Overall Category Highlights Click for moreinfo

This section presents an analysis for each of the 12 event categories as defined in the Appendix. While total ticket sales revenue and attendance maintained a slight increase of 1.2% and 0.8% respectively, most of the categories experienced dramatic shifts in growth and decline. This is primarily due to the impact of major tours or events, particularly international tours, in the market in any given year.

As with previous years, Contemporary Music and Musical Theatre command the largest share of the live performance market respectively. However, the majority share held by Contemporary Music has been declining over time.

Comedy, Children’s/Family Events, Classical Music, Theatre and Special Events all experienced significant increases in revenue and attendance in 2016. The Comedy, Children’s/Family Events and Classical Music categories in particular experienced record-breaking growth this year. Growth in these categories was primarily driven by major tours and events, particularly international tours that took place across Australia in 2016.

Circus and Physical Theatre, Festivals (Contemporary Music) and Ballet and Dance experienced decreases in revenue and attendance in 2016. This is primarily due to the absence in 2016 of major events that took place in 2015.

Festivals (Multi-Category) and Contemporary Music experienced moderate declines in revenue, despite increased attendance. Significant decreases in the average ticket price for these categories in 2016 contributed to the decrease in revenue.

Opera and Musical Theatre both maintained moderate increases in revenue, driven by increases in the average ticket price.

Photo: Porgy and Bess - Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Keith Saunders

Top 5 Categories - Revenue and Attendance

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Revenue				Attendance
	Category	Revenue	Share of industry		Category	Attendance	Share of industry
1	Contemporary Music	$440,083,629	30.8 %	1	Contemporary Music	5,658,753	30.1%
2	Musical Theatre	$347,684,296	24.3%	2	Musical Theatre	3,298,051	17.6%
3	Comedy	$86,382,773	6.0%	3	Festivals (Multi-Category)	1,549,007	8.2%
4	Festivals (Contemporary Music)	$79,865,326	5.6%	4	Comedy	1,409,299	7.5%
5	Theatre	$79,584,271	5.6%	5	Children's/Family	1,376,254	7.3%

Top 3 Biggest Changes in Revenue by Category

Biggest Increase			Biggest Decline
	Category	% change in revenue (from 2015)		Category	% change in revenue (from 2015)
1	Comedy	57.3%	1	Circus and Physical Theatre	-26.2%
2	Special Events	44.1%	2	Festivals (Contemporary Music)	-25.2%
3	Children's/Family	41.6%	3	Festivals (Multi-Category)	-8.9%

Top 3 Biggest Changes in Attendance by Category

Biggest Increase			Biggest Decline
	Category	% change in attendance (from 2015)		Category	% change in attendance (from 2015)
1	Comedy	42.0%	1	Special Events	-66.8%
2	Children's/Family	27.3%	2	Festivals (Contemporary Music)	-48.2%
3	Classical Music	22.7%	3	Circus and Phyical Theatre	-13.9%

Supplementary ReportClick for more info

Australia Council for the Arts (Key Organisations) and Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA) members (“Supplementary data”)

The top 5 categories by revenue and attendance are a reflection of the type of works produced by the small to medium sector (Key Organisations), and the type of shows touring regionally. Consistent with the ticketing companies, self-ticketing venues, event promoters and AMPAG companies (Ticketing Survey data), Contemporary Music appears in the top 5 categories in the industry.

However, there are some differences. There is a more even spread of revenues and attendances across categories as the data does not include major concert tours and musical productions in capital cities. Comedy’s share of attendance and revenue is significantly higher compared to the Ticketing Survey data, with Comedy accounting for 12.4% of industry share of revenue, mainly due to attendances at regional and metropolitan venues. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Roadshow 2015 most likely contributed significantly to this category.

There are also some differences in the ranking of total revenue and attendance. The Children’s/Family category ranks higher in attendance than revenue due to the low average ticket price, while Comedy ranked higher in revenue than attendance due to the high average ticket price.

Note: This data is supplementary to the 2016 primary ticketing survey data.
The original primary data can be viewed above: 2016 Overall Category Highlights.

Photo: Anything Goes - John Frost and Opera Australia, Jeff Busby

Top 5 Categories - Revenue and Attendance

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Revenue					Attendance
	Category	Revenue	Share of industry	Avg. Ticket Price		Category	Tickets	Share of industry	Avg. Ticket Price
1	Contemporary Music	$13,047,477	29.9%	$48	1	Contemporary music	312,632	20.0%	$48
2	Comedy	$5,419,130	12.4%	$44	2	Children's/Family	259,680	16.6%	$19
3	Theatre	$5,008,856	11.5%	$32	3	Theatre	213,398	13.6%	$32
4	Children's/Family	$4,578,781	10.5%	$19	4	Special Events	194,373	12.4%	$46
5	Ballet and Dance	$3,792,412	8.7%	$47	5	Comedy	127,732	8.2%	$44

Note: This data is supplementary to the 2013 primary ticketing survey data.

