The biggest names in the music industry are eager to perform in a 12-minute break of a football game and do not expect any performance fees in return. Why?
From Michael Jackson to Prince, to Beyonce, to Lady Gaga, to Weeknd, all these artists did not charge the NFL for their shows. Only because the exposure they got in return was bigger than anything they could expect in monetary equivalent.
Forbes quotes MRC Data analysis of the last year The Weeknd’s Super Bowl LV Halftime show outcome. On the game night only, music across his entire catalogue sold 36,500 copies, a 385% jump from 7,500 copies sold the day prior. That night, his Spotify streams also shot up nearly 220% in the U.S.
We remember a similar effect Eminem experienced after his Oscar performance in early 2020, only on a bigger scale. The Oscar-winning song he delivered during his surprise appearance, “Lose Yourself”, sold online over 4000 copies the next day, jumping 1,894% over the previous day sales. The track ran up the charts again consequently.
No wonder Mary J. Blige turned to the very same song to explain that the possibilities that become available to an artist who has performed at a Super Bowl Halftime show are unique and priceless. On The Cruz Show, she explained:
Listen, you gonna be paid for the rest of your life off of this. They don’t have to pay me. But if it was paying, it would be a lot of money. But I’m good. This is major. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Eminem says that in “Lose Yourself”, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
