How much are Super Bowl performers paid?
How much are Super Bowl performers paid? Halftime performers earn shockingly low pay, but the exposure is priceless. Kendrick Lamar’s recent performance led to a 154% streaming spike.
How are Super Bowl performers paid?
by Bobby Owsinski via Music 3.0
I know that we’re about 10 days past the event, but the question keeps getting asked, “How much did Kendrick Lamar get paid for his halftime appearance at this past Super Bowl?” In fact, how much does any artist make? Surprisingly, they all get paid the same and it’s far less than you think.
According to Sports Illustrated, over the past 59 years Super Bowl performers having been getting paid union scale. That amounts to around $1,000 for the halftime show, and about $1,800 for the rehearsals leading up to it.
And you thought it was in the millions, right?
But The Visibility
So the next question might be, “Why would any major artist consent to do this if they’re getting paid the same or less than they were when they were starting out?”
If you’re an artist or in a band you’ve undoubtedly heard the line, “But it will be good promotion” when someone tried to hire you for below your rate, or even for free. 99% of the time, the promotion that you get from the gig isn’t worth the effort that you put in. The Super Bowl is not one of those times.
Lamar played to an audience of 133 million people around the world, and I promise you that’s not possible for any other event on the planet.
As a result of his appearance, it’s been reported that his streams and views increased 154%! That’s actually pretty low compared to previous artists though.
Rhianna saw a 1,140% increase for her appearance during Super Bowl LVII, and Missy Elliot received an astounding 2,500% increase for her appearance in 2015.
Personally, I thought Lamar mumbled through the whole show and I didn’t recognize a word he said, but I guarantee that about 50 million more people knew his name on the Monday following the event. It’s also a pretty safe bet that even if you didn’t like his music you probably watched the show anyway. That’s the way it works with every Super Bowl.
The moral here is that if someone ever wants to hire you for a gig because of the possible exposure, you should probably pass, unless, of course, it’s the Super Bowl.
Bobby Owsinski is a producer/engineer, author, blogger, podcaster, and coach. He has authored 24 books on music production, music, the music business, music AI, and social media.
