VLast Friday in Jamnagar, western India, the son of Mukesh Ambani, the boss of oil and communications major Reliance Industries, got married. The businessman pulled out all the stops to celebrate his son Anant Ambani’s union with pharmaceutical tycoon’s daughter Radhika Merchant. Among the guests: Bollywood stars, the King of Bhutan, but also Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump and of course Rihanna…
According to local media India Today, the singer reportedly received a $9 million check to perform on Friday night. Such an extravagant amount for Asia’s richest man (the 9th richest man in the world) with a fortune of $116 billion. The three-day festival highlighted Indian traditions, with the actual wedding ceremony not held until July.
The famous businessman is not his first move: in 2018, for his daughter’s wedding, he reportedly spent more than $100 million. At that time, it was singer Beyonce who gave the concert.
This weekend, criticism arose after Rihanna’s concert, which was considered a mediocre performance. Some noted that it was content to serve the minimum in playback. His last concert, other than the Super Bowl in 2023, was eight years ago. Now, the Barbadian singer devotes herself mainly to her two children from her relationships with ASAP Rocky and her brands Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty.
Attractive private concert market
Bruno Pradels and Martin Berthelot, the two founders of artistic agency Romy’s Music, told the magazine in May 2023. No That “the stamp amount varies between 1,000 euros and 1,000,000 euros. » specifying “that private performances shall not last more than thirty minutes”. This “parallel market”, flourishing since the advent of streaming, takes the form of intimate concerts, but also as “after shows” for major luxury brands.
According to The New YorkerA private concert by Beyonce at the hotel Atlantis the Royal The one-hour set in Dubai in January 2023 brought in $24 million. Flo Rida, the rapper’s manager, explains in the same newspaper that his artist schedules about thirty private shows per year. The most recent is a “six-figure stamp” for the birthday of the son of a financial services company executive.
Artists Drake, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry, The Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones and Sting have also performed similar shows during their careers. Despite the criticism, private concerts are on the rise. On the one hand, luxury brands want to offer more exclusive experiences, on the other hand, billionaires do not deny themselves any extravagance.
