Following on from Music Victoria’s report that live music is bigger that AFL, now it looks like Melbournites can put to rest the age old debate with Sydneysiders over which is the true music capital with a new report that shows Melbourne strongly outselling Sydney in ticket sales over the past year.
The Age reveals that promoters and band managers say the divide in the speed of ticket sales, audience numbers, and fan fervour for Australia’s two main markets is huge, with Frontier Touring Company’s Michael Gudinski noting “it’s very rare that Sydney outsells Melbourne, very, very rare.”
Gudinski, who is also the Executive Chairman of the Mushroom Group, says it’s an overwhelming gap in the market share with Melbourne repeatedly holding double the shows that Sydney does.
His company recently saw tours by the Foo Fighters, who sold out two shows in Melbourne and only one in Sydney, Neil Young selling 5,000 more tickets in Melbourne than in Sydney, and last month’s mammoth visit from Bruce Springsteen, which all seem to highlight Melbourne’s dominance in ticket sales.
Bruce Springsteen’s March tour was one of the year’s highest grossing tours, with the 63-year-old musician beating out pop stars Rihanna, Olly Murs, and Taylor Swift to ring in $25 million in ticket sales.
Springsteen’s 10 date Australian Tour saw The Boss perform three times at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena and two separate shows to over 34,00 fans at nearby Hanging Rock, with the latter performances generating $5 million in total, a quarter of the Australian tour revenue. “It’s very rare that Sydney outsells Melbourne, very, very rare.” – Michael Gudinski, Frontier Touring
Using the example of powerhouse Springsteen, Gudinski reveals “Melbourne was way ahead. The three Melbourne [shows] sold out in seconds but the third Sydney didn’t sell out completely. And, we could have done another Hanging Rock and another Rod Laver [stadium].”
Springsteen’s biggest figures however did come from his three-show run at Sydney’s Allphones Arena with over around 48,000 fans heading out to see Springsteen and the E Street Band on March 18, 20, and 22nd generating over $7 million in ticket sales.
For argument’s sake, if you include the catchment area of Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra then Sydney concerts will draw a larger crowd to that of Melbourne, but as promoter Michael Coppel, of Michael Coppel Presents, notes – not everything is that straightforward.
Coppel’s past history has proven to side in support of Gudinski’s comments, with recent tours by U2, Taylor Swift and Roger Waters all selling more tickets in Melbourne, with the Pink Floyd bassist selling only 23,00 tickets at two shows in Sydney, and 39,000 tickets at four shows in Melbourne.
“At the more niche end of the concert market Melbourne tends to do better unless the Sydney shows are played at the Opera House,” says Coppel. Also notable is that Sydney’s Allphones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park is larger than Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena capacity wise.
Larger pop tours are the major driving force for the success of Melbourne’s live music scene with serial-tourer Pink raking in an estimated 200,000 tickets in Melbourne over 110,000 in Sydney. Taylor Swift also sold more in Melbourne than Sydney on her latest tour with 34,000 and 28,000 tickets respectively.
Ben Preece, of Brisbane-based management company Mucho Bravado, who looks after artists Hungary Kids of Hungary and Emma Louise, claims that “across the board, Melbourne is better.”
“It’s a cultural city and the audiences genuinely love going to shows – small, big, whatever; Sydney is more business-focused,” Preece said. “It’s a cultural city and the audiences genuinely love going to shows – small, big, whatever; Sydney is more business-focused.” Ben Preece, Mucho Bravado
While Melbourne is the “spiritual home” of Australian music, Sydney is no doubt the “wallet” of the industry, as The Age describes it. Last month Sydney’s new Cultural Policy ‘Creative City’ revealed that NSW is now the largest contributor to the venue-based live music industry at 32% of the share, with Queensland and Victoria following suit with 24% and 22% respectively.
Last month state music body Music Victoria revealed that live music contributes $1.04 billion annually to the Victorian state economy and when contextualised, beats out the punter rates of the entire AFL season, three fold.
The figures from the Music Victoria census reveal that “on a typical Saturday night,” 97,000 patrons head to live music venues to attend gigs and shows, generating an average $745,000 in door and entry fees. While spending on transport, drinks, food, and merch generates a whopping $3.7 million, while estimates from the survey demonstrate 900 musicians, 740 Djs, 237 production crew, and 2,730 venue staff are employed on a typical Saturday night.
Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan notes that with the numbers to back it up, the title of ‘sporting capital’ can finally be contested for ‘music capital’, who feels like many do that the latter is normally neglected in the face of AFL. “We’re showing the Government that this is a major, significant industry that needs to be funded as much as sport is,” he says.
According to Music Victoria, patronage of live music in Melbourne is twice as big compared to the previous generation’s revealing that not only is the industry surviving, it’s actually thriving.
This news comes alongside Sydney’s continued struggle with live music ventures, with the public plight of the Annandale Hotel and the recent creation of a Live Music Taskforce set up to explore the issues of bureaucratic red tape, bullying councils, and complaining residents that are hurting Sydney’s live music scene.
