Helen Bach mentioned this awhile back (and I may have as well!) but now it is history and U2 are on to new ways to make you part with your money, it might be worth another look at how Paul McGuinness is finding new ways to make money for the band. Which is his job, by the way.
I don't like Paul at all, he is an unseemly moneygrubber out to sue the world to protect a few dollars more. Wht I dislike most is he seems to be killing the messenger, blaming fans for "file sharing" when the technology is to blame.
But his response to the situation is very clever. He changed U2's Fanclub into a cash machine, making presales available to fanclub members,w hich is OK business as usual, but also making the live from their 360 degree tour available only thru the Fanclub. It is easy to do the math here…
Sell thru ITUNES $2
Stream Thru Online Service: 2 cents
Sale thru Fanclub $50.
Or if you prefer, it would have be streamed 25,000 times to make as much as ONE SALE thru the fanclub.
Now U2 are giving you abook about the tour if you join. Say what you will, but this is a smart way too do business.