Last year rapper Jay Z was dogged by reports that the 4:44 tour was having trouble moving tickets [click here and here if you missed that].
Not so fast...
From Billboard,
JAY-Z grossed $48.7 million on his 32-date 4:44 tour November and December, a vindication of sorts for the hip-hop star who faced rumors that a lack of instant sellouts meant soft demand.
Sales weren't bad -- they were just slow, as in slow ticketing. JAY-Z is the latest artist to embrace the slow ticketing model, blocking out bots and scalpers that instantly buy up tickets by pricing premium tickets higher and closer to their actual value (i.e. what they would fetch on secondary market sites like StubHub) while keeping less desirable seats relatively inexpensive. The move means more money for artists like JAY-Z through platinum ticket sales and VIP, while keeping upper-level seats relatively inexpensive and available to fans.
