Live music in Australia made almost $1.1 billion in 2009, a new report reveals. Of course, Australian musicians saw very little of that. Yes, the people at the bottom make the least and those often nameless figures at the top the most, but at least we have a little snapshot of who they are.
According to Live Performance Australia, revenues were up on the back of fewer tickets, meaning greedy promoters of big ticket shows took most of the cash. Revenues climbed although numbers of tickets sold was down to around 15 million. The increase was attributable to tickets hitting an average of $80 a pop. That’s down from the $1.2 billion figure pre-GFC in 2007, but shows that rock n’ roll is still a formidable attraction.
Last year’s figures were boosted by a number of bored secretary favoured bands such as Pink, Coldplay and Britney ‘I’m not miming’ Spears; but it remains to be seen whether this December’s avalanche of blockbuster festivals and stadium tours will push revenues and attendances in reverse order.
