The Purple Promoter

Oh sure, Prince can be eccentric – devoted to 31’s and 21’s – and crazy enough to play incredible halftime shows in dangerous weather, but it’s time to recognize he’s also crazy enough to be considered one of the best live-music businessmen out there.

Prince is a new world’s record holder, selling out 21 arena shows in a row at The O2 arena in London – topping a record held by Pink Floyd.

Prince brought in about $22 million in ticket sales at his O2 residency and, after all the ancillaries were added up, probably grossed about $30 million. But although the difference between some successful shows can be attributed to the men and women behind the curtain, this one goes to the artist, according to AEG / Concerts West chief John Meglen.

"When he said to us, ‘21 nights in London,’ we kind of gulped," Meglen said. "But I think Prince really hit on something when he said, ‘Why can’t we go to London? To the O2? Why is Las Vegas the only place where we can do gigs like that?’"

Prince wanted 21 nights, ending September 21st, priced at £31.21. Sure, it’s about $65 – not chump change – but, then again, it’s not too steep either and it’s for friggin’ Prince. He filled up more than 350,000 seats with visitors from across the continent.

"Prince was smart," Meglen said. "If he had played a few dates at higher prices, he would have cut about 80 percent of the patrons out of the market. By doing that lower price, he expanded the demographic. I think there’s something for all of us to learn from this experience."

Then, on the last night, Prince requested the beginning of the show be broadcast on Sky TV to those who could not go. Then there were the CDs that were included in the ticket price. And the Paisley Park landlord also made an appearance at the London Fashion Awards.

"It was total artist distribution in a marketplace," Meglen said. "He was the talk of the town for eight weeks."

As for Prince’s numerology, maybe there’s something to it. According to Meglen, the O2 had 31 concerts in August, followed by 21 in September.

Of course, AEG, and especially Paul Gongaware, did their part, Meglen stressed. In fact, Gongaware bought 17,000 purple glowsticks for the last night, which were handed out to fans along with the CDs. There was also the Sunday Mail CD distribution that apparently netted Prince a lot of money, but Meglen wasn’t talking numbers – although, between the Mail and the shows, 3.2 million copies of Planet Earth were distributed.

Prince’s London residency is part of the rising trend of artists doing multiple nights in one marketplace, Meglen pointed out, noting Bon Jovi’s upcoming 10-night stand at AEG’s Prudential Center in New Jersey. And, he added, like the Hannah Montana tour (yes, a project run by AEG’s Debra Rathwell), there’s something to be said for keeping ticket prices reasonable.

"I understand the model of going out there and playing as few shows as you can, charging as much as you can. I see how those numbers work. I just don’t know what that does for an artist’s career. I think it kills it," he said.

As for Prince, he’s resting his heels and, likely, his hips, but, "You know Prince – it won’t be long before we’re announcing something else."