While Australia’s live music scene isn’t without its problems, with the recent wave of venues shutting up shop around the country, the festival market more competitive than ever, and the crackdown on liquor licensing in New South Wales and South Australia.
In fact the contemporary live music sector, which now 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 the good news is that Australian promoters and venues are still going strong against the international market.
Following on from five Australian arenas appearing in a list of the Top 100 Most Popular venues (led by the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and including Sydney’s Allphones Arena, Hordern Pavilion, Entertainment Centre, and Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena), as The Music Network points out, US-based live music stats trackers, Pollstar have released the figures for the Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 100 for the third quarter of the year.
Around 8% of the Worldwide Ticket Sales Report is made up by Australian promoters, who are competing with international juggernauts the likes of Live Nation and Artist Group International.
In the wake of moving into A&R with a new business partnership, and co-promoting Homebake, Sydney-based promoter Chugg Entertainment was once again recognised as the highest-ranking Australian promoter in the poll. Though Chugg was ranked at #23 in the same mid-year report from July, the third quarter results see them slipping slightly outside of the top quarter to #26.
Interestingly though, ticket sales for the promoter have risen from 394,202 at the half-year mark to the current figure of 468,502 tickets, which demonstrates that while promoters are continuing to successfully sell tickets, it may not be at the same rate as international markets which no doubt gained a boost during their summer season of festivals.
While promoters are continuing to successfully sell tickets, it may not be at the same rate as international markets which no doubt gained a boost during their summer season of festivals.The statistics reflect similar shifts across the board, following Chugg Entertainment on the list was Michael Coppel Presents, sliding to #31 with 366,082 ticket sales, while Michael ‘Melburnian of the Year‘ Gudinski’s Frontier Touring Company rose to #43 (243,063 tickets). Bluesfest Promoter Peter Noble may be unhappy with learning that he’s dropped from just inside the Top 50 to #65, but with the Byron Bay festival drip-feeding their lineup to their Easter music event, we can expect their current 154,607 sales figure to jump next time the ticket rankings come around.
Bluesfest’s Tygarah Tea Tree Farm site appeared in the Festival Sites section of the poll, ranking at #41 with 82,761 ticket sales, while Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl sat just behind at #48 (60,838 sales) and Brisbane Riverstage at #88 (15,425)
Meanwhile back to the Top 100 list, Adrian Bohm Presents, Garry Van Egmond, and XIII Touring all took a significant drop in ranks despite strong sales sitting at #74, #95 and at #100 respectively, but the Dainty Group made a huge leap in rankings, from #78 to #47 with 207,055 worldwide ticket sales, and given that Dainty recently partnered with Richard Branson to form Virgin Live, the newly-minted promoter that’s handling The Rolling Stones’ 50th Anniversary shows, they’re set to make a strong impact on the Pollstar list in the near future.
Along with the eight Australian promoters that appear in the Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 100, a number of Australian venues also made the Top 100 Most Popular venues list, complementing Australia’s strong showing on the live scene.
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 the Beach Boys.
Allphones Arena in Sydney also placed at the #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 #7, Sydney Entertainment Centre at #53, Hordern Pavilion in Sydney at #70, and Perth’s Burswood Dome rounding out the list at #86.
