You’d be forgiven for thinking that the live music scene here in Australia is all gloom and doom with the recent spat of venues shutting up shop around the country, the festival bubble bursting, and the crackdown on liquor licensing in New South Wales and South Australia.
It’s true that the contemporary live music sector, which generates about $539.2 million nationwide, has seen revenue dip the last few years due to a fall in average ticket prices and a slight increase in the proportion of complimentary tickets.
But despite the drop in revenue, attendance is up by 0.6% year-on-year and according to a worldwide report on ticket sales some of Australia’s biggest venues such as Allphones Arena in Sydney and Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane have some of the highest attendance figures in the world.
Brisbane Entertainment Centre has had a stellar nine months and was the 17th most popular venue on the list compiled by Pollstar for their 3rd Quarter report on worldwide ticket sales. The 14,500 capacity venue continues to punch above its weight after hosting entertainers such as Roger Waters, Rod Stewart, Prince, and Beach Boys.
Allphones Arena in Sydney also placed at the Number 20 on the list. In the nine months to September 2012 Allphones Arena has played host to shows by superstar acts, with the biggest ticket sales coming from Roger Waters, Taylor Swift, NKOTBSB, Lady Gaga, and the Beach Boys.
Other Australian arenas that ranked in the Top 100 include Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne at Number 7, Sydney Entertainment Centre at Number 53 and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney at Number 70.
“We’re very proud to have our arenas featuring prominently on the world stage and it is pleasing to have Allphones Arena and Brisbane Entertainment Centre as regulars in the Pollstar top 20,” says Tim Worton, the group director at AEG Ogden who operate Allphones Arena and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
“It is testament to the world class facilities and service that we provide and tremendous reward to the wonderful teams of people in our venues.”
“It is also a measure of the strength of the concert and entertainment market in Australia which continues to be robust, and of the faith of our local promoters in the market, upon whom we rely on bringing the brilliant talent to our shores. It couldn’t happen without them.”
In Pollstar’s mid-year report Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena ranked at number 3 while the AEG Ogden managed pair of Allphones Arena in Sydney ranked number 9 and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre ranked 14.
The O2 Arena in London took out the top spot in the survey, selling the most tickets of any other arena venue in the world with 803,223 sales total. The Staples Center in Los Angeles sold the most in the United States, at 444,548.
