Good Article on Madonna. Who has gotten a free pass from the media to long.

From Fox 411

Madonna Tour: Does She Need the Cash?

What would force a 46-year-old multi-millionaire pop icon to go on the road once again, especially if it meant risking health and taking time from her family? One would think Madonna is past all that, and I'm sure as she cancelled her Los Angeles show last night for the flu, and reading the negative reviews of opening night, she was thinking the same thing. But the pop queen must go on. In fact, Madonna needs to tour. People may wonder why she'd put herself through it all, and here's the simple answer: cold cash. Even with her vast wealth, investments, etc, she probably needs it by now.

You see, Madge — for whom no one will be having a telethon anytime soon — is not the money machine she was in the late 1980s. According to Forbes, Madonna has only made their Celebrity 100 list three times in the last 11 years and once in the last five years. True, in 2002 she grossed $43 million from her Drowned World Tour, but she finished overall at number 17 for money earned among entertainers. On the other hand, she landed at number 4 for the amount of power she wielded that year. One thing's for sure, Madonna gets a lot of press even when she's not raking in the bucks.

If Forbes is right, Madonna made less in 2003 than Bill Clinton, who picked up $9 million for writing his book and speaking engagements.

Her problems earning fresh income from songwriting royalties or publishing began once she stopped using professional songwriters for her hits and started creating them on her own. For example: although they are closely identified with her, Madonna did not write her most popular hits "Holiday," "Borderline," "Papa Don't Preach," "Like a Virgin," or "Material Girl." (For "Borderline," one of Madonna's first hits, Reggie Lucas actually just cannibalized another of his hits, Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This." They are almost interchangeable.) On most others, like "Into the Groove" and "Like a Prayer," she shared credit with at least one songwriter. Still radio staples in 2004, those songs make money for their writers and not for Madonna.

Before 1990, Madonna rarely even put her name on a song for a co-writing credit. If she did, it was for filler, not a hit. She only started that practice around that year, with the "Like a Prayer" album, adding her name to songs by Patrick Leonard and by Stephen Bray, each of whom had previously written for her. Not a great songwriter. she "contributed" to the songs' composition and wisely took a cut of the publishing royalties.

Only one track of the 17 on Madonna's greatest hits album, "The Immaculate Collection," issued in 1990, is credited solely to her: "Lucky Star." Of the other 16, five lack her name completely. The other eleven are collaborations, with two of them getting only "additional lyrics" by Madonna, thus diminishing her cut of the profits.

But after 1990, Madonna — believing she'd become a great writer — changed collaborators. Bray and Leonard were succeeded by Shep Pettibone, William Orbit, and Mirwais. The sound went from pop to electronic, and, in the process, traded sensuality for mechanics. It's almost impossible to name a Madonna song or even hum one that's come out since 1990 even though many of them were video or radio hits. How about "Mer Girl"? Don't know that one? What about "Deeper and Deeper," "Bad Girl," "Bedtime Story," or "Frozen"? The theme from "Die Another Day"? Nothing, huh? "Ray of Light," a hit, was more admired than it was beloved.

Essentially, she had her name on a lot of forgettable records.

Madonna's new publishing philosophy of adding her name to songs was almost done too late, in fact. By that time the damage was done, and the big hits were credited to others. Madonna's plight, you could say, was similar to those of other great singers and performers from the pre-singer/songwriter era who only recorded but didn't write their hits.

That's because there is no performance royalty for airplay. When you hear a song on the radio, only its writer is paid a royalty. If the singer is just singing it, even if it's a hit, they are not getting any benefit from it other than fame. Oldies radio staples from Motown, Stax, the Brill Building era, and even Elvis Presley are included in this.

The decline in album sales overall for artists of her generation hasn't helped the bottom line either. Madonna's last album, "American Life," however, never even went platinum, selling a meager 637,000 copies according to SoundScan. Those numbers are frightening when you have to support a husband, children, staff, manager, and a personal lifestyle that's platinum card, five-star and over the top.

For example, Madonna reportedly gave the Kabbalah organization a $5 million gift to build a London headquarters. She also turned over royalties from her two children's books, which sold well enough overall and probably generated some income. At the rate things are going, she may be asking for all of it back any day now.

what a crap article.Fox News conveniently forgets to mention that Madonna is worth over $300 million,and that she makes tons of money in ways that people don't even know about....$10 Million for doing a Gap commercial....$10 million from CBS to air one of her concerts....she was offered $3 million to write and record a theme song for the movie "a Beautiful Mind" (which she declined)...Microsoft paid her $15 million to use the song "Ray Of Light" in a commercial...and her current tour is expected to gross over $100 million,making it one of the year's most profitable tours.

