There was speculation that the tour became unviable due to high ticket costs and a crowded concert market.
If touring is going to be the saviour of the music industry, it's not helpful when artists only agree to play live in the most profitable regions.
That's why I personally think records are a key product that musicians produce.
No Madonna fan misses out on her records, but they haven't seen her live since 1993.
The last time McCartney played Down Under was 1991!
Huh? You want musicians to play in places where they'll lose money?
Don't be ridiculous.
Firstly, musicians lost money for years through touring. I mean this is what the free music lobby are preaching right? "Connect with your fans, play for love not money, get off your ass and work for a living".
Secondly, I can totally respect a small indie band saying they can't afford to tour Australia, but Madonna is extremely wealthy, regardless of this current tour.
It just shines a light on the fragility of the argument that touring will replace albums. Because unless you live in a financially viable zone, you'll never see any of these bands.
We know this already don't we? That's why inner cities have 4 star restaurants, university hospitals and super fast broadband.
The record is a complete product in it's own right, and it's none discriminatory. You don't need to live in an expensive neighbourhood or stump up $150 a ticket to enjoy it.
If Madonna bring herself to tour Australia ( a booming and vibrant economy) in over a decade, why do we think touring is going to replace albums for 'the fans'?
She's what... like 60 now? She has no business going down under...
Someone had to say it.
Tbh I didn't even know she was planning on coming down here. No skin off my back, but it does seem a bit odd. The Australian public goes wild for big name acts when they come down here.
Don't support the local scenes much though...
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Remember that? Didn't some high ranking official say something to the effect that the 'Live' show cannot be billed as a 'Live' show if its not actually being sung 'Live'? I am paraphrasing of course, but I thinks its close. I mean, does anybody want to see her dance around and lip-sync anyways? One could just watch the videos, plus she was hotter 20 years ago!
That's right.
She's making bucket loads, but can't justify the expense of playing for fans in Australia.
Kind of brings the idea that touring is the real music industry into stark relief.
's been a awhile. While I agree... its a bit lame the tour hasn't kicked through Australia, I can see why Live Nation are probably shuttering to the core just thinking about how the heck they would handle such a leg of the tour.
Its a pretty expensive task to drag a stadium gig through Australia. Starting with land mass, you have a geographical area the size of mainland USA... but with potentially just 7 giggable cities. Throw in a stadium stage that has a 5 day build/dismantle time... then a minimum of 1 day travel to the next venue... you'd be looking at 42 days to rip through potentially just 7 shows.
Either that... or you bring out the entire production of 122 semitrailors worth of equipment and 6 separate skeleton crews with about 70 blokes in each and knock it out in about 2 weeks. The logistics involved makes me want to cry just thinking about it.
...Or maybe Madonna is just repulsed by Julia Gillard's haircut. Who knows.
None of my business, but maybe her schedule is dense enough to not even consider a scaled-down version of tour that would make money. I can imagine that there's an accountant somewhere that set a benchmark profit-per-day for Madonna's endeavours and they calculated no matter what it's 'not worth it' to get her down under.
Maybe she simply doesn't feel like going there.
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Lot's of people do it. And they did it more often a few years ago.
I came here on a big stadium tour in 1991. With a jumbo cargo plane full of gear, 100 crew, outdoor shows etc.
THis is what I'm worried about.
If touring becomes more about making as much money as possible, and NOT about making ok money, while connecting with fans and promoting your albums, many artists will simply bypass the borderline unprofitable regions.
Lot's of people do it. And they did it more often a few years ago.
I came here on a big stadium tour in 1991. With a jumbo cargo plane full of gear, 100 crew, outdoor shows etc.
THis is what I'm worried about.
If touring becomes more about making as much money as possible, and NOT about making ok money, while connecting with fans and promoting your albums, many artists will simply bypass the borderline unprofitable regions.
True musicians are Boheimian-gypsy-minstrels who only want love and admiration (and an ocassional goupie-thon) Money or retirement should never cross their minds ; lest they become another corrupt capitalist !!
( or at least that's what my manager told me ....)
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Thank God Madonna won't come to Australia! We have enough of our own garbage here. Plus Lady Gaga likes to come make some money here - she is new Madonna. Please support local acts! peace
I don't think Madonna not going to Australia means anything. The premise of this thread is moronic to say the least.
Look at where she has gone. Many places she's never been before at all. Her tour will be one of the most successful of all time, and her album is a huge hit on the charts. How anyone can turn any of that into anything other than Madonna (and everyone that works for her, her band, her crew, and all the rest) is doing fantastically well in spite of anything, the economy, the internet, she's old, or anything else, is beyond me.
Madonna has taken in $50 million from the first three weeks of her MDNA tour. And with 70 more shows left, the Material Girl is on track to gross more than $450 million from ticket sales alone. This will make her current tour one of the most successful of all time.
