BILLIE'S TOURING TEAM TALKS TICKETS

“Everything Billie touches turns to sold,” according to Paradigm’s Sara Bollwinkel. She’s not overstating matters . As the biz takes notes while Billie Eilish re-writes the branding textbook, fans all over the globe are buying everything she has to offer, especially tickets.

Starting out with 200-300 cap venues in mid 2017, Billie’s team—managers Brandon Goodman and Danny Rukasin, Paradigm’s Music Executive Leadership Group Tom Windish and agent Bollwinkel—booked gigs with the intention of establishing Eilish as a headliner from the get-go. They used data from sales, streaming and social platforms to confirm that Billie had the momentum to be a premier act. “Even when we announced her first tour—with the venue sizes that were the natural starting point for any artist doing their first tour—her audience was so engaged that we were able to sell those rooms out immediately,” explained Rukasin.

From there, the plan was always to take the next logical step in Billie’s growth with the size of venues booked. Three main factors Rukasin points to for not rushing to bigger rooms were: to ensure there was room for ticket and audience growth, to empower Billie, her band and crew to learn and grow as performers and to maintain a great live experience for fans. That formula led to sellout after sellout. “We also took this approach internationally in the UK, Europe, and Australia so we were staying consistent across all territories and with the same result of sold out shows each time.”

Along with controlling venue size, Bollwinkel and Windish at Paradigm point to Billie’s ability to connect with fans at her show. “From the first shows Billie ever played, she made it a point to hug and make eye contact with each and every person that came through the doors. There are too many fans these days to accomplish that, but this was the groundwork she laid in the very beginning of her career.”

They go on to explain why Eilish has the potential for, as they put it, world domination: “Billie tells her fans at each show to ‘live in the moment… this is the last time we will all share this moment just like this together.’ The kids (try to) put their phones down and just exist with Billie for a moment; it’s really magical to witness and has created a connection with fans unlike anything I have ever seen.”

Easily selling out every market (with majors hovering around 15k tickets sold), it’s clear the scale of Eilish’s live show and celebrity will change drastically in the near future. “With larger rooms comes the ability to create a bigger and more exciting show for the fans,” acknowledges Goodman. “Since Billie is just as artistic visually as she is musically, this has really allowed her to flex this creative muscle and add new elements to the show that we weren’t able produce in smaller venues, because of both financial constraints as well as the limitation on space needed.”

Adding to the demand for the teenage phenom, Eilish just went #1 with her first studio album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (Darkroom/Interscope)—the biggest debut since Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy. What’s next for the cutting-edge, next-gen superstar? “Billie embraces change and will evolve as an artist,” Goodman says. “I think she will continue to push the boundaries in both her music and visuals and likely explore other exciting opportunities outside of music.”

Rukasin expects Billie to follow the recipe that got her here, and continue to deliver a heavy dose of creative content. “She and her brother Finneas [O’Connell] never want to stop making and releasing original, honest music. It’s what drove them to release “ocean eyes” three years ago and it’s what drives them everyday.”

With an EP and full length, Eilish certainly has enough catalog and fans to fill an arena: so when will the against-the-grain star start booking arenas? Whenever she feels like it.