{"id":1833,"date":"2015-02-24T16:26:22","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T00:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1833"},"modified":"2015-02-24T16:26:22","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T00:26:22","slug":"superstars-have-always-been-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/02\/superstars-have-always-been-with-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Superstars have always been with us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"not<\/a>Paul Krugman takes a look at top earnings amongst musicians, and the ‘superstar’ effect – the idea that the vast share of consumer spending on music will go to a very small number of performers, since they can reach very large audiences through recordings and broadcasts (see my previous post here<\/a>). He writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

What makes this an interesting story for music is that what technology gave, it is now taking away: digital, streamed music is hard to monetize, so that artists are forced back on live performance. So you might expect to see some equalizing of incomes taking place.<\/p>\n

But the more I look into this, the less I think this story works, at least for music. …<\/p>\n

Let me offer two comparisons, one more fun than the other.<\/p>\n

The not-fun comparison: How does the concentration of income among financially successful musicians compare with the distribution of income among financially successful Americans in general? We know that top incomes tend to roughly fit a Pareto distribution, in which, say, the 99th percentile is to the 99.9th as the 99.9th is to the 99.99th. The Piketty and Saez data<\/a> (xls) tell us that in 2013 income at the 99.99th percentile was 4.38 times as high as income at the 99.9th, which in turn was 3.88 times as high as income at the 99th.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Billboard rich list<\/a> has the 4th highest-paid band, Bon Jovi (sigh), making 3.65 times as much as the 40th artist, Carrie Underwood (oh well). Given the fuzziness of these numbers, I\u2019d say that income inequality among financially successful bands looks about the same as inequality among financially successful Americans in general. In fact, it\u2019s kind of startling how undistinctive the business of being a big-money musician seems to be.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So, either many labor markets are driven by superstar effects, or they are not that prevalent anywhere – there is little distinctive about top performers’ earnings relative to other high earners.<\/p>\n

But is this inequality in earnings relatively new?<\/p>\n

\n

[L]et\u2019s take an example where there are pretty good numbers: Jenny Lind, the famous soprano, who toured America from 1850 to 1852<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets at Lind\u2019s first concert sold for an average of about 6 dollars, which seems to have been more or less typical during the tour. Adjusting for inflation, that\u2019s the equivalent of around $180 today, which isn\u2019t too shabby (a lot of the indie concerts I go to are $15-20, although they also make money on beer). But you also want to bear in mind that real incomes and wages were much lower, so that these were actually huge ticket prices relative to typical incomes.<\/p>\n

Overall, Lind was paid about $350,000 for 93 concerts, or a bit less than $4,000 a concert. If we adjust for the rise in GDP per capita since then, this was the equivalent of around $2 million a concert today. In other words, to a first approximation Jenny Lind = Taylor Swift. And this was in an era not only without recordings, but without amplification, so that the size of audiences was limited by the acoustics of the halls and the performer\u2019s voice projection.<\/p>\n

What all this suggests to me, at least, is that the economics of being a financially successful musician aren\u2019t that different from success in other walks of life, and haven\u2019t changed that much over the long run despite huge changes in technology and tastes. Basically, musicians are just like bankers, except for the business about saving our souls versus destroying them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Have at it, readers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Krugman takes a look at top earnings amongst musicians, and the ‘superstar’ effect – the idea that the vast share of consumer spending on music will go to a very small number of performers, since they can reach very large audiences through recordings and broadcasts (see my previous post here). He writes: What makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-issues","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-tz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3648,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2024\/12\/music-and-wellness\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":0},"title":"Music and Wellness","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Daniel Levitin has a\u00a0short article in Wired\u00a0on the future of music, therapy and well-being. I do not like it. Preliminary:\u00a0Levitin\u00a0is James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University, and the author of many books - I came to know him long ago for his\u00a0This is Your Brain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1201,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/04\/the-logic-of-collective-action-in-music-recording\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":1},"title":"The Logic of Collective Action in Music Recording","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times reports on efforts in the music industry to coordinate lobbying: When it comes to the music industry\u2019s lobbying efforts in Washington, it is time for some harmony. That message has gained momentum among music executives, who worry that squabbling among the various players \u2014 record labels,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"unorganized","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/music-listeners.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1694,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/11\/streaming-a-view-from-the-other-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":2},"title":"Streaming – a view from the other side (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times has an 'Opinionator' series asking 'Is Streaming Good for Musicians?' It's a narrow question, since in any dispassionate analysis 'Is Streaming Good for People Who Listen to Music?' would also factor into the evaluation of this technology. That said, let me try to broaden the debate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"looks nice to me","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/stream.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1222,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/04\/at-the-record-store\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":3},"title":"At the record store","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I used to love going to record stores when I was a teenager. I couldn't buy much - a back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me it would have taken me 3 or 4 hours of work at my Saturday job at the Oasis Car Wash (it's still there!) to afford one LP\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I just called to say I love you","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jack-black-high-fidelity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jack-black-high-fidelity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jack-black-high-fidelity.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jack-black-high-fidelity.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1170,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/taxing-music-downloads\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":4},"title":"Taxing Music Downloads","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Europeans have been able to avoid high home-country tax rates on downloads of songs and books by purchasing through Luxembourg. The UK wants to put a stop to that. The Guardian reports: George Osborne's latest\u00a0budget\u00a0could spell an end to 99p song\u00a0downloads\u00a0by closing a tax loophole that meant consumers were paying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"get your downloads here","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Luxembourg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2738,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2022\/05\/book-diary-may-9-how-did-i-get-here-some-biography-econ-101ism\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833,"position":5},"title":"Book Diary – May 9 – How did I get here? Some biography, Econ 101ism…","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I am writing a book about The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts. My first diary entries are here and here. How did I come to be writing on this topic? Let's go way back... In high school I was one of the band room kids: French horn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"just a singer in a rock and roll band","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Elygra-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1836,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions\/1836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}