Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer conducts a multinational tour playing movie music in orchestral majesty, in what is a “service” type of film licensed merchandise.
Hans Zimmer Live is scheduled to perform in 17 U.S. and Canadian cities by end-tour in October, after starting in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The music is from movies “The Dark Knight,” “Dune,” “Gladiator,” “Interstellar,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Lion King” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” One of Hollywood’s most in demand composers, Zimmer won Oscars for his music for “Lion King” in 1995 and “Dune” in 2022, and was nominated for 10 other films.
“The groundbreaking audio and visual show feature a selection of the composer’s scores being brought to life by Zimmer and his 18-piece live band and full orchestra,” says a June 18 press release adding shows in previously sold-out Oakland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The tour promoters are Germany-based Semmel Concerts and also Los Angeles-based Concerts West, which is a unit of the second largest concert promoter AEG. The promoters did not respond to questions, but clearly merchandise sales at concerts is a significant business.
Tickets are $95-400; if that seems pricey, the concerts are man-power intensive with full orchestra.
Merchandise on the tour’s official website that is attached to Hans Zimmer Live offers no movie-specific baubles (though some film titles are integrated with tour merch). The lineup of physical tour merch is limited to apparel such as tee-shirts, tote bags, posters and the like (usually merchandise sold on-site at music concerts is controlled by the artist, with the local arena getting a small cut; the local arena does not control merchandise at its facility, in many cases).
The companion digital art is very eye-catching with footage from the elaborate staging. “Each artwork a uniquely numbered limited edition … gift it, sell it, treasure it,” says a promotional video. Prices ranged from $50 to $160 per audio/visual unit and about a dozen titles are listed on the tour website.
This concert tour is a form of licensed music merchandise, because music rights are licensed for fees and the audience pays admission (some of that income flows to movie rights holders). So, the concert is a “service” that is little different than theme park rides based on movies or pay-to-see traveling tours of movie artifacts.
And, of course, the soundtracks performed in such a live event keeps the underlying movies near and dear to audiences.
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