Jackson proves a Thriller despite recession

You certainly don’t wanna be startin’ somethin’ right now as the world plunges head first into a global recession, but Michael Jackson has done just that by announcing his return to the stage 12 years after his last series of concerts.  There may be rumours that the King of Pop has had financial difficulties but tickets for the extended series of 50 shows sold out in record time.

The promoters started by announcing just 10 dates, but with demand far greater than supply and Jackson clearly needing the money, you don’t stop ’til you get enough. So more dates were announced and instantly sold out without even satisfying the pre-sale demand. With millions of people rushing to buy tickets it was inevitable that Ticketmaster’s website would struggle, so it was not surprising when fans flocked to social network sites to scream their frustration to all their friends.

It’s human nature to hold onto your cash during economic downturns, so it’s hardly surprising that consumer spending has slowed in recent months. Which makes selling out 50 shows even more impressive, particularly when you consider that tickets were priced between £45 and £75. That’s £60m raised from ticket revenue alone before you even consider sponsorships, merchandise, corporate hospitality etc. Which I’m sure you’ll agree, is not bad. Few artists can ever hope to beat it.

Whilst this tour (if you can call it that) wont heal the world, Jackson has proved that despite tough economic times if you have something people really want to buy, and you promote it well enough then there is still demand out there. Indeed demand for the big concerts and festivals has held up well, perhaps because people are more inclined to attend these events instead of going on holiday this year.

Will you be there? If so you are not alone with over one million tickets snapped up by eager fans who will rock with you.

P.S. Apologies for this off the wall post, but I just couldn’t resist throwing in so many Michael Jackson song titles. I did however resist buying any tickets myself, although I did get the lady in my life tickets to see the dancing machine known as Girls Aloud.