LPA Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey 2015

Photo: Lore - Bangarra Dance Theatre, Jeff Tan

Contemporary MusicClick for more info

In 2015, the Contemporary Music category experienced a decline in gross revenue, falling by 21% from $604.96 million to $447.90 million. The fall in gross revenue can be explained by the 13% fall in attendance and 10.4% decrease in the average ticket price.

Despite the generally weak result, the Contemporary Music category continues to be the biggest in the Live Performance Industry, commanding 34.0% of revenue and 30.2% of attendance of the Live Performance Industry’s share. Comparatively, in 2010 Contemporary Music commanded 49.6% of revenue and 40.8% of attendance of the Live Performance Industry’s share. However, the annual variability of this category strongly reflects the number of big-name artists which tour in any given year, particularly the number of stadium tours. These figures do not include music festivals, which are categorised under Festivals (Single-Category).

Successful tours by Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Ed Sheeran, and the Foo Fighters contributed significantly to the revenue and attendance in this category. However, there were significant declines in the Contemporary Music category, with performances in 2015 unable to match the growth recorded in the previous two years. Major international acts, such as Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem and Bruno Mars, whose successful national tours were a contributing factor to the high revenue and attendance results recorded in 2014, did not return in 2015.

All states experienced negative growth in Contemporary Music, with the exception of the Northern Territory that experienced a slight increase in revenue (8%) despite a significant decline in attendance (58%).

Close Table

Contemporary Music - Revenue and Attendance (2004–2015)

Revenue ($) Growth (%) Total Attendance* Growth (%) Average Ticket Price ($)** Growth (%)
2004 $195,058,791 2,737,873 $77.09
2005 $287,201,319 47.2% 3,924,276 43.3% $83.37 8.1%
2006 $450,855,531 57.0% 5,295,988 35.0% $92.78 11.3%
2007 $503,240,419 11.6% 5,975,561 12.8% $90.49 -2.5%
2008 $389,160,746 -22.7% 4,330,620 -27.5% $101.35 12.0%
2009 $460,443,027 18.3% 4,682,805 8.1% $108.61 7.2%
2010 $659,102,048 43.1% 7,028,235 50.1% $102.78 -5.4%
2011 $539,274,481 -18.2% 5,939,618 -15.5% $103.45 0.6%
2012 $482,180,550 -10.6% 5,484,257 -7.7% $100.27 -3.1%
2013 $628,130,146 30.3% 6,266,137 14.3% $110.50 10.2%
2014 $604,963,041 -3.7% 6,386,058 1.9% $107.60 -2.6%
2015 $477,904,944 -21.0% 5,554,811 -13.0% $96.38 -10.4%

*Based on both paid and unpaid tickets

** Average Ticket Prices are calculated based only on paid tickets

State/Territory Breakdown Close Table

--}}
Close Table

Contemporary Music - Revenue by State/Territory (2015)

State/Territory Revenue ($) Proportion Industry Share Change From 2015) Attendance Proportion Industry Share Change From 2015)
NSW $153,403,848 32.1% 0.2% 1,746,399 31.4% -1.5%
VIC $138,570,682 29.0% -1.2% 1,525,481 27.5% -1.0%
QLD $74,375,250 15.6% 1.2% 951,698 17.1% 1.9%
WA $70,568,308 14.8% 0.2% 813,321 14.6% 0.9%
SA $33,761,828 7.1% -0.5% 398,307 7.2% 0.4%
ACT $3,508,754 0.7% -0.1% 58,601 1.1% -0.2%
TAS $2,416,213 0.5% 0.1% 39,133 0.7% 0.0%
NT $1,300,061 0.3% 0.1% 21,871 0.4% -0.4%

Photo: 5SOS - Live Nation, Ashley Mar @pixbyash

Supplementary Data

The Contemporary Music category drew attendance of 312,632 and generated revenue of $13.05 million. This made it the biggest category of the supplementary data in terms of revenue and attendance. Average ticket prices in this category ($48.08) are also substantially higher than the industry average ($37.43). Contemporary music staged a total of 1,018 performances. On average, each performance drew attendance of 307 and generated revenue of $12,817.

Regional and metropolitan venues generated the vast majority of revenue and attendance for this category contributing 97% to total revenue. Notable venues include Empire Theatre (QLD), Civic Theatre (NSW) and Geelong Performing Arts Centre (VIC).

Note: This data is supplementary to the 2015 primary ticketing survey data.

Photo: 5SOS - Live Nation, Ashley Mar @pixbyash

Individual Category Results