Here are some quotes from John Run, a ledgie who is in the business and has posted about the earnings of the band members for the SYW tour. John's information has always been accurate. I don't ever see Stevie being paid more money than Lindsey or Christine as a member of Fleetwood Mac, no matter how wonderful her solo career is at the time FM tours.
1. "FM is touring because they want to be together. They do not need the money, with maybe the exception of Mick. Over the last 8-9 years he has finally begun to recover from 30 years of excessive spending and bad business decisions.
Stevie and Lindsey when all is said in done with this tour and all of its associated revenue streams they will have grossed upwards of 15 mil each 2003 and 2004 combined. That far exceeds what Stevie made from TISL's revenue streams. It also far exceeds Lindsey's earnings from any single music project from any other time in his career.
John and Mick will probably realize 10 mil in that time. Again the height of their take from music.
So yes lots of money involved. They have made more money than most of us over an 15 month period (May 2003-August 2004) than most of will see in a lifetime. To put this in perpesctive a person could earn an average 100,000 a year from their job (the averge income in the US is 43K) for 45 years and earn 4.5 mil in their lifetime from work.
They don't need to do it. They are doing it because they get paid well and they can demand to get paid well, however in the end if there was no desire to do it, they would not be there. Enjoy the music. It is a good time to be a Fleetwood Mac fan!!
One post script. Stevie did not earn 5 mil from the Dixie Chicks Landslide. There was probably a 250k flat fee paid to record it and then another 2 million in royalities both from album sale and airplay royalties. The average number 1 song earns about 1.25 mil in songwriting airplay royalities. What may have helped landslide earn a little more was its crossover success. Heavy airplay on country formats, AC, HAC, AAA. That is a lot of airplay. Also her versions of Landslide still earn royalty money.
The songs to date that are believed to have earned the most royalty money are Yesterday and believe it or not I will Always Love You which has earned its song writer Dolly Parton upwards of 8mil."
2. "To the best of my understanding the way it is working on this tour is the band is guaranteed 600,000 per show by concerts west. From that guarantee the cost for production, venue, travel, and personnel must be paid. On average 300,000 per show. Buckingham and Nicks each have a guarantee of 100,000 per show. McVie and Fleetwood 50,000 per show. After the guarantees are met then the rest is profit to be split among the band, promoters, mgmt, and bonuses to backing players, crew,etc. If a show grosses 1,000,0000 the band is getting about 200,000 additonal per show. There has been only one show, Grand Forks that did not break even. With 71 US dates that is a lot of money! Europe and AU are probably a little different, but needless to say those will be 27 more profitable nights for Fleetwood Mac. 30 more outdoor shed dates in the summer of 2004 will add to the money for all. Sheds are less expensive to play which means more profit!"
3. "The numbers posted are for there 70 US dates and do not include the 15 dates they played in Europe in November and December.
My understanding of the money breakdown. The cost per show was around 600-700k. This included a 250k guarantee to the band. (Which is why concerts west got the deal. Clear Channel was only offering a 200k guarantee) The remaing 300k per night was profit. A good chunk of which went to Concerts West. However based on a 300k profit the band was splitting another 100-150k per night in addition to the guarantee. The range there depends on how much the band was giving back as profit sharing to its additional players and 80 or so tour personnel. Rough estimates on what the band made for 70 us dates. Lindsey and Stevie 8-9 mil. Mick and John 5-5.5 mil.
A good 6 months of work. The 15 dates in Europe, the dozen dates down under and 30 dates in the US this summer stand to gross them another 40 million. Profits will be a little less in in EU & Aus, but a little more if they play sheds. So the band members stand to bring in 9-15 million each for there 130-145 dates of touring
No they don't include merchandise. That is a whole other segment. Most likely that works out to paying the promotions company they contract with to coordinate its design, production, and sale. After costs that company takes it share and the rest is usually split evenly among the band. It is a signifcant chunk of change to you and I, but in terms of the other money we are talking about not all that much. Probably adds another 500k to each of there total takes.
Stevie and Lindsey get more because their agents got them more during negotiations with Concerts West and the band. Nothing to do with songwriting royalties per se. Has to do with the fact Stevie and Lindsey are the front men for the tour and without them there would be no million dollar per night grossing tour. The 50,000 per show guarantee is the most money Mick and John have realized from long term touring ever. This practice is common with established bands. Henley and Frey make more when the Eagles tour. The only money Christine now makes from Fleetwood mac are for songwriting royalities and album share payments "
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