Ga Ga Numbers

With all the talk about DIY (do it yourself) for bands and artists, the only way that you can get really, really big numbers is with the infrastructure of a record label at your back. The LA Times printed the following numbers in an overview of Lady Ga Ga's impact on current music.

• 667,070,854: Combined hits from her videography on her official YouTube/Vevo channel for "Alejandro," "Telephone," "Bad Romance," "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich," "Poker Face," "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)," "Paparazzi," "Love Game" and "Just Dance."

• 3.64 million: The number of copies Lady Gaga's "The Fame" has sold in the U.S. since its release in August 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (As of Aug. 1, 2010.)

• 1.3 million: The number of copies "The Fame" has sold in 2010 alone, making the 2-year-old album this year's fourth-bestselling album thus far. All sales numbers are courtesy of Nielsen SoundScan. (As of Aug. 1, 2010.)

• $24 million: Billboard's estimate of the gross for Lady Gaga’s 47 European and Pacific Rim tour dates.

• $440: The most expensive ticket package when Lady Gaga returns to Staples Center on March 28, 2011.

• $40: Cost of a Lady Gaga 2010 tour shirt.

• 179: Total number of shows Gaga will have played when the tour wraps next year (it began in 2009).

• 13: Number of Moonmen she could potentially walk away with at this year's Video Music Awards; she received the most nominations ever in a single year.

Now the only way any of this happens is with a major record label, at least at this point in time. And that's the one thing that they're very good at, capitalizing on a trend. The problem is, an artist like Ga Ga only comes around once a decade at most.

Will the major labels be capable of doing the same thing the next time around?

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