Following the much-publicised acquisition of Australian booking powerhouse Artist Voice by renowned US talent agency WME | IMG and the purchase of Nine Live by an Asian equity firm, the Australian music industry’s international profile has just been given another boost.
As The Music Network reports, four Australian tour promoters and six venues have placed in a global list of worldwide ticket sales for the first quarter of 2015. The list was compiled by US industry bible Pollstar from figures provided by promoters and venues.
Naturally, live music juggernaut Live Nation nabbed the top spot on the Top 50 promoters list, having moved 3.7 million tickets during the first quarter. The most successful Australian entity was Frontier Touring, which came in eighth with total ticket sales of 469,425.
The Aussie touring outlet has boasted an enviable roster in recent months, having presented tours from Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran, The Eagles, Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart, Drake, Jessie J, The Angels & Cheap Trick, James Bay, Chet Faker, Nas, and Paolo Nutini, as well as Good Life the defunct Future Music Festival.
Nine Live, whose assets include Ticketek and Sydney’s Allphones Arena, and who were behind a recent visit from boy band phenoms One Direction, were at number 18 with 219,460 tickets. As Tone Deaf reported yesterday, Nine Live was recently acquired by Affinity Equity Partners for a reported $640 million.
Going down the list, Chugg Entertainment was at number 25 with with 143,540 tickets, with a roster that included Lady Antebellum, Alabama Shakes, Dispatch, Hozier, Rufus Wainwright, Rea Estate, and the inaugural CMC Rocks Queensland. Adrian Bohm Presents’ run of comedy shows drew 81,008, scoring a place at 39.
In the countdown of the Top 100 arenas, Perth Arena came it at number 20 with 117,190 tickets, followed by Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena at number 28 with 101,233 tickets, and Allphones Arena at number 31 after shifting 94,953 tickets.
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Next was Brisbane Entertainment Centre at number 69 (43,835) and Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion at number 72 (41,412). Topping the list were London’s iconic O2 Arena, which moved an incredible 417,336 tickets in the first quarter and Manchester Arena with 413,667.
Australia also had entires in the theatre section, with Melbourne’s Palais entering at number 35 after hosting 44,723 punters, which another Melbourne venue, the Corner Hotel in Richmond, came in at number 33 on Pollstar’s countdown of the Top 50 clubs, having hosted 22,666 patrons this year so far.
Of the Top 100 global tours, One Direction came in first with 691,931, followed by Winter Jam/Skillet (591,500), Foo Fighters (531,898), Violetta (526,922), Disney On Ice (439,066), Fleetwood Mac (386,496), and Maroon 5 (336,914).
