LPA Ticket Attendance and Revenue Report 2017

Photo: WOMADelaide 2017, Tony Lewis

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 increased by 31.7% and 22.6% 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.
  • Contemporary music, Circus and Physical Theatre, Festival (Contemporary Music) and Musical Theatre events experienced significant increases in revenue and attendance in 2017. Contemporary music and Circus and Physical Theatre in particular experienced record-breaking growth. Growth in these categories was primarily driven by major tours and events, particularly international tours that took place across Australia in 2017.
  • Children's/Family events, Comedy, Opera and Special Events experienced decreases in revenue and attendance in 2017. This is primarily due to the absence of some of the major events in 2017 that took place in prior years.
  • Festivals (Multi Category) and Theatre experienced declines in revenue, despite increased attendance. Decline in the average ticket price for these categories in 2017 contributed to the decrease in revenue.
  • Ballet and Dance and Classical Music both remained steady with a slight increase in revenue.

Photo: Only Heaven Knows - Hayes Theatre Co, Robert Catto

Top 5 Categories - Revenue and Attendance

Close Table
Revenue Attendance
Category Revenue Share of industry Category Attendance Share of industry
1 Contemporary Music $826,050,167 43.8% 1 Contemporary Music 8,464,739 36.8%
2 Musical Theatre $416,802,525 22.1% 2 Musical Theatre 4,041,827 17.6%
3 Circus & Physical Theatre $116,542,574 6.2% 3 Festivals (Multi-Category) 1,866,148 8.1%
4 Festivals (Contemporary Music) $100,657,080 5.3% 4 Theatre 1,457,962 6.3%
5 Classical Music $77,883,209 4.1% 5 Classical Music 1,318,421 5.7%

Top 3 Biggest Changes in Revenue by Category

Biggest Increase Biggest Decline
Category % change in revenue (from 2016) Category % change in revenue (from 2016)
1 Contemporary Music 87.7% 1 Special Events -82.8%
2 Circus & Physical Theatre 58.7% 2 Opera -21.4%
3 Festival (Contemporary Music) 26.0% 3 Theatre -19.3%

Top 3 Biggest Changes in Attendance by Category

Biggest Increase Biggest Decline
Category % change in attendance (from 2016) Category % change in attendance (from 2016)
1 Contemporary Music 49.6 1 Special Events -26.1%
2 Circus & Physical Theatre 38.9% 2 Comedy -12.1%
3 Festival (Contemporary Music) 26.7% 3 Opera -9.5%

Percentage Movement by Category

Photo: Tree of Codes - Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, Zan Wimberley