PhishTwit, earlier today:
Have an open mind and want to see an amazing show? Iron Maiden Final Frontier Tour was just announced http://j.mp/bPVm9A
I wonder what kind of overlap there is between Phish fans and Iron Maiden fans?
Phish made $10 million in 2009, according to Billboard’s recent “Money Makers” list. On the ranking, which Billboard says is “is based on the artist’s share of revenue as opposed to total dollars generated,” Phish placed 37th, ahead of Bob Dylan and behind Andrea Bocelli.
The methodology looks decent to me. They tally up revenue from tour, record sales, streaming, royalties, and so on. Then they estimate the artist’s cut. No estimates on merchandise, which is sort of weird.
For live shows, they assume artists will net 34 percent of total box office. Sounds fair enough, maybe even conservative, although what the heck do I know. Google’s net profits over the past 12 months, come to 27 percent of revenue.
How does Billboard’s number line up with other estimates of Phish financials? Pollstar recently gave the band a $37 million tour gross. Under Billboard’s formula, that looks high. If you assume that every penny of Billboard’s revenue number for Phish came from touring, that would imply a $29 million gross.
Bottom line, assuming Billboard is close to reality, the guys had a pretty good 2009. And that’s not counting t-shirts. I bought three at the December 5 gig in Charlottesville.
Along the lines of the friend with the good taste in music, there are a couple of professional bloggers out there whose sites I read regularly and whose taste in music I appreciate and generally agree with. One is Bob Cesca; another is John Cole.
Ah, but music tastes rarely match up 100 percent. Yesterday, Cole posted this.
Here is the question: does anyone know where I can get album art for Dead bootlegs. And please, I’ve dealt with about 500 emails today asking about the website, I don’t need 40 of you coming in here telling me the Dead suck. On a related note, I am also uninterested in hearing how much you like Phish.
By Pollstar’s tally, Phish ranked 21st on the top 50 North American tours of 2009. The band’s tour gross last year was $37.2 million.
By my tally, Phish played 50 shows in 2009, suggesting revenue per show of $744,000. That’s right in line with an earlier estimate made on this blog, inspired by Def Leppard’s reported per show haul of $700,000.
I may have to break all this down a bit more. For now, I think the takeaway is that it’s good to be a top-tier jam band.
Filed under: Artists, Listening | Tags: Bob Cesca, phish, Sound Tribe Sector Nine
Bits and pieces this evening.
- Phish $0.02. I kept tabs on the Phish shows down in Miami via Twitter. One tweet said something to the effect of “Thanks for a great ‘09 guys! Can’t wait to do it again next year.” My reaction is different. I think the boys maybe now ought to take some quality time off: regroup, write some new material, tend to their personal lives, work on solo projects, etc. Take a year off – or two! I’d prefer it if Phish didn’t flame out again.
- Cesca. Bob Cesca lists, with audio files, his favorite songs of 2000-2009.
- Sound Tribe Sector Nine. I saw that this band is playing a few dates at 930 this spring. I also noticed, whilst browsing the App Store in a moment of boredom, that they’ve got an iPhone app (as do Dave Matthews and Wilco). So I got curious and checked them out on MySpace. Material didn’t grab me. Oh well.
Trey, via MiamiHerald.com:
“The greatest thing that’s happened to me over the past two years is the invention of the iPhone. There’s an app you can get called FourTrack. It’s a multitrack studio on your phone. Writing on this thing is unbelievable. Everywhere I go, 24 hours a day, I have this functioning multitrack studio with drum machines, and you sing right into it. That’s all you need.”
When I read that, I was reminded of this Warhol quote. Not an exact fit, but it’s still worth pondering.
What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.
The latter is a bluegrass number, complete with a reference to Charlottesville – that line got a big cheer at the show. Stats from Phish.net indicate that Phish has played the song 37 times. Before 12/5/09, they last played it in 2004.
