.htm


Britney's tour a big draw in a crowded field

By Steve Jones, USA TODAY

Britney Spears may no longer be in the zone she occupied a couple of years ago as the queen of teen pop, but her concert ticket sales are still healthy. The singer is showing staying power with her Onyx Hotel Tour.

Pop princess Britney Spears is filling 85% of venues on her Onyx Hotel Tour.
By Frank Micelotta, Getty Images

The arena tour, which opened March 2 in San Diego and wraps up its first leg Wednesday in Auburn Hills, Mich., has had several sellouts or near sellouts. But it also has had dates when ticket sales fell well short of capacity.

According to figures culled from Billboard, her average gross was $743,724 on sales of 11,594 tickets on the tour's first 11 dates. She's filling about 85% of her venues' capacity.

"There are not that many acts out there who can sell 10,000 tickets per show," Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni says. "Her moment in the sun isn't over yet."

Billboard's Ray Waddell says Spears is picking up momentum with her current single (Toxic has been No. 1 on Airplay Monitor's mainstream top 40 chart for four weeks). "She's transcended that teen-pop thing, and it looks like a lot of her fans are going with her."

Her 85% capacity figure is about average among other top-level acts touring in the same time span at similar-sized venues. Hot country act Toby Keith has been selling out everywhere, and rockers Metallica and Aerosmith are at about 90% and 88%, respectively. Kid Rock has been averaging 94%, while in a few early dates, the Verizon Ladies First Tour with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott and Tamia is drawing about 84%.

The stadium-level success that 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys achieved just a few years ago appears to be over, but the teen-pop market is still alive thanks to the American Idol phenomenon and acts such as Hilary Duff, who is also scoring some concert sellouts.

Waddell says the genre reinvents itself every year with a new batch of young fans who favor new acts. He says that acts such as Spears have to keep evolving or they'll disappear. But American Idol, with new acts, is establishing a successful niche.

Idol stars are proving they can fill seats; 2003 runner-up Clay Aiken and 2002 winner Kelly Clarkson have done well on their 30-city Independent Tour, which ends Friday in St. Paul. On their first 11 dates they averaged $412,213 on sales of 8,868 tickets, or about 90% capacity.

"It's a heck of a thing that you can go out and headline arenas on your very first tour," says Waddell, noting the Fox TV show's drawing power. "But you have a built-in fan base before the artist even hits the road. It seems like the way to break an act these days."

Waddell says it remains to be seen whether the Idol acts will last. He says the singers' route to stardom bypasses a lot of the normal building blocks most acts go through, but for now they are "ready-made" stars.

According to figures culled from Billboard, her average gross was $743,724 on sales of 11,594 tickets on the tour's first 11 dates. She's filling about 85% of her venues' capacity.

"There are not that many acts out there who can sell 10,000 tickets per show," Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni says. "Her moment in the sun isn't over yet."


Hmmm...and now compare those statements with these facts on the Musicology tour:

Staples Center: $1,249,585 gross sales, 17,367 in attendance.

American Airlines Center: $1,161,356 in gross sales, 18,483 in attendance.

Glendale Arena: $1,035,859 in gross sales, 16,094 in attendance.

Lawlor Events Center: $748,253 in gross sales, 11,777 in attendance.





[This message was edited Fri Apr 9 7:44:18 2004 by Byron]

Byron said:

NICE
Someone mentioned in another thread that it's been an unbelievable year so far, and it's only April. That's true. You know it's only gonna get better. I'm proud of P. Lots of love being shown coast to coast. He deserves it. Dude is gonna be $PAID$ at the end of this tour!!!