Iron Maiden's management: What went wrong?

Ascendingthethrone said:
For me, I have never understood their strategy in the first decade of the century. They seemed to make good progress with a tour and then follow it up with either a shorter tour or one with a concept not conducive to bringing more casual fans onboard.
  • GMETID followed by a shorter tour.
  • Ozzfest followed by a short AMOLAD tour with a new album played from start to finish.
  • SBIT followed by a tour of post-2000 material.
Now have loved seeing Maiden on these tours, but for me it is not hard to see why they took a while to build up in the USA again. They never built momentum.
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Regardless of their usual PR of believing in their new stuff, those shorter album/recent material tours were a tacit acceptance from 2003 to 2011 that the audiences in the USA were always going to receive a classics tour much better than one featuring newer songs.
 
Helmuth Von Moltke said:
I was also reminded that Steve may have had back surgery around the DOD era, perhaps also limiting that tour @GhostofCain was it you saying this?
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I've mentioned it a couple times. The information was taken from interviews with Steve during the Dance of Death cycle when I used to obsessively scrapbook such things. The weight of his bass had been determined the cause of spinal compression, and that's when they decided to cut back on the length of touring for that album. As for whether it was surgery or therapy that helped the problem and allowed them to extend the tours again, I never came across an interview where he addresses this.
 
GhostofCain said:
Regardless of their usual PR of believing in their new stuff, those shorter album/recent material tours were a tacit acceptance from 2003 to 2011 that the audiences in the USA were always going to receive a classics tour much better than one featuring newer songs.
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2006 seems to be a turning point for them considering their most extensive USA tour at the time ended up being a setlist focused entirely on new material (TFF 2010, opposed to the more hits oriented 2011 setlist that barely scraped the US). maybe there’s a realization that even if it’s widely known that they’re going to play new material, American audiences will still buy tickets (and complain after).
 
I could have sworn I'd commented here before, but apparently not.

If we're getting into why Maiden aren't as commercially, er, ambitious, as they could be, Steve Harris is very likely the significant decision maker. It's his band, his baby, in his preferred image. Given all that's speculated about him needing to have a major hand in video production, live sound, having an actual recording studio at one time, and wanting the band to be seen to 'keep it real', it's fair to assume he'd also be the person least in favour of either Frosted Eddie Flakes or being crowned the biggest band on the planet.

That said, I'm also of the opinion that Rod Smallwood isn't a hungry business strategist with dollar signs for eyes as some seem to assume. I've met members of Phantom Management before and find it a small and surprisingly low-key organisation, that leans towards cheap and cheerful rather than trying to build a business empire. Whether or not Steve ever wanted to go down that route, I suspect Rod never put pressure on him either. From all I've read of him, Rod's strength is the old school 70s manager thing of being bullish in negotiations and defending the band's cause to the hilt, but he's no entrepreneur or marketing genius.
 
Mosh said:
Iron Maiden’s success is undeniable, but when you compare their popularity to bands like Metallica and Judas Priest, it's clear they've never quite reached the same mainstream level. A big part of that comes down to the band's management, particularly Rod Smallwood, who has been behind Iron Maiden's operations for decades. While Smallwood has certainly helped keep the band’s core identity intact, his decisions have often held them back from achieving the kind of mass appeal that Metallica or Priest managed to capture.

One of the biggest issues is Iron Maiden’s branding. While they’ve got a killer image with Eddie and iconic album covers, they’ve never really pushed themselves into the mainstream in the way Metallica did with their more commercial sound and strategic media presence. Smallwood’s refusal to change the band’s image or embrace more modern trends in the '90s and beyond meant they stayed within a niche, never breaking out beyond metal circles. Metallica, for example, made key changes like working with producer Bob Rock for the Black Album and getting major radio airplay, which broadened their appeal. Judas Priest also made smarter moves by experimenting with their sound and staying relevant to hard rock audiences, while Maiden stuck to their formula.

Smallwood's management also failed to push Iron Maiden into the media spotlight as effectively as Metallica did. While Metallica was all over MTV and late-night talk shows, Iron Maiden stayed more reserved, often keeping their media appearances limited to the hardcore metal scene. This lack of mainstream exposure kept them from reaching new audiences. Even when their songs were radio-friendly, their management didn't make the necessary push for radio play or mass media coverage.

On the touring front, Iron Maiden’s approach was also more conservative. While Metallica and Judas Priest were constantly expanding into new global markets, Maiden stuck to the same formula, reaching their loyal fanbase but missing opportunities to grow in emerging regions. Metallica’s world tours, which included stops in markets like South America and Asia, helped solidify them as a global force. Meanwhile, Smallwood often kept Maiden's touring strategy limited, not always capitalizing on the right moments or new opportunities. It’s a shame, really, because Maiden had all the potential to be the Metallica of the ‘80s and ‘90s, if only their management had taken a more dynamic approach.

