Bieber's $10M Coachella set
Reports say Justin Bieber was paid roughly $10 million for a YouTube‑themed Coachella appearance, and his laptop‑heavy set generated a sharp split in online reaction (youtube.com) (yahoo.com). Media coverage adds that the payday reportedly covered two nights and that Bieber ran secret warm‑up shows in L.A. venues such as The Roxy and the Troubadour in March (youtube.com).
Justin Bieber’s first Coachella headlining set came with a reported payday of about $10 million, and the laptop-centered show split viewers almost immediately. (businessinsider.com) (forbes.com) Yahoo’s live coverage listed Bieber as the Saturday, April 11 headliner at 11:25 p.m. Pacific time, his first time billed as a Coachella headliner after earlier guest appearances at the festival. (yahoo.com) ABC News reported that Bieber treated the set like a digital scrapbook, sitting at a laptop, playing old YouTube clips and home videos, and moving from songs off his 2025 albums “Swag” and “Swag II” into earlier hits including “Baby” and “Never Say Never.” (abcnews.com) That format put the livestream at the center of the performance. ABC said Bieber referenced viewer feedback during the show, and Forbes said the laptop segment became the main subject of the reaction online and in media coverage. (abcnews.com) (forbes.com) The set also landed as Bieber’s biggest solo live return in years. ABC said it was his first major live show in four years, following his step back from touring after revealing in June 2022 that he had Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused temporary facial paralysis. (abcnews.com) (unc.edu) Before Coachella, Bieber tested the material in smaller Los Angeles rooms. Consequence reported that he played a secret, invite-only show at the Roxy in Hollywood on March 29, and TMZ reported a second intimate set at the Troubadour in West Hollywood on April 5. (consequence.net) (tmz.com) Those club dates pointed in a different direction from the Coachella nostalgia. Consequence said the Roxy show ran 25 songs with no older hits, focusing instead on live debuts and tracks from “Swag” and “Swag II,” while TMZ said the Troubadour set also leaned on the newer albums. (consequence.net) (tmz.com) The catalog question hovered in the background because Bieber sold his music rights to Hipgnosis Songs Capital in January 2023. Billboard reported the deal covered his publishing, artist royalties from master recordings, and neighboring rights for music released before December 31, 2021. (billboard.com) By Sunday, the argument around the set was less about whether Bieber showed up and more about what kind of headliner he chose to be: a singer replaying his own internet origin story on the biggest festival stage in the desert. (forbes.com) (abcnews.com)
