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Britney Spears 'worth $120m to US economy'
By Jacqui Goddard in Miami
Her career appears to be fading, her home life is in ruins and fears are growing for her mental health following her committal to psychiatric hospital.
Yet even as she teeters on the brink of disaster, the troubled Britney Spears is doing more than most to prop up the equally faltering US economy.
The pop star, who was sectioned last week in Los Angeles, allegedly for her own safety, is an industrial powerhouse, pumping an estimated $120 million (£60 million) a year into the economy at least, and is indirectly responsible for even more.
The magazine Portfolio calculates that while Spears personally rakes in $9 million a year, what it calls the Britney Industrial Complex – all the associated economic activity that surrounds her – generates on average 13 times as much for those who feed off her.
A court has awarded her father, James, control of her affairs while she is in hospital.
“The Britney economy is the equivalent of a company that employs tens of thousands of people. She¢s a goldmine,” said Portfolio writer Duff McDonald, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs.
Among those who have cashed in are Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics company, which has sold nearly $100 million worth of fragrances in Spears¢s name, and Jive Records, which has made $400 million from the 83 million albums sold since she burst on to the scene in 1999.
Tour promoters and concert venues have pulled in $150 million from her various tours. Spears, 26, can pocket up to $400,000 per appearance just to show her face at an event like a nightclub opening.
She has also fuelled an estimated boom of $75 million a year for the media, with celebrity magazines reporting sales increases of up to 33 per cent when they put her face on the cover.
The paparazzi who follow her every move – from shopping expeditions and trips to fast-food joints to more explosive public meltdowns – pocket a further $4 million from picture sales.
Last week journalists and photographers massed outside her home once again as she was whisked to hospital for psychiatric checks for the second time in a month.
Yahoo! reports that Spears, whose hit of last year, Piece of Me includes the lyrics, “I¢m still an exceptional earner, You want a piece of me?”, has topped its internet search rankings for six of the last seven years. Searches of her name increased by 60 per cent last year.
“Whether she¢s shaving her head or battling for custody of her children, Britney seems to grow more fascinating and, to some people, more lucrative every time she stumbles,” Mr McDonald said.
“As one leg of the Britney economy declines, say record sales, another increases, like her paparazzi value. She appears recession-proof.”
By Jacqui Goddard in Miami
Her career appears to be fading, her home life is in ruins and fears are growing for her mental health following her committal to psychiatric hospital.
Yet even as she teeters on the brink of disaster, the troubled Britney Spears is doing more than most to prop up the equally faltering US economy.
The pop star, who was sectioned last week in Los Angeles, allegedly for her own safety, is an industrial powerhouse, pumping an estimated $120 million (£60 million) a year into the economy at least, and is indirectly responsible for even more.
The magazine Portfolio calculates that while Spears personally rakes in $9 million a year, what it calls the Britney Industrial Complex – all the associated economic activity that surrounds her – generates on average 13 times as much for those who feed off her.
A court has awarded her father, James, control of her affairs while she is in hospital.
“The Britney economy is the equivalent of a company that employs tens of thousands of people. She¢s a goldmine,” said Portfolio writer Duff McDonald, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs.
Among those who have cashed in are Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics company, which has sold nearly $100 million worth of fragrances in Spears¢s name, and Jive Records, which has made $400 million from the 83 million albums sold since she burst on to the scene in 1999.
Tour promoters and concert venues have pulled in $150 million from her various tours. Spears, 26, can pocket up to $400,000 per appearance just to show her face at an event like a nightclub opening.
She has also fuelled an estimated boom of $75 million a year for the media, with celebrity magazines reporting sales increases of up to 33 per cent when they put her face on the cover.
The paparazzi who follow her every move – from shopping expeditions and trips to fast-food joints to more explosive public meltdowns – pocket a further $4 million from picture sales.
Last week journalists and photographers massed outside her home once again as she was whisked to hospital for psychiatric checks for the second time in a month.
Yahoo! reports that Spears, whose hit of last year, Piece of Me includes the lyrics, “I¢m still an exceptional earner, You want a piece of me?”, has topped its internet search rankings for six of the last seven years. Searches of her name increased by 60 per cent last year.
“Whether she¢s shaving her head or battling for custody of her children, Britney seems to grow more fascinating and, to some people, more lucrative every time she stumbles,” Mr McDonald said.
“As one leg of the Britney economy declines, say record sales, another increases, like her paparazzi value. She appears recession-proof.”
That's true. It's normal in the US for girls to shave their pits. In fact, I'm all for it. 
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