Ever wondered how much music festivals are actually paying to secure the world’s biggest bands? Or maybe you’ve wished Foo Fighters would rock up and play a secret gig at your local pizza joint?
Well an intriguing new list may have some of those answers for you.
A comprehensive list of how much it costs to book bands and artists has turned up on Priceonomics, apparently sourced from an anonymous industry tipster who “passed along a list of their performers’ rates per show (pre-expenses),” featuring a huge alphabetical roster from Arcade Fire to Xzibit.
The list raises some pretty intriguing hypotheticals. Like, did Bluesfest really pay over $1 million for Dave Matthews Band to headline two sets at their record-breaking 25th Anniversary? Or that you could potentially book Tame Impala for your next house party by getting 100 friends to front $100.
Actually that last point highlights a few suspicious disclaimers about this huge list. ‘Hmmm, should I flog my $100,000 on Vampire Weekend or Creed?’
Broken down by the price brackets of how much performers charge, ranging from $10-000 up to the $600k plus mark, the figures are based on asking prices, with most events negotiating their own individual and final costs with performers based on plenty of external factors.
Plus it should be acknowledged, as Priceonomics emphasises, that some of the listed prices are a little fishy.
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Some artist fees could either be a little faulty (only $10k for Solange? Surely even before the elevator fiasco that can’t be right) or just severely outdated ($40-$60k for Smash Mouth in this day and age seems a little inaccurate).
Degy Entertainment, “a major booking agency” of speakers and entertainment acts, are also credited with supplying some of the pricing info, and when you take a look at their music client roster the need to take the figures with a few pinches of salt increases.
Nevertheless, it’s pretty fascinating stuff that offers some interesting fodder for ballpark figures and price comparisons. (‘Hmmm, should I flog my $100,000 on Vampire Weekend or Creed?’)
Take a look at the Priceonomics numbers, ordered alphabetically from most expensive to least expensive, in full below.
$100,000 +
$50,000 +
$30k – $50k +
$20k – $30k +
$10k – $20k +