I'm curious what everybody else thinks though. Discuss!
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I don’t normally care for forums, because most of what’s said on them are a load of waffle. But I felt it necessary to reopen my account on this forum, because of your claims.
Your claims are absolutely false.

Metallica is the most successful “metal” band in the world. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.

As for Iron Maiden, they are the most successful heavy metal band that the UK has ever produced. The only British hard rock band more successful than Iron Maiden is Led Zeppelin.

Judas Priest is nowhere near Iron Maiden in terms of international appeal, record sales, ticket sales, merchandise etc etc. Even members of Judas Priest have acknowledged that Maiden are way ahead of them.

Black Sabbath and Ozzy’s solo career have a more commercial appeal than Maiden in the US, but as for the rest of the world, Maiden are way ahead.

Ozzy is massive in the US. But here in the UK, Ozzy’s album sales and live appeal comes nowhere near Maiden.

During the Monsters of Rock era in the 1980s when Ozzy was at his commercial peak, he would’ve never have been able to sell over 100,000 tickets at Castle Donington, never in a million years - but Maiden did.
Judas Priest has never been anywhere near Ozzy on both sides of the Atlantic. They’re definitely nowhere near Maiden.

In Latin America, Iron Maiden are absolutely massive to the point of being on par with Metallica in that region of the world.

And for you to claim that Rod Smallwood has failed as manager of Iron Maiden just smacks of pure ignorance.

To be perfectly blunt, I can’t tell if you’re trolling, or if you’re an imbecile.
 
Hawkeye said:
As for Iron Maiden, they are the most successful heavy metal band that the UK has ever produced. The only British hard rock band more successful than Iron Maiden is Led Zeppelin.
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Def Leppard has two diamond certified albums and constantly tours. They’ve sold more albums than Iron Maiden.

Queen have outsold Leppard and Maiden combined, but I guess we’re not counting that as “hard rock”.

Hawkeye said:
During the Monsters of Rock era in the 1980s when Ozzy was at his commercial peak, he would’ve never have been able to sell over 100,000 tickets at Castle Donington, never in a million years - but Maiden did.
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The headliner alone doesn’t sell 100,000 tickets to Donington, the success and lineup of the entire festival does. At no point could Maiden sell 100,000 tickets by themselves at a venue in the UK. It’s the strength of the entire festival. You’re also conveniently forgetting that Guns N Roses were on the bill at the 1988 show.

Maiden also headlined the 1992 show and attendance wasn’t remarkable, the 1990 one with Whitesnake drew considerably more, for example.

Hawkeye said:
Judas Priest has never been anywhere near Ozzy on both sides of the Atlantic. They’re definitely nowhere near Maiden.
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Judas Priest were just as popular as Iron Maiden for most of the 80s. Screaming For Vengeance is double platinum in the USA, Maiden never had a double platinum album in the USA. “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” was all over the radio as well, more than Maiden ever was. No question that they play smaller venues and have largely been mismanaged since Rob returned, but saying they were nowhere near Maiden is incorrect. They were absolutely bigger than Iron Maiden were in the US for a period.
 
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BludBrutha said:
Def Leppard has two diamond certified albums and constantly tours. They’ve sold more albums than Iron Maiden.

Queen have outsold Leppard and Maiden combined, but I guess we’re not counting that as “hard rock”.



The headliner alone doesn’t sell 100,000 tickets to Donington, the success and lineup of the entire festival does. At no point could Maiden sell 100,000 tickets by themselves at a venue in the UK. It’s the strength of the entire festival. You’re also conveniently forgetting that Guns N Roses were on the bill at the 1988 show.

Maiden also headlined the 1992 show and attendance wasn’t remarkable, the 1990 one with Whitesnake drew considerably more, for example.



Judas Priest were just as popular as Iron Maiden for most of the 80s. Screaming For Vengeance is double platinum in the USA, Maiden never had a double platinum album in the USA. “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” was all over the radio as well, more than Maiden ever was. No question that they play smaller venues and have largely been mismanaged since Rob returned, but saying they were nowhere near Maiden is incorrect. They were absolutely bigger than Iron Maiden were in the US for a period.
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US IS not the only Market in the World. Iron Maiden albums were distributed by a different label on through the years, Priest were always labeled by CBS/ SONY. IM albums cumulated sales with the different labels are more impressive than it seems, and yes - in the terms of worldwide success IM are the biggest UK Metal output, and just behind Led Zeppelin as we think about heavy rock bands (are Queen and Leppard heavy at all??!). Just realize Maiden are still massive, constantly filling stadiums around the world and selling tons of products and merch. And thay constaly touring year by year! Facts are facts!
 
Spaldy said:
Def Leppard and Queen were both objectively heavier than Led Zeppelin (who were blues/folk rock). At least when they wanted to be heavy.
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First albums, pop rock generally. Led Zeppelin were absolute Hard rock/ Heavy blues pioneers. Protagonists of many ideas which Queen and Lepps used in theirs songs.
 
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