Morrissey still gets paid the same fee no matter how well a show sells,yes?

butley

Well-Known Member
My understanding is that the fee Morrissey gets for performing is agreed beforehand and it is up to the promoters to get ticket sales. It annoys me when people say he pulls shows if the crowds are small. It doesn't seem to be true judging by last nights concert which people say was a little on the scarce side.
 
My understanding is that the fee Morrissey gets for performing is agreed beforehand and it is up to the promoters to get ticket sales. It annoys me when people say he pulls shows if the crowds are small. It doesn't seem to be true judging by last nights concert which people say was a little on the scarce side.

He gets a flat fee which he pays the salaries, food and travel of 22 people, and himself.
 
Yes and the fee is agreed beforehand, more or less, regardless of sales. That is normal practice. Morrissey is no different from any other artist in that respect. If he asks too much he wouldn't get promoters interested as they would not make a profit. Promoters pull concerts due to poor sales but I doubt morrissey has ever played to less than three quarters capacity.
 
Yes and the fee is agreed beforehand, more or less, regardless of sales. That is normal practice. Morrissey is no different from any other artist in that respect. If he asks too much he wouldn't get promoters interested as they would not make a profit. Promoters pull concerts due to poor sales but I doubt morrissey has ever played to less than three quarters capacity.

Apart from in the recent arena tour, where he was lucky if they were half full.
However, ticket prices were so ridiculously high that they probably still broke even.
 
Apart from in the recent arena tour, where he was lucky if they were half full.
However, ticket prices were so ridiculously high that they probably still broke even.

I was at the recent UK tour and the arenas were almost full, were you there?

The tickets were under $100, which compared to other acts is reasonable.
 
I was at the recent UK tour and the arenas were almost full, were you there?

The tickets were under $100, which compared to other acts is reasonable.

The London O2 night was almost full (because it was advertised as a one-off with no other UK dates) but the others certainly weren't e.g. Glasgow was half full (if that), and Birmingham had huge sections cordoned off due to poor ticket sales. He simply ain't an arena act. Hasn't got the fan-base.
If you look at the ticket prices for other acts playing the same venues around the same time, none were anywhere near as much as what Morrissey was charging, so he and the promote would have made plenty of cash. It's just the hapless fan that loses out.
 
The London O2 night was almost full (because it was advertised as a one-off with no other UK dates) but the others certainly weren't e.g. Glasgow was half full (if that), and Birmingham had huge sections cordoned off due to poor ticket sales. He simply ain't an arena act. Hasn't got the fan-base.
If you look at the ticket prices for other acts playing the same venues around the same time, none were anywhere near as much as what Morrissey was charging, so he and the promote would have made plenty of cash. It's just the hapless fan that loses out.

The tickets in Nottingham were expensive but for that venue they're always expensive and his were no higher than anyone else's. I think the tickets themselves were £45, hampered by a ridiculous booking fee. £70+ quid for a seat took the piss though.

For balance, Olly Murs is a tenner more a ticket and Brian Wilson is the same price.
 
My understanding is that the fee Morrissey gets for performing is agreed beforehand and it is up to the promoters to get ticket sales. It annoys me when people say he pulls shows if the crowds are small. It doesn't seem to be true judging by last nights concert which people say was a little on the scarce side.

The venue in Barcelona was rammed solid with people. If it wasn't technically a sell-out, then there's no way they could have squeezed more than a few more bodies in there.
 
Sometimes artist/promoter agreements have a clause where if a show sells out, or meets some near-sellout threshold, additionally profit sharing kicks in, over and above the set fee the artist gets.
 
Is it the artist that dictates the price of their show or do they have little or no input? For example, when Madonna charges a couple of hundred quid for a ticket, is that down to her, her promoter or the venue recouping the fee that she's been paid?
 
Is it the artist that dictates the price of their show or do they have little or no input? For example, when Madonna charges a couple of hundred quid for a ticket, is that down to her, her promoter or the venue recouping the fee that she's been paid?

The promoter sets the ticket prices. Prices are set accordingly so that the promoter can recoup all his costs, including artist fee, venue rental fee, etc. and (ideally) make a profit.
 
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But what if the check doesn't clear? Or do you suppose Morrissey is still doing it old school and carrying cash in grocery bags like he was Tammy Wynette?
 
The London O2 night was almost full (because it was advertised as a one-off with no other UK dates) but the others certainly weren't e.g. Glasgow was half full (if that), and Birmingham had huge sections cordoned off due to poor ticket sales. He simply ain't an arena act. Hasn't got the fan-base.
If you look at the ticket prices for other acts playing the same venues around the same time, none were anywhere near as much as what Morrissey was charging, so he and the promote would have made plenty of cash. It's just the hapless fan that loses out.

Glasgow was quite full. I was there. Same applies to the 3 Arena in Dublin. Can't speak for the others but these two arena gigs were great and quite full. After the gig in Glasgow I spent like 2 hours waiting for a taxi.
 
I think the ticket price is dictated by how much the artist wants to be paid and how much the show costs to stage. Madonna clearly is motivated by profit and she is one of the biggest earning live acts around. Morrissey says he barely breaks even but,judging by the last interview he gave, he now earns his "living" from touring. I do not blame someone for wanting to make money from their job. Some people like Kate Bush recently set the ticket prices so that if the shows sold out she would break even. It was an incredibly expensive show in a smallish venue. Judging by the merchandise I saw being sold she will have made a bob or two.
Artists give a figure for what they want to get paid per show and then this is weighed against staging costs and number of seats. Most promoters work with figures estimated as if it were filled at three quarters so anything above that is good for all. If an artist asked a ridiculously high amount they would not get a promoter to risk the costs involved.
 
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