The euro no longer rocks Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers

[Afghan Dave]

Very interesting article on just how calculated Metallica are and why we'll be seeing more of them and the potential for a Next Wave Of British Heavy Metal ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/07/euro-metallica-red-hot-chili-peppers-jay-z



Metallica now plan to visit Europe next year as opposed to 2013, for fear of losing millions if the value of the euro plummets. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex Features

To truly understand the gravity of the eurozone crisis, you need to look not just at oscillating stock markets and national credit ratings, but at decisions being taken some distance from trading floors and international summits – by the rock bands Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Or rather the two-man team that sees to their management, and has now decided that the prospect of Europe tumbling into economic chaos is enough to entail a drastic rewriting of their tour plans.

Both groups are managed by a company called Q Prime, commanded by the music business veterans Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein. The former is the husband of the Tory backbencher Louise Mensch; back home in the States, the latter used the Wall Street Journal to serve notice this week that Metallica and the "Chilis" were now set on visiting Europe next year as opposed to 2013, lest they lose millions if the euro goes even further south.

His case is simple enough: "Over the next few years, the dollar will be stronger and the euro weaker, and if that's the case, I want to take advantage of that by playing more of these shows now, because they will be more profitable for us." Burnstein also says he is pushing acts into countries where strong currencies and insatiable audiences mean that there are altogether more dependable fortunes to be made.

In other words, the ideal modern touring itinerary is increasingly not built around such legendary stop-offs as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw (referenced in Paul McCartney's 1975 anthem Rock Show) or the Forest National Arena in Brussels (where the Rolling Stones recorded a famous 1973 performance, finally released officially last month), but Sydney, São Paulo and Jakarta.

What's telling about Q Prime's manoeuvre is twofold. First, there is a neat pop-cultural subtext. In 2007, when the dollar's value against the euro was falling fast, the rapper Jay-Z made a point of waving around bunches of €500 notes in the video for a song titled Blue Magic, while the Wu-Tang Clan set the online price of their CDs in the currency, and the model Gisele Bündchen insisted on being paid the same way. No more: to use Marxist language, machinations in the economic base have rippled out into the superstructure, and euros – and by extension, Europe – are just about the least fashionable things imaginable.

Second, for those Europeans fearing the worst but being comforted by, say, the Chilis' rather underwhelming latest album, I'm With You, the likely projections seem simple: if you live in such comparative pop-cultural deserts as Italy, Spain, Greece or – pardonnez-moi, but they've never been much good at rock music – France, 2013 may mark the beginning of a long period of frustration.

For the British too, a large-scale American no-show will have serious consequences. During festival season in particular, US musicians tend to bundle up their European and British engagements into one big busman's holiday, and then return home with enough money to tide them over till Christmas. If big acts decide to stay away, the silence – particularly at the metal and hard-rock end of the market – will be deafening.

So what to do? The last time the UK was in a period of economic stagnation, we were treated to something called the new wave of British heavy metal, aka NWOBHM (or "new-wob-bum"), whose plebeian, no-nonsense music and aesthetics were perfectly suited to the wider moment – and caught the attention of the young Metallica. Thirty years on, if that band and their ilk spurn these shores for lucrative treks around the southern hemisphere, it may again be time to apply jump-leads to home-grown rock. If so, as the saying goes, I'll see you down the front.

[Twinfan]

Very interesting - cheers Dave!

[Telerocker]

Maybe they should just do a British, Swiss, Russian and partly Scandinavian tour.

[HTH AMPS]

I think this isn't the big deal that the article makes it out to be - I doubt we'll see much/any change in tours or festivals.

However, if we do and more European bands get on at festivals, all the better for grass roots movements.

[Dmoney]

I think this isn't the big deal that the article makes it out to be - I doubt we'll see much/any change in tours or festivals.

However, if we do and more European bands get on at festivals, all the better for grass roots movements.

Agreed
I think it would stop smaller US bands coming over. Right now I know bands that tour from states that most UK promoters can't afford to pay. When it was almost 2 dollars to the pound a few years back some bands would tour here more than their own country.
If it means a surge in bands here, which is a bit hopeful, then that is something positive. If it means EU bands can get to the states more easily and tour without loosing loads of money, then that it another positive byproduct.

[dave_mc]

:lol:

surely in 2007 the euro was worth less than it is now, though? though to be fair, maybe the dollar was even weaker again (i.e. it was teh strong pound making it appear so rather than any inherent weakness of the euro).

[JacksonRR]

If it means EU bands can get to the states more easily and tour without loosing loads of money, then that it another positive byproduct.

That would certainly be a good thing. Some of my favorite bands don't make it to N. America often and when they do, it's usually just a few spots in the Northern half of the U.S. and a few spots in Canada.

[Dmoney]

If it means EU bands can get to the states more easily and tour without loosing loads of money, then that it another positive byproduct.

That would certainly be a good thing. Some of my favorite bands don't make it to N. America often and when they do, it's usually just a few spots in the Northern half of the U.S. and a few spots in Canada.

part of the problem is that work permits for bands entering to the US are so costly and such a nightmare to sort out. US bands don't need them to enter mainland europe, and for the UK i think its a flat fee that covers the whole band. its pretty one sided. prices might have changed since I looked into it. You can tour without work permits (like i have) but it's sketchy.

[Alex]

Metallica now plan to visit Europe next year as opposed to 2013, for fear of losing millions if the value of the euro plummets. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex Features


His case is simple enough: "Over the next few years, the dollar will be stronger and the euro weaker, and if that's the case, I want to take advantage of that by playing more of these shows now, because they will be more profitable for us." Burnstein also says he is pushing acts into countries where strong currencies and insatiable audiences mean that there are altogether more dependable fortunes to be made.

What dumbasses, I can't believe these people run million-dollar projects. A quick look at currency trends shows that there is nothing to believe the Euro will drop quickly. It may have lost around 9% over the last 6 months in comparison to the $, but over the year the $ has still lost 0.71%. The clear and ongoing trend over the last years has been that the $ and £ are the weaker currencies. I can't comment a lot on the UK, but in general I strongly think that even if the Eurocrisis is not solved soon, the US has the bigger economical problems; their debt rating is too high (if I remember from the top of my head, it is almost at 100% now and will reach that limit soon), it's growing too fast and nobody will bail the US out.
Numbers:
http://markets.ftd.de/currencies/factsheet_overview.html?ID_CURRENCY_FROM=EUR&ID_CURRENCY_TO=USD

[Ratrod]

I think they're using it as an excuse. I think they don't expect to sell that many tickets.