Do you live in Metsimotlhabe, Africa, and wonder why Iron Maiden hasn’t played all of the greatest U.K. album of all-time in your charming, humble village? Well, you better fire up the ol’ laptop and begin downloading Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, because that’s perhaps how Iron Maiden wisely schedule their tour dates now.
In the case of Iron Maiden, still a top-drawing band in the U.S. and Europe after thirty years, MusicMetric ran an analysis and noted a surge in traffic in South America. Also, MusicMetric saw that Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile were among the top 10 countries with the most Iron Maiden Twitter followers. There was also a huge amount of BitTorrent traffic in South America, particularly in Brazil.
Iron Maiden has done a great job of going where its fans were, even if those fans were pirates. The band has focused extensively on South American tours in recent years, one of which was filmed for the documentary “Flight 666.” After all, fans can’t download a concert or t-shirts. The result was massive sellouts. The São Paolo show alone grossed £1.58 million (US$2.58 million) alone. (Via*)
*now with update and correction
Were this true of all bands, Zack Attack would have played A LOT more shows in upstate New York in the 1990s.
(Banner via Getty Image, via CITEworld)
