Rammstein: Scandal band on European tour
As powerful as Rammstein's stage show is, so is the band's income. In the future, a scandal could be enough to end a tour.
Rammstein, it’s not just a band, it’s a company – and a huge one at that. The value of the brand cannot be precisely quantified, but it could be in the billions.
With the tickets for their concerts alone, the Berliners turned over more than 200 million euros last year. Globally, only five acts have been more successful, including Elton John, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. In Germany, no other artist even comes close.
The band, founded in 1994, does not only earn money with concerts: they have sold 20 million copies of their 8 albums. There are also merchandise items with the band name, such as sweaters and T-shirts, but also wine, chocolate and perfumes with names such as “Cocaine”, “Sex” and “Pussy” – the drugstore chain Rossmann has these after the recent allegations by several women against singers Till Lindemann banned from the online shop.
Rammstein: 23 shows until August
The publishing house Kiepenheuer & Witsch also reacted to the reports of sexual assaults after Rammstein concerts and ended the collaboration with Lindemann – the texts he published there made the 60-year-old the best-selling contemporary German poet.
Lindemann is apparently threatened with further economic consequences in connection with his solo tour planned for autumn and winter: it now seems to be on the brink, as reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Rammstein’s European tour, which has just started, is probably out of the question. The band wants to play 23 concerts by August 5th, in stadiums from Portugal to Hungary – most of them have long since been sold out. It is extremely unlikely that one of the mega shows will fail due to the latest allegations: “All parties involved should have the greatest possible interest in fulfilling the existing contracts,” explains Matthias Glesel, an event insurance expert, t-online.
Will the Rammstein case change the industry?
In view of the huge stage show and the high number of visitors at every Rammstein concert, the damage in the event of a cancellation should be in the tens of millions, Glesel estimates. And without a valid, i.e. insurance-relevant, reason, no one will assume these costs. “So far there has not been an insurance product that would take effect in the event of reputational damage,” says Glesel.
If – as of now – an organizer wanted to cancel a Rammstein concert in Portugal, for example, because he no longer wanted to be associated with the band after the allegations, he would be completely liable for the damage caused. “Perhaps such damage to reputation will be part of event contracts in the future,” says Matthias Glesel. Then the behavior of a band or their singer could serve as a reason for canceling a concert if this could damage the image of the organizer or other participants.