Some "money woes",huh?
[This message was edited Thu May 27 5:53:14 2004 by DavidEye]

I wish I had her "money woes"

WildStyle said:

that's what I'm saying...lol...


Fox News has been dissing Maddy ever since she voiced her opposition to the war.And now that she's on a successful,sold-out tour,they're gonna really start writing venomous articles.This article is so absurd and inaccurate,we're cracking up over at the Madonna forums.I mean,just look at the first sentence...


What would force a 46-year old multi-millionaire pop icon to go on the road once again,especially if it meant risking her health and taking time from her family?


well,dumbass,Madonna is an ENTERTAINER so touring is part of her job description.And when they say she is "risking her health",I guess they're referring to the oh-so-painful stomach flu? LOL.And they also claim that touring "takes her away from her family".I guess they don't know that Guy and the kids are touring with Maddy this summer (she even has a play area that's in the backstage area,built just for her kids).See what happens when you write an article without checking the facts? lol

That article is shit,but it makes for an interesting read.

DO NOT MESS W/ "BAD GIRL"!!!



This article seems like it's just TRYING to say something negative about her. If she was worried about $ why the fuck would she be giving it all away? This article is dumb

Ok, I don't even like Madonna, but even I can tell this article it ridiculous..

"What would force a 46-year old multi-millionaire pop icon to go on the road once again, especially if it meant risking her health and taking time from her family?"

What kind of moronic question is that??...Why is she being "forced"?? did I miss the news article that talked about a gun being put to Madonna's head and making her go onstage or something? Touring is what rock acts do...sheesh. And from the looks of Madonna doing those forearm stands and contorting her body in all ways and shapes during the song "Vogue", she looks plenty healthy to me...

laurarichardson said:

This can't possibly qualify as a "good article", no matter WHO it's about....

When someone has to point out that you're making less money than Bill Clinton, then I'd say you're still doing okay.

I mean, I'm making less money than Bill Clinton, but nobody really cares and to point it out would just be kind of a pathetic, cruel joke.

I bet Madge ain't hurtin...but I'll set aside a few packets of Ramen for her just in case.

I dismiss articles like this when the fact given in the first sentence is incorrect. Madonna, at the time of writting, is 45 years old, not 46. Eveytime an artist older than Nelly's last hit does an album, tour, or whatever someone always says they are doing it because the artist needs the cash. It's an old song. (No pun intended) People like Madonna, Prince, Eagles, and many others never made thier livings from album or single sales anyway. Tours and other types of promotions are the cash cows for them. So for the "journalist" to imply that Madonna needs the money just because her last record didn't sell or chart well is not accurate. She got paid and paid well for American Life up front. WB are the ones who make their money off album sales. The only ones who really know how much Madonna had are her accountant and herself.

Byron said:

Agreed. I don't typically rush to Madonna's defense; however, if I bothered to take the time to address all of the obvious inaccuracies present in this fluff piece, I would end up with an article longer than the one posted here.

Byron said:

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Well the guy who writes this column Roger Friedman is often right about a lot of things going on in the entertainment field. Plus he writes and does a lot to help some of the old RnB artist who have been ripped off. I don't think he is a bad guy. Just not a Maddonna fan.

I do like what he has to say about Maddonna not being much of song writter.

laurarichardson said:

The article is pure crap. From the very beggining Madonna's name was included in the credits.True her first 5-6 hits were mostly not Madonna-co-composed but that doesn't change the fact that in the "Madonna" album Madge composed 6 of the 8 tracks (including Lucky Star), in the "Like A Virgin" album she co-composed 6 of the 10 tracks (including Into The Groove and Angel), in the "True Blue" album she co-composed 8 of the 9 tracks (all except Papa Don't Preach) and she co-composed all four tracks from "Who's That Girl" so Madonna didn't start getting co-writing credits with Like A Prayer. Out of her 18 pre-"Like A Prayer" UK hits Madonna has co-writing credits in 11, 9 of which went Top 5 and 4 went #1. Out of her 15 pre-"Like A Prayer" US hits Madonna has co-writing credits in 8 all of which went Top 5 including 3 #1s

I also don't think that her 90s material are forgettable.
Are "Erotica", "Playground", "Secret", "Take A Bow", "You'll See" or "I'll Remember" forgettable? Hell no. And i don't even mention the "Ray Of Light" and "Music" albums

As of American Life, well OK it didn't launch a major hit in the states (besides "Die Another Day") but "American Life" and "Hollywood" were major hits just about everywhere else. As for "Love Profusion" it still gets airplay in all 6 european music tv stations I get except MTV. The fact that the album didn't sell very good has probably more to do with lack of airplay in the states and the fact that it was very uncommercial for a Madonna album that anything else.

