Madonna in Manila: Too expensive?

Pop-music legend Madonna is coming to Manila to perform at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in February next year. We welcome her to our shores. However, since the announcement of her concerts, there has been some controversy and discussion about the price of the tickets to see her perform.

While there are certainly much more important issues to discuss, as the highest-priced Special VIP admission is at P57,750, does this say something about the Philippine economic situation?

Madonna began her first concert tour in 1985. While her fans would vehemently disagree, at 56 years old, her career has probably peaked out a bit. But that does not distract in any way from her talent. It is the P58,000 a ticket that is the issue.

We thought back to when another music legend came to Manila in December 1996. Michael Jackson then was at the top, having released the iconic studio album HIStory: Past, Present and Future. On this album, as at the concert in Manila, Jackson sang the songs that have come to define his music: “Billie Jean,” “Thriller” and “Beat It.”

The venue for the Michael Jackson concert was the then-wilderness of the reclamation area on Roxas Boulevard. A temporary road had to be cut from where Jackson was staying at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel (now Sofitel Philippine Plaza) to the concert site. While our memory is not exact on this, it would not be surprising—but certainly ironic—that his concert in the field was staged near the current location of the MOA Arena.

The most expensive ticket to see Jackson was P5,000. At the peso-dollar exchange rate then, it was priced at $190. The least-expensive admission was P500 ($16.25). By comparison, in dollar terms, Madonna’s most expensive is $1,300 and least costly is $70.

Interestingly, Jackson played to a venue holding 50,000 and, at full capacity at the arena, Madonna will be seen by about 40,000.

In peso terms, Madonna’s highest-priced ticket is over 10 times as costly as Jackson’s and the least costly is six times as high. Could the growth of the Philippine economy in the last 20 years explain the difference in ticket prices?

When Jackson came to the Philippines, the country’s total economic output was $74 billion. As Madonna graces our country, last year we produced $285 billion. The size of the Philippine economy is about four times as large now as in 1996. Madonna’s tickets are too expensive by that standard.

In 1996 the per-capita gross domestic product in comparative purchasing power was $4,100. Currently, it is about $6,600, or 50 percent larger. Still, too expensive. Average monthly household income in the Philippines has almost doubled in 20 years, but not up 10 times as between the Jackson ticket price. Too expensive?

Madonna’s concert will be sold out as was Jackson’s. Back in 1996, some complained that the MJ concert highlighted the wealth disparity of the country. Some things haven’t changed in two decades.