Iron Maiden Makes Millions Targeting Music Pirates With Tour Dates

StewShearerOld

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Jan 5, 2013
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Iron Maiden Makes Millions Targeting Music Pirates With Tour Dates



Metal legends Iron Maiden made more than $2.5 million from a single show in a country with a high piracy presence.

In case you haven't heard, the music industry has something of a long running beef with the internet. Granted, it's not without reason. Illegal file sharing is probably one of the industry's most persistent revenue drains. That being the case, many music companies have taken something of a scorched earth policy toward pirates, slapping individuals with lawsuits so devastatingly hefty that they probably won't even have money for food in the future, let alone music. Not every musical entity is opting to go that route, however. Notably, some bands, rather than trying to send file sharers <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geHLdg_VNww>running to the hills, are actively embracing the <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_FDjDwNygM>brave new world offered by the internet.

It's recently been revealed, for instance, that the classic metal outfit Iron Maiden utilized analytics from the U.K. company Musicmetric to strategically plan one of its recent tours. Figuring that things like heavy BitTorrent traffic might also mean a sizable collection of fans, the group scheduled concert dates targeting high traffic locations. These shows subsequently netted the band some significant oodles of money, with a concert in Sao Paulo raking in more than $2.5 million on its own. These concert dates had the added effect of boosting the band's popularity online in targeted regions which could lead to even more profits down the road. "If you engage with fans, there is a chance to turn a percentage into paying customers," commented Musicmetric CEO Gregory Mead.

We're not going to delve too deeply into the various shades of gray that arguably color the debate over file sharing and online piracy. That said, we'll still say that it's always nice to see a group -be it a company, band, or whatever- trying to work with emerging technological trends rather struggling against the tides of change.

Source: <a href=http://www.citeworld.com/consumerization/22803/iron-maiden-musicmetric?page=0>Cite World


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Longstreet

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Jun 16, 2012
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When I read about this a few days ago I literally started clapping. This is how you handle the internet properly.

If only more people would realise how much potential monitoring sites such as TPB is, it would make so many things so much easier.
 

Barbas

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Oct 28, 2013
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Great move by them. There's nothing quite like a good live spectacle. If you provide one, the people shall come.

 

TheRightToArmBears

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Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
 

Thaluikhain

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TheRightToArmBears said:
Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
Yeah, there's no reason to assume this worked better than simply holding them wherever they otherwise would have done.
 

Psychobabble

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Aug 3, 2013
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TheRightToArmBears said:
Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
Nearly double what they've been making for most concert venues.
 

Guffe

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This is nice to hear, and the first time I hear about it.
Them being my all time favorite band, and all!
 

Kargathia

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thaluikhain said:
TheRightToArmBears said:
Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
Yeah, there's no reason to assume this worked better than simply holding them wherever they otherwise would have done.
That's why you don't have to assume anything - the article downright tells you that they're making more money than if they'd randomly tour the world. And with Iron Maiden existing a good thirty years now, I'm inclined to believe they've got the data to back it up. And with their primary interest being touring profits, they're being a pretty unbiased source.
 

omega 616

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StewShearer said:
with a concern in Sao Paulo raking in more than $2.5 million on its own
With a concern? I think you dun goofed.

On the topic of piracy, how come it's ok to say "I used to pirate but I don't any more, now that I can afford to buy music" but saying "I pirate 'cos I can't afford but in the future I fully intend to buy music" isn't.

or more of a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude.

It seems the way to fight piracy is to embrace it, every time people try to crack down it fails but every time it is embraced it makes the people money.
 

Toadfish1

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This is surprisingly tech savvy for a group of men older than my dad.

Wait, does this mean that if I pirate a lot of music, I could get an Iron Maiden concert? Cause I'll do it!
 

CardinalPiggles

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One of the reasons Iron Maiden were, are and will always be 10 times better than Metallica.

Man, I think it's time for a Maiden marathon.
 

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
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omega 616 said:
StewShearer said:
with a concern in Sao Paulo raking in more than $2.5 million on its own
With a concern? I think you dun goofed.

On the topic of piracy, how come it's ok to say "I used to pirate but I don't any more, now that I can afford to buy music" but saying "I pirate 'cos I can't afford but in the future I fully intend to buy music" isn't.

or more of a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude.

It seems the way to fight piracy is to embrace it, every time people try to crack down it fails but every time it is embraced it makes the people money.
D'oh! Clearly the metal gods weren't smiling on me while I was writing this. That's what I get for listening to Judas Priest while working on an Iron Maiden article...never cross your metal bands...
 

Vivi22

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TheRightToArmBears said:
Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
Thing is, typical record industry logic would be that since they don't sell many albums there, there's no reason to tour there.

One of the many ways in which people with business degrees in executive positions don't understand piracy or their market.

Can't stop piracy, so you might as well focus on how you can get the pirates to pay in some other way. And for bands, touring somewhere they might not otherwise bother with is a damn good way of doing it.
 

wulf3n

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TheRightToArmBears said:
Whilst this is pretty sensible, how much more is that than they normally make? I can imagine that a Sao Paolo Maiden show is going to be packed to the rafters regardless, they're pretty huge in South America.
According to this [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/42159/top-25-tours-of-2011] in 2011

Iron Maiden

Total Gross: $33,085,671 Number of Shows: 33
Total Attendance: 473,285 Number of Sell-Outs: 17
Setlist: Essential: "The Talisman"
So on average in 2011 they made approximately $1,000,000 per show.

Though I haven't verified the source or the data so it's not 100%.