Wiggles - Austrailias top earners of 2004

Basic Pitch · Post by **Basic Pitch** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:31 am

This is WAY off topic for here, but some may find interesting. If your a parent and have a child between the ages of say 2-5 you may know a singing and dancing group of 4 named the Wiggles, they have their own childrens show and seemingly have become rather wealthy from this.

My wife forwarded me a yahoo news story about them and I thought I would share it since it just biggles the mind at how people make obscene amounts of money in the entertainment industy.

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SYDNEY, Australia - The Wiggles have sung and danced their way to the top of a list of Australia's wealthiest entertainers, edging out Hollywood heavyweights such as Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe.

The four Australian performers topped BRW Magazine's list of Australia's 50 richest performers in 2004 with an estimated gross income of $34.5 million, up from $10.7 million in the previous year.

Kidman almost doubled her earnings and was Australia's second richest performer with $30 million, according to the magazine, which hit newsstands Thursday. She was followed by Crowe, who earned an estimated $20 million in 2004.

BRW managing editor Tony Featherstone said in an editorial that The Wiggles had topped the chart, which is based on the magazine's estimates of their 2004 gross income, thanks to a great product and marketing.

"They got into the market early, they took time to understand their audience, not only children but the parents who pay for everything," he said.

AC/DC were in fourth place, with an estimated income of $14 million.

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Things that make the world turn

Cheers!

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:22 pm

____________________________
More has been done with less

[ This Message was edited by: at0m on 2005-04-12 21:34 ]

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:27 pm

Trying to impose adult will on children just results in a miserable warzone. I still say no to many things. But watching children laughing and dancing to their music ..... they're a good thing. 3/4 of them qualified in early childhood.

Forget their gross earnings. They take big tours. Their shows are considered great fun. Here we are complaining about the loss of avenues to play live...I'll bet they turn down stacks of gigs.

Maybe we can learn something from them.

PS They've sung and danced their way up for about 20 years.

[ This Message was edited by: Mikka on 2005-04-12 19:29 ]

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:10 pm

They used to be a North Shore Sydney band called The Cockroaches, didn't they?

It's a pity they couldn't use a bit of that capital to get someone to write some songs for them

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:26 pm

In my opinion the Wiggles are one of the worst example of corporate merchandising. Their songs are vacuous nonsense and their shows teach no useful skills. It'll be a cold day in hell before my kids ever watch that trash.

It is pure pop commercialism targeting the vulnerable young and featuring all the usual spinoffs: lunchboxes, stickers, clothes, shopping mall rides, backpacks and breakfast cereal bullshite.

They are channeling toddlers into an extremely unhealthy form of pop-idol worship that ends with the sort of ridiculous adulation that Astroman highlighted in another thread.

There are many alternatives that have as their primary goal the education of children, not the spending habits of their parents.

Post by **hubird** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:59 pm

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emzee · Post by **emzee** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:58 am

Apparently Greg, the lead singer, got some very forward propositions from an obsessed young fan....about 8 years old, I think. She kept writing him letters. The band members were sensitive enough not to say any more.

Is this Puxatawny?

[ This Message was edited by: Mikka on 2005-04-13 04:06 ]

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:57 am

And thanks for drawing attention to it, Basic

Just a part of the bland Australian mainstream arts' quest to conquer the US & UK.

Let's dumb it down for the little folks now!

a one, a two a 1234...

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:09 am

On 2005-04-12 12:31, Basic Pitch wrote:
...My wife forwarded me a yahoo news story about them and I thought I would share it since it just biggles the mind at how people make obscene amounts of money in the entertainment industy.
...
The four Australian performers topped BRW Magazine's list of Australia's 50 richest performers in 2004 with an estimated gross income of $34.5 million, up from $10.7 million in the previous year.

Kidman almost doubled her earnings and was Australia's second richest performer with $30 million, according to the magazine, which hit newsstands Thursday. She was followed by Crowe, who earned an estimated $20 million in 2004.
...
Things that make the world turn

Cheers!

yeah, but it can spin even faster...
under these conditions Miss Kidman and Mister Crowe might qualify as secretary and driver for the top earner of the leading hedge funds manger list... making a humble $750 million/year

the top20 scorers of that list have an AVERAGE income of $250 million/year...

cheers, Tom

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:30 am

It's all relative, ain't it. If I were helping people make a few billion in profit a year, I'd want a few % just to keep up my incentive.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:10 am

rigthy, right
in the case above 'a few' translates to 'between 20 and 40' if I remember right

can't find the article back, but I liked one quote a lot (from one of those dudes) :

'most people want to make money, but are afraid of losses.
They'll never make it. If you want to win you'll have to accept loss as a regular part of the business'

cheers, Tom

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:43 am

Q: "Why have you been so successful?
A: "Good decisions".

Q: "Why were you able to make good decisions while others weren't".
A: "Experience".

Q: "How did you get the experience?"
A: "Bad decisions".

Not exactly relevant to your point, but it made me feel wise when I posted it.

[ This Message was edited by: Mikka on 2005-04-13 08:43 ]

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:18 am

Most sagely, Mikka