Why Has Music Become A Heated Topic For America’s Biggest Sports Game?

Between a historical lack of payout and many fans intentionally tuning out the official

show, is the halftime show worth it for artists?

Every year this topic is raised yet again, every major news outlet releases a short article

answering what I can only assume must be one of the most googled questions Super

Bowl night; “How much was _____ paid for performing?” And in case this question has

brought you here, the answer is absolutely nothing ($0). While there have been some

advancements, for instance, the revolutionary idea to pay dancers who make the show

the spectacle it is, the main draw themselves are left working for clout and nothing

more.

“Exposure pay” is what your college roommate is supposed to say when you ask how

much they’re willing to pay you for editing their podcast, surely the NFL wouldn’t give

the same response for performing in a packed arena on their single most lucrative night

of the year.

According to a Nielsen media study, fans of halftime show artists are supposed to agree

that this underpayment makes sense and is fair because of “significant spikes in album

sales and paid digital downloads due to the exposure”. This backwards philosophy

assumes that normal shows are performed to drive streaming and album sales, when in

fact the reverse is true. Streaming makes pennies, and touring and merch are often the

“lucrative” aspects of an artist’s ability to make any money at all. In a world where we

don’t pay for music to listen to it, the only ways to make money by playing music are to

charge for it as a physical product (CDs and Vinyl) or as an experience, aka a concert.

A common argument is that these are artists so big and successful that they really don’t

need the extra cash. But if they’re so big, they don’t really need the exposure either,

then do they? If we see these people as being able to “afford to not make any money for

this show,” why are we not applying the same logic to the NFL, which is bigger and able

to afford the cost much more?

At the end of the day, this is just another attempt to reduce artistry to nothing. Many

smaller artists are facing the same problems at a smaller scale, being paid with drinks at

a local gig or with exposure at a large wedding. How are we supposed to see them

break free of these norms if even the world’s biggest artists can’t?

And the woes don’t end there, sadly…

Even if being paid with exposure was all that Bad Bunny was hoping for, he was

cheated out of that as well, as many Super Bowl viewers switched over to a separate

broadcast during the halftime show.

The “All-American Halftime Show” put together by Turning Point USA served as an

alternative show to those who held strong disdain for the Bad Bunny performance. This

counterprogramming is not the first attempt at such a feat. In the past, entire shows

were played on some networks, which prompted the NFL to start booking larger, more

eye-catching acts. In 2022, the winter Olympics fell during the same time as the Super

Bowl for the first time.

The major difference with this instance of counterprograms lies in its root in

sociopolitical reasons. With even President Trump making negative comments about

the official show.

While it may have made more commercial sense to book someone with a less divisive

reaction, on paper, it does make sense to schedule the biggest global name to perform

during a game that, while a cultural behemoth in the U.S., may not see any attention

elsewhere. The NFL has been attempting to expand its reach outside of the states,

hosting games in Europe and Canada. This may have been nothing more than a

continuation of this marketing strategy.

With only 6 million viewers at its peak, Turning Point may need a stronger pull than Kid

Rock if they are truly able to divert a major crowd away from the official game...