Category Trends Click for more info

This section presents an analysis for each of the 12 event categories as defined in the Appendix

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011

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Total Revenue and Attendance by Category (2016)

Category	Revenue	% change in revenue (from 2015)	Share of industry	Attendance	% change in attendance (from 2015)	Share of industry
Ballet and Dance	$60,079,595	-5.4%	4.2%	815,458	-5.1%	4.3%
Children's/Family	$54,316,058	41.6%	3.8%	1,376,254	27.3%	7.3%
Classical Music	$76,764,404	36.1%	5.4%	1,219,293	22.7%	6.5%
Festivals (Multi-Category)	$56,641,751	-8.9%	4.0%	1,549,007	4.2%	8.2%
Festivals (Contemporary Music)	$79,865,326	-25.2%	5.6%	672,771	-48.2%	3.6%
Musical Theatre	$347,684,296	3.8%	24.3%	3,298,051	1.2%	17.6%
Contemporary Music	$440,083,629	-7.9%	30.8%	5,658,753	1.9%	30.1%
Opera	$46,247,521	11.4%	3.2%	407,965	-5.8%	2.2%
Special Events	$29,310,579	44.1%	2.0%	185,104	-66.8%	1.0%
Theatre	$79,584,271	40.0%	5.6%	1,351,653	19.1%	7.2%
Circus and Physical Theatre	$73,439,491	-26.2%	5.1%	838,980	-13.9%	4.5%
Comedy	$86,382,773	57.3%	6.0%	1,409,299	42.0%	7.5%
Total	$1,430,399,693	1.2%	100%	18,782,588	0.8%	100%

Average Ticket Prices by Category (2008-2016)

Category	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Compound Annual Growth Rate
Ballet and Dance	$60.67	$63.33	$64.86	$71.93	$77.93	$74.69	$80.82	$84.36	$82.59	3.9%
Childrens/Family	$34.24	$32.38	$34.23	$43.87	$43.17	$38.17	$38.27	$39.15	$42.87	2.9%
Classical Music	$84.81	$74.01	$60.43	$68.82	$60.34	$73.18	$75.05	$71.50	$78.43	-1.0%
Festival (Multi Category)	$52.11	$33.60	$43.12	$57.02	$59.58	$34.59	$48.41	$50.32	$39.57	-3.4%
Festival (Contemporary Music)	$60.91	$81.19	$119.39	$138.97	$128.71	$130.46	$136.91	$117.72	$125.60	9.5%
Contemporary Music	$101.35	$108.61	$102.78	$103.45	$100.27	$110.50	$107.60	$96.38	$85.35	2.8%
Musical Theatre	$89.23	$93.54	$98.84	$92.79	$97.08	$100.94	$105.70	$108.13	$111.21	-2.1%
Special Events	$43.60	$67.79	$88.67	$57.28	$57.58	$73.18	$86.90	$42.26	$170.90	304.4%
Opera	$114.46	$111.62	$112.86	$124.66	$126.84	$145.28	$124.92	$121.43	$145.80	18.6%
Theatre	$46.92	$46.58	$51.47	$56.14	$59.86	$72.88	$73.83	$56.81	$66.51	4.5%
Circus & Physical Theatre	N/A	$47.98	$43.03	$86.81	$103.67	$118.91	$88.60	$109.41	$96.56	9.1%
Comedy	N/A	$54.06	$51.53	$55.07	$53.55	$48.82	$50.55	$60.11	$65.54	2.4%
All Categories	$76.60	$80.57	$86.43	$85.99	$85.46	$92.16	$91.57	$86.34	$83.72	1.1%

Note: The Circus and Physical Theatre and Comedy categories were introduced in 2009.

Photo: We Will Rock You - Gordon Frost Organisation, Jeff Busby

Category Analysis Click for more info

This section presents an analysis for each of the 12 event categories as defined in the Appendix

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

2015 Supplementary
2015 Primary

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Total Revenue and Attendance by Category (2013)

Category	Revenue	Share of industry	Tickets*	Share of industry	Average ticket price**
Ballet and Dance	$1,239,210	6%	53,301	7.2%	$28.15
Children’s/Family	$1,293,481	6.3%	101,868	13.8%	$15.95
Circus and Physical Theatre	$445,557	2.2%	19,750	2.7%	$27.66
Classical Music	$2,085,248	10.2%	72,647	9.9%	$36.86
Comedy	$1,640,244	8%	44,377	6%	$39.22
Contemporary Music	$5,676,178	27.7%	150,063	20.4%	$41.58
Festival (Multi Category)	$69,823	0.3%	2,703	0.4%	$29.70
Festival (Single Category)	$1,537,264	7.5%	38,451	5.2%	$55.62
Musical Theatre	$985,023	4.8%	39,211	5.3%	$26.78
Opera	$384,166	1.9%	11,303	1.5%	$41.98
Special Events	$173,053	0.8%	7,960	1.1%	$31.62
Theatre	$4,972,505	24.3%	195,125	26.5%	$32.78
Total	$20,501,750	100%	736,758	100%	$33.65

Note: This data is supplementary to the 2013 primary ticketing survey data.
The original primary data can be viewed in the 2013 Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey online report.

Photo: Dirty Dancing - John Frost, Jeff Busby

Percentage Movement by Category

2015 - 2016

Close Table

Photo: Dream Lover - Gordon Frost Organisation, Brian Geach

Performances by Category Click for more info

Photo: Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Ken Butti

Supplementary performances by category

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Category	Number of performances	Share of industry	Average revenue per performance	Average attendance per performance
Ballet and Dance	479	6.2%	$7,917	215
Children’s/Family	862	11.1%	$5,312	301
Circus and Physical Theatre	120	1.6%	$5,158	239
Classical Music	305	3.9%	$9,228	351
Comedy	298	3.9%	$18,185	429
Contemporary Music	1,018	13.2%	$12,817	307
Festival (Multi Category)	71	0.9%	$8,772	549
Festival (Single Category)	348	4.5%	$3,119	104
Musical Theatre	418	5.4%	$8,576	291
Opera	89	1.2%	$8,485	226
Special Events	1217	15.7%	$1,865	160
Theatre	2511	32.5%	$1,995	85
Total	7,736	100%	$5,636	202

Individual Category Results