Back in March, tickets for an initial run of ten concerts sold out at the astonishing rate of 11 tickets per second, a feat Chris Edmonds, the Managing Director of Ticketmaster UK called a "live entertainment phenomenon.
Demand for the tickets prompted organizers to add another 40 dates to the schedule.
The London shows were to be the first step in a multi-phase package with Jackson, including plans for a 3-D live concert film and a 3-D movie based on Jackson's "Thriller" music video.
This business of music will chew you up Spit you out and sell you down the river... Even if they like you ...
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS FROM TICKETMASTER To that end, the company (TicketMaster) is developing a dynamic ticketing system in an effort to retain the activity it has lost after the sale to scalpers and ticket brokers. The system will put ticket prices in line with demand, shifting prices on the fly based on demand.
“The most powerful and influential entity the music business has ever known.” That’s Billboard’s Ray Waddell, who knows what he’s talking about, describing the merger.
Understand This Ticketmaster UK was the one to sell Tickets in the UK for Michael Jackson O2 LONDON until things took a sudden turn June 25, 2009.
One of the last things Michael Jackson stated to RandyPhillips there at rehersals June 24th, 2009 according to Randy was: " Thank you for getting me this far, I can take it from here" AND THAT WAS IT...MICHAEL JACKSON WAS GONE...
THE FALLOUT: TICKETMASTER/LIVENATION Irving Azoff has his back up against a wall.
The Live Nation (LYV) CEO faces declining ticket sales at the concerts his company produces and his company's 2009 revenue was down well below expectations at $365 million from $450 million the year before. What's more, he doesn't trust the numbers about concert tours and he seems to have had it up to here with scalpers and the so-called secondary ticket business.
In a lively conversation with Fortune magazine managing editor Andy Serwer at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conf. in Aspen, Azoff rehashed some of the ground he covered more antagonistically at the company's investor day earlier this month.
There, he admonished investors who were selling shares and driving the price down 20% as "short-sighted" and blamed the press for spooking artists into rethinking their marketing strategy.
Azoff attributed the company's poor revenue figures to the merging two massive companies Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which it acquired last year for $835 million (cash and stock) - and the chaos of the ticket business.
To that end, the company is developing a dynamic ticketing system in an effort to retain the activity it has lost after the sale to scalpers and ticket brokers. The system will put ticket prices in line with demand, shifting prices on the fly based on demand.
But that's where Azoff is extremely bullish. "We think of ourselves as an e-commerce opportunity more than a ticketer of live events," he said.
"We eventually think we can ticket everything"
Where he wasn't bullish was recorded music. "Recorded music has become your marketing tool for your entire career," he said.
"There's a reason Madonna did a deal with whatever clothing line now instead of 15 years ago. The money coming in from third-party branding is kind of replacing recorded music."
NOTE: For those who would like to read alittle Background on LIVE NATION/TICKETMASTER Irving Azoff/Ticketmaster was selling tickets to o2 London for Michael Jackson TII. His history w/ Michael goes way back to Trudy Green whose partnered w/ HK MANAGMENT/ FRONT LINE MANAGEMENT..Azoff s managment arm.
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Could it be that Azoff/Phillips wanted his return on Jackson
and Michaels answer was: I can take it from here... And so
Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 12, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His successes may have made him the first "show business" millionaire. Although Barnum was also an author, publisher, philanthropist, and for sometime a politician, he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession.. and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me," and his personal aims were "to put money in his own coffers." Barnum is widely but erroneously credited with coining the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute".
PT BARNUM: THE SHAKESPEARE OF ADVERTISING THIS WAY TO EGRESS : Barnum's American Museum was so popular that people would spend the entire day there. This cut into profits, as the museum would be too full to squeeze another person in. In classic Barnum style, old P.T. put up signs that said "This Way to the Egress." Many customers followed the signs, not realizing that Egress was a fancy word for "Exit." They kept on looking for this strange new attraction, the "Egress". Many patrons followed the signs right out the door! Once they had exited the building, the door would lock behind them, and if they wanted to get back in, they had to pay another admission charge!
By BEN JACKSON Published: 12 May 2010 TRAGIC recordings of Michael Jackson in which he pleads for financial help and fears for his life are revealed by The Sun today.
The Sun has not paid for the tapes. They were handed to US journalist Daphne Barak after she wrote a book on celebrity addiction.
Ms Barak told The Sun yesterday they had been passed to her by friends, who wished to remain anonymous. The messages come from 2003. Throughout the recordings Jackson, appears anxious and paranoid his life is under threat.
In the first message he is determined to move away: "It is Michael calling. It is very important, I want that 150 in that account for me, because... I am very concerned about my life. I am hearing a lot of stories that (name withheld) is still trying to sabotage (inaudible) me and I want to be in a different environment and, um, I've found a place that I like and now (inaudible) I want to be away for a while where they can't find me. So please help me, help(inaudible) help me, and, um, more important than (inaudible).We are brothers."
We think the man's bad. We think he is the Italian Mafia. I don't trust him In a second, his voice is slurred and slow, which Daphne believes is due to medication. He expresses concern about a figure who he says could be involved with the Italian Mafia. "It is Michael. Ahh, it is 4:30 in the morning here that's why I sound very sleepy (laughs) and I'm really worn out... but please check the message I left a day or so ago.
I am very concerned. I don't trust that man. We think he's bad, we think he is Italian mafia. Please... we must be smarter than him. So please, help me with this. I need to get that, those funds so I can do that, I wanna be away. . . I don't want to be in Neverland right now."
"If you get this message call me immediately at 805 *** ****. What I want to talk to you about is very top - top secret... I need a German or Swiss bank... "
A little later Jackson calls again asking for cash to be put into an account. He appears to use a code word "Sun Screen" - possibly suggesting protection money. "I am very embarrassed. But, um, there should be that I have some finance that's coming up January, February 2nd, and um... that's why I, we need to have on Sun Screen to the account 150. Please don't be mad at me for... (inaudible) It's something that's very important to me and my family, because I'm (inaudible) that I'm being stalked and I think it is (name withheld)."
Only one tape - in which Jackson discusses investing in a project linked to the emerging craze for super-heroes - shows the singer at his most lucid. Jackson urges his friend to work with him, saying:
"I would love to work together, but as far as timing...
Behind the scenes access with D&D as they release their tribute single "Michael in Me," teaming up with such talent as Michael Jackson's photographer Harrison Funk and mastering engineer on "Thriller" Bernie Grundman. Don't miss their exclusive performance at the end with Michael Jackson !!
Video by Jessica Lorenzo and Jay Teno for Elefante Entertainment. assistant editor- Manifest for Elefante Entertainment
" ROWE, I NEVER AGREED TO DO 50 SHOWS I ONLY AGREED TO DO 10 WHEN I WOKE UP ONE MORNING THEY HAD SOLD OUT 50 SHOWS WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE."
