Burna Boy’s Performance Fee is north of US$500,000 for performance fees plus a long list of requirements on his rider according to Africa Nation.
According to his hospitality rider, to book Burna Boy for an event, in addition to his fees, a 13-seater challenger jet is required for him and his team with the specifications: “Private jet to be vetted by the management team prior to booking.”
In whatever city or country the African Giant is booked, upon arrival he is to be “picked up by a convoy of five vehicles, a Sprinter bus, a van and three SUVs. The transportation should be available to the artist for the duration of the trip.” That requirement is pretty standard for artists who go on tour.
Burna seems to take his smoking seriously as all his stays “should have reserved a smoking executive suite, two junior suites, one deluxe king room and six double standard rooms with big mirrors.”
A green room with a smoking chamber should also be available.
As for food he prefers the African staples “jollof rice, plantain, four options of fried fish, seabass, salmon, among others. Chicken, fried yam, seafood, and salad.”
The report also stated that, “his dressing room should at all times have 12 bottles of still and carbonated spring water, eight ginger ales, six sprites, six Pepsi sodas, fresh grapes, strawberries, pineapples, mangoes, watermelons, three bottles of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, and one bottle each of Hennessy XO cognac, Jack Daniels whiskey, white wine, preferably a Chardonnay or Chablis, six black face towels and four black bath towels.”
Burna Boy who is the grandson of Benson Idonije, the manager to afrobeat pioneer Fela Kute was in fine style at his sold out Madison Square Garden debut in April.
With over 20 thousand strong in the New York City venue he performed his Afro-fusion hits for two nights back to back at his “One Night In Space” concert. The event was also live streamed on YouTube for millions of people around the world.
Burna is the first African solo headliner to sell out Madison Square Garden, let alone two shows. He follows the footsteps of Afropop singer Miriam Makeba who performed at Madison Square Garden for JFK’s birthday celebration in 1967.
Meanwhile Burna’s Toni-Ann Singh collaborator Popcaan, who is signed to Drake’s OVO records is commanding USD$150,000 per show according to a Canadian promoter.
Dwayne Hines, organizer of Kingston Music Fest in Toronto took issue with Popcaan instructing his team to issue a refund to patrons after several logistical and sound issues made the show insufferable, and he revealed Popcaan’s fee in an interview with Brandon Gomez.
He said, “now when you pay an artist USD$150,000 which is $22.5 Million Jamaican, CA$210,000.” Gomez then asked if that is how much he paid, to which he said, ” that is corrected.”
The promoter also said he provided Popcaan with a Jet which Popcaan later refuted.
Newcomer Skillibeng’s price was also revealed by a Connecticut promoter who said he paid $50,000 for the Whap Whap deejay to perform at his event.
Julian Griffiths Jones, Manager to several dancehall acts tweeted last weekend, “The way how Artist fees have skyrocketed the Caribbean has pretty much been priced out of seeing foreign touring acts.The days of big US names appearing in Jamaica etc might not come back the fees are too prohibitive. Who cares end of the day but those concerts were always a vibe.”
Former Sony Music executive Maxine Isis Stowe upon learning about Burna Boy’s fees commented on facebook that, “He Would Have To Promote His Own Show In Jamaica.”
A second quarter report from entertainment company Live Nation showed that the live entertainment industry is back globally and bigger than ever. It states that “every key operating metric is at an all-time high” and “more fans are attending shows where they spent more money, sold more tickets and enabled brands to connect with fans at a scale we have never seen before.”
Revenues have gone up by 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels with the company pulling $4.4 billion in the second quarter of 2022.
Over 12,500 concerts were staged globally by Rocnation over the same period and much of the growth is driven by increased spending by fans of more than 20% at venues such as amphitheaters, festivals, theaters and clubs compared to pre-pandemic days.
Burna Boy who is on the Live Nation roster is currently on his Love, Damini tour. His next stops will be at the Made In America Festival in Philadelphia on September 3.
Read full Live Nation report here
