[Dixielandjazz] Playing For Free

[Stephen G Barbone]

Oh, Oh, The Who is playing for FREE. By the looks of it, this is one  
event most any band would be happy to play gratis. Especially because  
of the large group of men, 25 to 54 year old, among the 100 million  
viewers .

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband


Excerpts from the NY Times article


February 3, 2010 - NY TIMES - by Ken Belson
The Who, and the Super Bowl’s Evolving Halftime Show


Once upon a time, a Super Bowl halftime show meant Carol Channing,  
college marching bands, Up With People and salutes to Louis Armstrong.  
These days, headliners like the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney  
happily line up to play a 12-minute set.

This year, the Who is headlining the show, a curious choice because  
the band has not released an album of new songs in four years and its  
first farewell tour was in 1982, before many people who will be  
watching the game were born.

Bill Curbishley, the Who’s manager for 39 years, jumped at the chance  
to play. Performing at the Super Bowl, he knows, means reaching about  
100 million television viewers, a great way to promote the band’s new  
greatest hits album, publicize a coming tour and reach fans who might  
know the Who only because its songs are heard on the “CSI” television  
shows.

“I don’t think it will sell millions and millions of albums, but it  
will definitely have an impact,” Curbishley said. “If you get into  
people’s consciousness, it helps.”

The results are often immediate. In the week after Tom Petty and the  
Heartbreakers performed at the Super Bowl two years ago, sales of the  
band’s greatest hits album tripled, according to Nielsen SoundScan.  
Their songs also climbed the charts before the Super Bowl because of  
commercials publicizing the halftime show during playoff games.

The N.F.L. does not pay an appearance fee, though it does cover all of  
the expenses for the band and its often ample entourage of several  
dozen stagehands, family and friends. . . .he added that . . . men  
ages 25 to 54, were the biggest group of Super Bowl viewers. . . . .

The Who, Coplin said, was chosen because its music is familiar to many  
viewers and plays well in big stadiums. He said the recent spate of  
older bands was no guarantee another one would be chosen for next  
year’s Super Bowl, which will be in Arlington, Tex. Either way, he  
figures to have no trouble finding acts willing to play.

“It’s become the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ of its time,” Coplin said.