As the Christmas season encroaches, we all know the feeling of someone not giving due diligence to the gift that we spent so much on for them. Coldplay hopes you enjoy the color-changing wristbands it gave you while on the 'Mylo Xyloto' tour. Because they spent nearly $7 million on them.
The report is the most startling of the numbers that came out in The Mirror's report on the group's tour spending. The actual total was $6,840,540 (converted from pounds). If this doesn't seem like an absurd amount for a headlining act to spend on free souvenirs, compare it to the rest of the tour's expenses: The group spent a "mere" $1.8 million to build its elaborate, special effect-laden stage setup. It spent a total of $1.55 million on lodging throughout the tour (and they don't stay in Holiday Inns). Finally, the group spent around $163,000 on catering during the trip.
The wristbands weren't cheap, if you hadn't figured. The Mirror estimated that each cost around $5 to produce, which ends up when you sellout arenas. Such spending might seem silly, but kudos has to be given to the band for taking the fans into consideration. A source close to the band stated that "If fans are paying £50 for a ticket, they are entitled to a good show and a spectacle. It's no longer enough to jump around on stage, looking pretty." A valid point.
Plus it's not like the group performed at a loss. Its final earnings from 'Mylo Xyloto' was more than $57 million. That's why Gwyneth Paltrow's "must have" Christmas list doesn't make sense to the rest of us. Her husband can afford it.