I’d like to learn more about the song. Nothing on Wikipedia, and the top of a Google search didn’t cough up much either. I’ll have to look around more. Google search did turn up a nice video. Here’s Tony Rice doing “The Old Home Place.”
Bits and pieces this evening.
Non-music related. In China, they’re putting the finishing touches on a high-speed railway line that will travel a 1,070 kilometer route in three hours. Infrastructurist notes that that’s like having a train that could take you from Richmond, VA to Portland, ME in three hours. Man, that sure would be cool. Someday, perhaps.
Phish. I was listening to some live Phish this morning: February 4, 1993 at the Providence Performing Arts Center. It turns out that this show marked the first time that “Sample in a Jar” was played live. By crum, I was there for it.
The Internet is really amazing. This morning, at the deli, I heard Annie Lenox’s version of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.” Just as I exited the deli, the song was at the part about “in the meadow we can build a snowman/and pretend that he’s a….” This prompted me to wonder, as I often have, why some versions of the song finish that line with “Parson Brown,” while other versions finish it with “circus clown.” Weirdly enough, DougJ at Balloon Juice wondered precisely the same thing in a post today at Balloon Juice. His commenters quickly explained – the song has two verses.
Filed under: Artists, Concerts, Technology, Videos | Tags: Dream Theater, Guitar Picks, I Heart Guitar, phish
- Via Engadget, guitar picks made from from circuit boards.
- Via I Heart Guitar’s Twitter feed:
WTF? There are GIRLS here to see Dream Theater. Honest to God. GIRLS.
- From Saturday night, a slice of ‘Tweezer.’ There’s plenty of magic left.
Hotel: a borderline grungy Days Inn. There were lots of Phish fans at the hotel, so the jam band spirit started immediately.
Unrelated freaky incident: After arriving at the hotel, I made foray to a nearby convenience store. Guy working behind the counter, of South Asian descent, was getting harangued by a customer of African descent about why African Americans don’t own stores like that. The reason, the customer said, was the fault of people of European descent. I, of Scottish descent, nervously approached the checkout with my toothpaste. The complaining customer then told guy behind counter that people of European descent were all going to Hell, as in condemned by God to the underworld. It was awkward at best. I sort of engaged a bit when I offered that there had indeed been a great deal of injustice in this country. Normally in these types of situations, I think it’s best just to shut up, but I thought here a smidgen, just a hint, of empathy might defuse the situation, which it sort of did.
Key decision: to take a taxi to show, rather than drive. This involved a bit of angst beforehand, given after gig cab uncertainty. The weather was cold, there was snow on the ground, and the road to the hotel was bad. I had nightmare scenarios; it ended up being complete non-issue.
Arena parking lot: A guy ran by, dressed head to toe in nothing but bright green spandex, getting cheered.
T-shirt: “Tweezer,” styled in Twitter logo.
T-shirt: “Return of the Jedi,” with a silhouette of Trey
Cheap keg beer: Reminder of younger days.
Median age at gig: I would guess 31.
Similar vibe to Metallica: Insane fans.
Streaker during Ya Mar. A bona fide, running away from security streaker. Trey, who the streaker attempted to embrace, took it in stride. ’Let’s hear it for the naked guy,’ is apparently what he said. I’m downloading the show now, so I’ll find out.
Sick envelope filter from Mike.
Overheard conversation in restroom: ‘Is she single?’….’I don’t know.’…’Well, both of them are cool.’
I feel sorry for people stuck in the past. Too lazy to dig up the link, but before the show, I read this writer (reviewing a recent MSG show) for MTV who sort of ripped Phish with the line ‘the magic is gone’ (writer said he’d been to 70 shows back in the late 90s). This is dead, dead, dead wrong. There’s plenty of magic, even if the band has matured or slowed down a bit or whatever. And I know I’ve said this before, but I feel sorry for those pining for 1999. That will always be a losing game.
Gig exit: This may have been a mistake, but I pulled the early and waltzed to a cab, whose driver I extremely overtipped. Whatever. Great night.
