This year, the average starting salary for a teacher in New York City was $48,445. For recent college graduates taking their first steps down the career path, making close to $50,000 isn’t too shabby. However, New York native and the self proclaimed “best rapper alive” puts the city’s teachers’ earnings to shame. In one tour, Jay-Z managed to make more money than 100 New York City school teachers, combined in a single show!; and he was able to do so in less than the time of an average school day. That’s right, Jay-Z’s On the Run Tour, which featured his superstar wife, Beyonce, grossed over 100 million dollars according to recent reports.
Originally, rumors began to circulate that tickets to see the celebrity couple were not selling as expected; however, Omar Al-Joulani, vice president of Live Nation, says that the “shows sold tremendously well at the end,” and that each show brought in about $5.2 million per night. Al-Joulani attributes some of the show’s ticket selling success to the fact that the tour was very “inclusive,” meaning that tickets were offered at an array of price levels. According to Al-Joulani, “Our strategy was to sell as best as we could on the primary system and to price tickets for what people were willing to pay for them, with a very dynamically priced model, so that wherever you were on that ticket chain, you… had an opportunity to attend the show…We made sure we had affordable tickets as well as the higher-priced tickets that we know the market can bear. Pricing went right across the spectrum.” While options for affordable tickets made the show accessible to more fans Al-Joulani says that the main factor behind the show’s numbers is the fact that “These events are driven by content and demand, and being dramatic and creative and putting out content people want to see. The two of them are as about creative as you can get, and it was pretty brilliant to watch them work. The show itself is spectacular.”
With more than $100 million dollars earned from their creativity, it appears that the couple will continue their reign as hip-hop royalty; however, don’t think the two plan to keep every penny they can. In partnership with #BeyGOOD, Jay-Z has donated $1 from every ticket purchased to the Shawn Carter (Jay-Z’ government name) Foundation to support students “facing socio-economic hardships further their education at post secondary institutions.” With the tour’s outstanding ticket sales, Jay-Z’ donations should be enough to put several students through college!
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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