In the wearying summer of 1966, The Beatles decided that they had reached the end of their days on the road.
In the years since, given the monumental legacy that they managed to mount, this move is taken for granted. In truth, Beatlemania had been such a vital prong in their profound attack, allowing fans the visceral experience of screaming the house down in honour of their new heroes, that curtailing that live buzz and focusing on being weird in the studio quite possible could’ve precluded future success and paved the way for another pretty group to seize their mantle.
Obviously, that’s not how things panned out, but it wasn’t just their potential legacy that they were waving goodbye to when they decided to quit touring. The group’s business dealings were always notoriously troubled. Throughout their career, they fell short of the true extent of the fortunes that they were justly owed.
For instance, they only managed to secure a 10% cut of their merchandising rights. That paltry figure has meant that over the years, they have missed out on well over $100million, enough to buy you a single half decent striker in today’s football climate.
So, while Paul McCartney might have dispelled their supposed anti-material ways as “a myth” and explained, “John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool’,” they evidently weren’t so fussed about cash that they endeavoured to claw after every penny. In fact, when you look at the eye-watering figures that they missed out on by not touring, that becomes all the more clear.
How much money did The Beatles make from touring?
Back in 2011, the public were given a gleaming insight into the sort of figures the Fab Four were racking up on the road. A contract revealing how The Beatles refused to perform in front of a segregated audience at Cow Palace in California went up for sale at auction. Alongside this notable clause that proved their position on driving equality, a few other prominent factors came to light.
The signed contract guaranteed the band $40,000 for the performance. The show was say back in August, 1965. In today’s money, that’s around $409,000. it is believed that at this stage in their career, that figure was a pretty typical asking price for the group. So, had they played a ten-date tour they’d be looking at a cool million each. For a group financially hamstrung by their own dodgy business dealings, this recurring income was not something for them to scoff at.
Alas, such was the confluence of their artistic integrity and desire to push music to new heights, coupled with the stresses that they faced on the road, they decided to turn away from the fortunes of eternally sold-out live shows and hire expensive studios instead. This is even braver given that they had only been a stadium band demanding lofty fees for a very short period following a stint in Hamburg where they were effectively paid in beer and free bed for the night.
How much did Beatles tickets cost?
Beyond the figures that they missed out on, the sums of their shows also highlight just how much the music industry has changed. With fewer greasy hands reaching into the pot, the Fab Four’s handsome fees did not come at the expense of the viewing public.
Tickets for their iconic Shea Stadium show were sold at a base rate of $4.50 back in 1965 That’s around $46 in 2025, a fraction of what the biggest shows these days set you back. Granted, you couldn’t hear them over the screaming hysteria, but that was all part of the fun.