"This is one of the biggest tours we have seen … ever," one concert promoter told me. "She is playing some of the biggest venues around the world and selling them out ... It’s putting other summer tours, including J.Lo's first tour, to shame. What is so impressive about these numbers is she’s playing far fewer shows than previous tours by the Rolling Stones, Cher and Lady Gaga, and grossing more."
U2 holds the current record for the top-grossing tour for its 2009-2011 360° tour, when the band played 110 shows and grossed $736,421,586.
The No. 2 record is held by the Rolling Stones, who grossed $558,255,524 in 2006-2007 with the Bigger Bang tour, involving 144 shows. AC/DC stands at No. 3 for the Black Ice world tour, from 2008 to 2010. It appears that Madonna might soon knock AC/DC off that spot.
The first 14 MDNA tour concerts all sold out, leading to the massive hauls below.
May 31, Tel Aviv, Israel: ?$4,339,876?
June 3-4, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: $8,053,500
I don't think Madonna not going to Australia means anything. The premise of this thread is moronic to say the least.
Look at where she has gone. Many places she's never been before at all. Her tour will be one of the most successful of all time, and her album is a huge hit on the charts. How anyone can turn any of that into anything other than Madonna (and everyone that works for her, her band, her crew, and all the rest) is doing fantastically well in spite of anything, the economy, the internet, she's old, or anything else, is beyond me.
Its a pretty ambitious schedule... but I wouldn't consider it totally unfamiliar ground. I personally think she is just milking the cash cow a little more. Her sticky and sweet tour only topped out as the 4th highest grossing tour of all time... why not move the gigs to the next town over and try again?
I wouldn't have gone anyway, so I'm not fussed.
The shit part is that Team Madonna virtually penciled in a tour to Australia after skipping here for the last 20 years. If I was a long time fan, I'd be pretty disappointed.
She had her first worldwide no. 1 in Oz, but I guess that doesn't count much in 2012.
On a positive note, Howard Jones is touring in September, now that's one I would happily pay to see. Champion.
It's not personal, it's about the money. Apparently the tour promoters and management looked at the numbers and didn't like what they saw.
Touring Oz with that large of a show/sets/rigging/etc. is very expensive.
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Indeed. It's not that there are no fans. It's that there aren't ENOUGH fans to make financial sense. There are also lots of other logistical considerations - travel, union contracts, business friendliness of various camps, etc., etc.
Indie bands and lesser known acts deal with this all the time. Imogene Heap and so many other non-US acts cancel their US Tours, because they don't make any money.
Many, many acts don't tour - or don't tour in certain places - because it doesn't make financial sense, and because of tons of various logistical, business and personal reasons.
She's making bucket loads, but can't justify the expense of playing for fans in Australia.
Kind of brings the idea that touring is the real music industry into stark relief.
I see what you're getting at, and I don't personally believe in the "musicans should make a living from touring only" thing. But, in terms of the discussion over how musicians can make a decent fulltime living, the fans shouldn't really factor into it. I think it would be great if musicians could make a full time living playing live in their home town without ever touring! That would be the ideal financial and logistical situation for artists wanting to make a living from live performance.
But at any rate I don't think that anyone anywhere has ever argued that touring should replace albums for the fan. I think the argument is that the album still exists but is largely an ad for the bigger business of touring and merchandise. I don't agree with that point of view, but this madonna tour is probably a rare example that actually works that way.
Album =/= live show, even with someone as pop orientated as Madonna.
As I said, I'm not a fan by any stretch, but I definitely feel for those that are.
Yeah I know. I guess I'm just dumb and missing the point of this. Is he saying that if albums still generated enough income she'd be playing in Australia? That because artists are looking to make all profit through touring; they will avoid unprofitable ventures that are designed simply to satisfy fans or get more fans?
Is the point that if Madonna made a lot of $$ off her record sales; she would go to Australia to promote it and get more sales, despite being 50 and everyone in Australia already knowing who she is and that she has a new record out?
Is he saying that if albums still generated enough income she'd be playing in Australia? That because artists are looking to make all profit through touring; they will avoid unprofitable ventures that are designed simply to satisfy fans or get more fans?
Is the point that if Madonna made a lot of $$ off her record sales; she would go to Australia to promote it and get more sales, despite being 50 and everyone in Australia already knowing who she is and that she has a new record out?
Exactly! All the above.
When I toured with McCartney in 1990 he was almost 50 years old, and all the Wings and Beatles albums experienced a spike in sales and appeared on album charts in every country we played.
This was 10 to 20 years after their first release.
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While I agree... its a bit lame the tour hasn't kicked through Australia, I can see why Live Nation are probably shuttering to the core just thinking about how the heck they would handle such a leg of the tour. 
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