Posted: December 20th, 2019
Lady Gaga
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The audience and music community were appalled by his actions, which eventually led to West pulling out of the scheduled our with Gaga to go on a hiatus from the music industry. Carter and Saga’s team were faced with three options, Option #1 would be to “continue with the arena tour – but go at it alone. ” This would come with the greatest risk, but the potential for the greatest reward.
Option #2 would be to “develop a smaller theater tour- and adjust the economics accordingly. This would come with less risk, because the cost of the show would be less and the potential to sell out was high. But, to rework the tour would cost millions on top of the money already spent on the initial Fame Tour. Lastly, Option #3 would be to “cancel any tour plans. This would be the easiest option, to prevent any additional loss to the $4 million already spent.
The music industry is all about making the right decision at the right moment. It is a gamble, but Carter and his team should move forward with Option , for Gaga to continue with the arena tour as a solo-artist.
It is a huge challenge, because this is Saga’s first solo- headline tour and they are looking at around “$12 million in start-up production costs alone. ” With risk, come potential large rewards. As with ticket prices averaging $100 to $1 50 in 16,000 to 20,000-seat arenas, there could be great success. Saga’s team had already set the ground work for her career. They started her off in small venues and she slowly started to gather a fan base. Though social media she had taken fan devotion to another level and she was growing by the second.Gaga had just had “three major award wins: Best New Artist, Best Special Effects and Best Art Direction” at the Vamp.
Her career was at a breaking point and even though an arena tour was a great risk, all evidence pointed to Saga’s ability for great success. In all three options Gaga has the potential to lose a large amount of money. If they were to choose to onetime with the solo arena tour they would Incur an estimated start-up cost of SSL 2 million and would have to reimburse West of a majority of his expenditures.If they chose to develop a smaller theater tour it would cost them an estimated $2 million, plus the $4 million that they had spent on the “Fame Tour. ” Lastly, If they cancel the tour all together they would be out Just the $4 million already spent. In retrospect, if the arena tour was a success there was the opportunity to make an extraordinary amount of money. “They could put together a 25-concert tour of arenas with an average capacity of 16,000 to 20,000 seats and average ticket prices between $100- $150.
This would be a profit of between $40-$75 million. The potential award Justifies the Investment. To mitigate the risks of the solo career, Carter should focus on using as much of the original West/Gaga production and staging as possible and piggy- back off of promotion that was already out for the tour. Gaga would have a problem Mould be important to test the waters and revisit expensive improvements to the show once they had a better feel of the success of the tour. They should also increase their social media efforts.Gaga already had a relationship with her fans through Twitter, Backbone, etc..
. This would be the time to direct efforts to expanding the fan base in this medium and making it know that Gaga was coming out on her own. Not to mention, that social media has very little costs. Lady Gaga has a team of people dedicated to her and her career and are responsible for different parts of her dynamic image and success. Her manager Troy Carter, oversees all segments and it Nas crucial to involve each of them in the decision to embark on Saga’s solo concert series.She had a great team around her who were aligned with her efforts. From her agent, to promoter, to her record label, this was a risk with the potential of a great reward.
Her promoter, Live Nation had a huge financial risk if the concerts did not sell out. They booked the venues and paid to advertise the concert. But, if the tour Nas successful they would make 15%. Her agent, William Morris Endeavor, who is responsible for booking the concerts/appearances, would have had a lot of work ahead of him to revamp to booking small venues.Also, back in the day, her record company, Streamline Records of Interstice might have been more interested in forgoing the tour to produce and sell more music. But, now they have “360 deals – that enabled labels to share in all of the artist’s revenue streams, including recorded- music sales, concert ticket sales, merchandising, commercial licensing, and sponsorships and endorsements. ” All of her main partners had the opportunity to make a lot of money, if all went as planned.
In evaluation of Saga’s launch as an artist, their approach worked. Carter “followed a rap music release plan, which aimed to build a fan base through grassroots efforts centered on booking seven to eight shows (small venues) per week. ” They built her base from the ground up and this eloped get her the loyal fan base she has to date. To further develop her career moving forward they need to make sure that they are true to the brand. Lady Gaga is somewhat of a pioneer in social media.She writes her own tweets and should continue to do so. This links an extremely strong bond between her and her fans.
She needs to continue to link these different mediums together, creating strength in her band. She has such a creative team behind her, going forward with future tours, she needs to continue to push the envelope and give her fans something new, but never sacrificing what she is about. Ticket sales and recorded music sales are both important to Saga’s future success.Though, it must be noted that recorded music sales have gone down and concert revenues have gone up, both are essential. Concerts are great publicity tool for musicians and have become a larger source of revenue. Today’s superstars are all about creating a brand. Saga’s team should be focused on all aspects of her brand, from her music to her fashion and artistry.
If they stay true to Gags visions as an artist and continue to push the envelope, Saga’s career will continue to grow and be profitable.
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