By Chris Tanasoff and PDLM
When we say “the American mainstream media protects Lady Gaga” some people have the nerve to say we are exaggerating.
Take a look at this article by Billboard, a pro-Gaga article trying to explain that cancelling theBornFlop This Way Ball was a major…When Billboard reported Gaga’s South American shows as sold out, you claimed they were falsifying the numbers. Now that Billboard posted this article about 200,000 tickets, you are claiming they’re stating facts. So which is it? Are they lying, or are they telling the truth?
The article states “roughly 200,000 tickets”. That number is an estimation. The real number would actually be closer to 250,000 since tickets are on average $100 and Billboard is claiming $25,000,000 in refunds. That would mean Gaga’s average attendance per show would be bumped up to nearly 11,500, which is on par with every other (sold out) show during the North American leg.
There are two things you don’t seem to understand, how tickets are sold and what “full capacity” means.
Tickets are sold according to demand. If a venue can hold 20,000 people, they do no put out 20,000 tickets. Instead they sell tickets one by one until there is no longer any room in the arena. This ensures a 100% sell out rate. Gaga does it, Madonna does it, Beyonce does it, everybody does it.
“Full capcity” refers to the maximum amount of people a venue can hold with a stage in the center that does not block out any seats. The numbers you posted for each venue are the full capacities of each venue, meaning that because Gaga’s stage is so massive and blocks off thousands of seats (sometimes nearly half the venue), those numbers mean nothing. For example, the Bryce Jordan Center can hold up to 16,000 people during a concert with a stage in the center that does not block out any seats. Looking up pictures of the Bryce Jordan Center, Gaga’s stage would block out nearly half of the seats. Half of 16,000 is 8,000, but let’s be generous and say the stage isn’t going to block out half, so add 3,000 seats to that 8,000. That leaves the venue with 11,000 seats. Gaga’s 11,500 average attendance per show is more than enough for a sell out.
There are two very important things you ever so coincidentally seem to leave out of your bullshit article.
“The North American leg, which was to wrap the tour and was almost completely sold out, would have likely put the tour at more than $200 million gross, easily in the top 20 tours of all time and probably in the top 15.”
Emphasis on “one of the top 20 tours of all time”. That refutes your “Flop This Way Ball” claims.
As it stands with The Born This Way Ball’s current gross of $167m, the tour is one of the top 25 highest-grossing tours of all time. That also refutes your “Flop This Way Ball” claims.
And just to add some fuel to the fire, let’s compare Gaga’s last two tours and Madonna’s last two tours.
Sticky & Sweet Tour: $441,673,561
Avg. attendance per show: 41,716
Avg. gross per show: $4.79MDNA Tour: $305,158,363
Avg. attendance per show: 25,140
Avg. gross per show: $3.47Despite having more dates, the MDNA Tour saw massive decreases in the overall gross, average attendance per show, and average gross per show.
The Monster Ball Tour: $234,935,148
Avg. attendance per show: 12,438
Avg. gross per show: $1.13mThe Born This Way Ball Tour:$167,989,483
Avg. attendance per show: 19,334
Avg. gross per show: $2.0mDespite having 116 less dates than The Monster Ball Tour and being cancelled before being able to finish, The Born This Way Ball Tour grossed only $67,000,000 less than The Monster Ball Tour, but saw massive increases in average attendance per show and average gross per show. If the show had been able to finish, Billboard predicts it would have grossed over $200,000,000, meaning that it would have only grossed $25,000,000 less than The Monster Ball despite having half the amount of dates.
This means that technically Gaga’s touring success is increasing, while Madonna’s touring success is decreasing. I guess that would explain why Madonna couldn’t tour Australia and Asia. No demand. I thought her “I just want to be with my kids” excuse was pretty great, though. In addition, on the list of the Top 40 Highest-Grossing Tours of All Time, Gaga is not only the youngest person to have two tours on the list, but also the only person to have their first two tours on the list. And just to add insult to injury, not only did Gaga snatch the fifth highest-grossing tour on 2012 with just 65 dates, she also had the highest-selling perfume, was named The Most Famous Person On Earth by Guinness, and Forbes stated that she generated more headlines than any other female celebrity.
Flop This Way indeed. Let’s hope FLOPPOP flops just as hard as Flop This Way, ‘cause then Gaga will match Madonna’s record and also have three tours on the Highest-Grossing Tours Of All Time list, and it will have only taken her seven years as opposed to Madonna’s 304.
(vía trollthisway)