So it's a crap article all the way
[This message was edited Thu May 27 10:12:06 2004 by marian]

I'm agreeing with the masses for once... This article is quite stupid. The only part that I agreed with was this one:



The only reason I agree with this statement is because....it's true. She didn't write the majority of her hits. But, many of the most popular artists in history didn't write their hits either, so it's stupid to make it sound like she's alone on this platform. However, this point is constantly held against many artists after Madonna's time, so I'm not going to overlook it. It's a lot easier to sing a song when the lyrics and background sounds are handed to you. These are the songs that made her a star. Sure, she made them interesting, but would she be who she is today without "Like A Virgin"? More people know that one than "Lucky Star" and associate it with her name more than the songs that she did write. Don't get me wrong, Madonna is a talented lady and a decent songwriter, but this is a fact that even hardcore Madonna fans can't ignore or overlook. I just think it's stupid that this person thinks that Madonna is having money problems...how? Isn't she worth over 100 million dollars? How do you have money woes when you're worth that much, unless she's having an MC Hammer complex.....dumb article, except for the part mentioned.

yeah but...Babs did her Barbara "The Concert" because she was broke...she admitted this.....so while I think claiming madge (or mj for that matter) are broke.....she just may be needing a lil more cash to pursue other investments....

um...ok. so, it's like this. you don't have to like madonna's work. you don't have to think she's a decent song writer. you don't have to think she's one of the most influential women in pop music. all of that is subjective, really. you do have to think, however, that this article is so full of shit it stinks all the way to my house. how many homes does madonna have? if she was strapped for cash she could just sell one of them and not leave her kids behind. oh, but that's right...madonna is a performer. that means, once in a while, ol' girl goes ON THE ROAD! by all reports, she has her children and hubby with her, so i fail to see how she has left them to go on tour. oh, and find me a 45 year old woman who can twist her body up like that for 50 nites. whateva, treva.

laurarichardson said:

i don't care what or who this so-called journalist is...he clearly has an axe to grind. unfortunately for him, the blade is dull cuz he is way off the mark here. he's writing for Fox, eh? figures. his info and "insight" is about as accurate as one of their nightly newscasts. i don't doubt there are some complaints about the show. a lot of people don't want to see these war torn images she is thrusting upon people at her show. i also don't have any problem with anyone busting on madge...lord knows on the right day i'll be right there with ya! it would help the argument, however, if just SOME of this "reporting" were accurate. last i checked, deeper and deeper, bad girl, ray of light, frozen, and bedtime story were hits.

i'll be the first to say that madonna's career is not the automatic success it once was but, ya know what, a sell out tour across the globe is not the sign of a broke woman. i only wish i could struggle as much as madonna is.

insane article.madonna would have to be the dumbest person on the planet to ever go broke.we all know that she's not.this woman nor her family ,for generations,will have to worry about money.she is a very shrewd person.

If Madonna didn't write the songs would people let her take credit for it? Especially after Steven Bray and her had a falling out. I've only seen one negative review of the show. I guess it's Fox being its selfrightous rightwinged self

Anxiety said:

I'll give Madonna the clothes I'm not using.

Only Connie Fox News would even try to say something like that! Madonna only co-wrote staples like "Into the Groove", "Lucky Star", "Like A Prayer", "Take A Bow", "Dress You Up", "Open Your Heart", "Vogue"....are they kidding me! I really hope no one is taking this seriously!

DavidEye said:

The article is a joke that dismisses most of her big hits from the ninties and ignores others to make the reader think her only hit then was "Ray of Light" (competely ignoring the crtically acclaimed "Bedtime Stories") and undermines most of her eighties hits becuase she only co-wrote them. She also co-producded them and that ain't chump change. This is such Connie bullshit and anyone that doesn't think so must be in on it. Madonna doesn't need people defending her but reading this story so full of spin just pisses me off. This is the same company that does this with all liberals. Shame on them.