The clock is ticking. As of last Thursday, Treasury cash balances were Lowest level in 6 years Less than $39 billion. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen now believes the government: run out of money June 5th.
Why music stars can’t say no to ‘private’
From charity galas in Manhattan to luxury hotel openings in the Persian Gulf, private gigs (“private” in the music industry parlance) seem to be happening everywhere. Funded by the ultra-rich and corporate, these intimate star-studded performances are off-limits to the public.
Evan Osnos writes amusingly that the private has become a reliable moneymaker for both chart-toppers and performers well past their prime. Articles full of bombs The New Yorker opens with rapper Flo Rida playing a bar mitzvah in Lincolnshire, a wealthy suburb of Chicago.
For years, the private world was dominated by aging crooners, a category subtly known as “nostalgia performers.” San Francisco entertainment attorney Jacqueline Sabek, who has negotiated many private gig deals, told me: “Artists always said no to those things because they weren’t cool.”
But my fears have faded dramatically. In January, Beyoncé performed her first show in over four years. The one-hour set earned $24 million, not in a stadium where fans scream, but in a new hotel in Dubai.
Nowadays, almost no one refuses to receive money privately, Jennifer Lopez, Maroon 5 and Eric Clapton all agreed. According to one agent, in the end, “it’s just a convention or a party, and you just happen to be making a fuss on the edge of it,” but even young artists aren’t afraid of being stigmatized.
But some continue to resist, including Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and AC/DC “for reasons no one can fully figure out,” Osnos wrote.
