British Vision Issue 40 音乐会--歌手们的最爱

Welcome back, now the world of digital download where top of the pops is dead and pop stars complain about piracy¹. The good old days are making a comeback. The Live Gig is now the biggest money maker² in the industry with revenues from tours often matching or exceeding album sales. Madonna will take a record breaking 100 million pounds on a 60-date world tour. The Rolling Stones will make 30 million from T-shirt sales alone. But it is not just the big names. New acts are also fueling the festival scene, as Stephanie West reports.

Music buyers increasingly set their own agenda. They download, share and burn as technology moves at a mercurial³ speed, but when it comes to gigs, the artist still calls the tune⁴. As this year, ticket sales hit global records, since May, Madonna has played to more than half a million people, with crowds of 59 thousand in Cardiff and 70 thousand in Rome. Now on her wembely dates, the last night falls on her 48th birthday, one big present is she's heading for her most lucrative⁵ tour to date: predicted to top 100 million pounds. Her figure is a dazzle, but the live market is buoyant across the board.

The top 100 artists touring internationally have grossed to over a billion dollars worldwide, it's about 40% up on last year. Ticket prices lately have gone up by 50% but it doesn't seem to be deterring⁶ people.

It means live music is now seen as one of the most important revenue streams in the industry. Figures show that since 2000, the global recorded music market has fallen by more than 50%, with the decline in album sales. At the same time, festivals are booming. The website, E-Festival, lists 400 in Britain this year alone. For promotors the explanation is simple.

Live music is one of the very few pieces of product that you cannot replicate⁷, one of the few customary experiences that you cannot duplicate on the Internet, you can film it and you put on television, but you don't really in, it is not the same as being there.

In fact the money artists grossed on tours can match and eclipse album sales even when the records are chart-conquering best-sellers. Take Madonna, Confessions⁸ On A Dance Floor which went straight to No.1 in 29 countries has so far shifted 11 million copies. Those sales are equaled by her tour, where the top tickets are going for 160 pounds. At her show, fans are prime examples of this new passion for the live experience.

At the end of the year, I wanna see U2 and Kylie Minogue, in Sydney. U2 , I am going for the experience, same with Kylie Minogue. I do not have any of their albums.

Even those who have no new albums can fill a field. Fans of Guns N' Roses have been waiting 9 years for Axl's next release. But he still headlined the download festival in June, to a capacity crowds of 75 thousand. The record industry now wants a greater piece of this renewed passion. Labels are shifting focus, increasingly getting bands to sign contracts that cover live performance as well as album deals.

If you want to go into the music business now, you may be best-off to try enter the live field. There are some new acts that are exploding, and, and are making enormous impacts in the live circuit.

A few years ago, a prophetic David Bowie observed music will soon be like running water. A musician should be prepared to do a lot of touring, the only unique situation left. A brief always fulfilled by these record-breaking kings of the road, making 79 million pounds so far this year. Seven No.1 in the tour charts.

Keep it always fresh.

Our main headlines tonight reports in the last few minutes...
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mercurial
volatile 易变的

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。

4 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

5 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

6 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网

7 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

8 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》