Dutch violinist André Rieu conquers Mexican charts despite piracy

This month, the Dutch violin player and conductor André Rieu is on tour in Mexico. To his own astonishment, ticket sales for his concerts are skyrocketing. "I was stunned,'' says Rieu, "Last year we thought, let's try in Mexico, and it I was already world famous in the streets!” It turns out illegal copies of Rieu’s music are being sold in market stalls around Mexican cities.

According to Mr. Rieu, the Mexican audience has discovered his music through the distribution of pirated CDs and DVDs. To the artist, it was questionable whether Mexicans would still bother to attend live concerts if they can already enjoy the content for free. However, Rieu sold about 70,000 tickets.

Rieu assumed that copyright protection would be well organised in Mexico. “But, apparently they are quite relaxed about it,” the musician joked. "I'm not afraid of illegal copies or downloads. My audience would still prefer a real disc in their hands." Interestingly, Rieu seems to be right about this. Rieu is doing remarkably well in the official sales charts with his DVD Fiesta Mexicana. Rieu and his classical orchestra is bigger than Amy Winehouse in Mexico. Also he holds the first, fifth and ninth place in the top 10 best-selling CD chart, according to De Telegraaf.

The successful tour of Rieu shows that low priced - or even illegal- distribution of music can help artists to reach a new audience. Earlier this year, Dutch singer-songwriter Trijntje Oosterhuis was another example for this, as she gave away her album for free, paired with a popular newspaper, expecting to boost her concert ticket sales.

However, it is debatable whether artists like Rieu and Oosterhuis benefit from this in the longer term. It will be difficult to maintain themselves on a new market, if consumers on that market are not used to paying for their product.

Source:  De Telegraaf