When it comes to the music business, touring is an essential part of the way that artists generate income.
As previously reported by AfroTech, acts like Beyoncé and Jay-Z — and their On The Run II tour — make up some of the highest-grossing musical events of all time with numbers like $253.5 million.
However, what happens when those ticket sales don’t skyrocket?
Unable To Meet Quota
In the case of DaBaby, the plug has been pulled on his recent New Orleans show after he was unable to sell a significant amount of tickets. According to the New York Post, since the show was unable to sell more than 500 tickets for an arena that holds up to 14,000 concertgoers, the controversial rapper’s concert was “deactivated” by Ticketmaster.
“Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event,” read the listing for the company.
They did, however, clarify that everyone who had purchased tickets will receive a full refund. Apparently passes to the show were selling for as low as $35.
DaBaby Curse?
After what seemed like a meteoric rise for the Charlotte native, DaBaby’s career took an interesting turn due to his insensitive remarks about HIV/AIDS during his set at the 2021 Miami Rolling Loud festival. Not only did the comments cost him a ton of supporters and fans, but AfroTech reported that the rapper, born Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, actually lost out on a few festivals as well.
One by one, the festivals that he was set to headline that summer began to fall from his grasp. From Lollapalooza to Day ‘N Vegas, the Governor’s Ball, Music Midtown, and more, the rapper probably missed out on a nice chunk of change. However, at the time, Variety reported on how he probably fared out.
“It’s likely he kept a deposit, typically 10% of the performance fee, which in DaBaby’s case might have netted around $200,000 based on a rate of $2 million,” the outlet explained. “However, another concert-industry insider speculated that, due to the late cancelation, DaBaby could have gotten 50%.”
