Frontier, Corner Hotel & more lead Aussie entrants in global live industry lists

Australia’s live music industry continued to make its presence felt in Pollstar magazine’s mid-year ticket ratings, however competition from venues in rising new music markets China and Brazil, and new enterprises in Europe and North America, continue to pose a threat.

Frontier Touring was the most successful of Australian promoters in the first half of June 2017,Frontier ranked #14 of Top 100 promoters with 577,468 tickets sold, thanks to successful runs from the likes of Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Justin Bieber, Green Day, Jimmy Barnes, Cyndi Lauperand Blondie,as well as a number of comedy acts.

Chugg Entertainment came in at #28 after shifting 217,093 tickets, with TEG Dainty (#31) and Bluesfest Touring (#48) clocking up346,181 and 179,747 ticket sales respectively.

Topping the list was Live Nation, with global sales reaching 18.6 million – of which700,000 were of Adele’s Australia and New Zealand tour.

In the Top 200 Arenas list, there were only three Australian entries and in much lower positions than in previous years.

Perth Arena was at #77 (116,240 tickets), Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena at #80 (113,437 tickets) and Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena at #97 (90,247 tickets).

When it come to the Top 200 Theatre Venues, Australia only managed two appearances – ICC Sydney weighed in at #45 (88,182) and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre & Convention at #87 (46,922).

Of the world’s top generating 200 Clubs, the Corner Hotel at #25 (55,367) and Brisbane’s Triffid at #79 (30,849) werethe locals who made the lsit.

Overall, Australian outdoor stadiums performed the best. Sydney’s ANZ Stadium topped the list of Aussie representativesat #8 (150,113) out of a ranking of 50, while Bluesfest’s home in Byron Bay the Tyaragah Tree Farm reached #14 (105,123).

Melbourne Cricket Grounds at #27 (73,114) and Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium at #45 (54,821) also made the cut.

The buoyancy of the global touring market was again in evidence: Pollstar says that the total number of tickets sold by the Top 50 acts was up 3.5% to a record 23.4 million.

There were also plenty of records broken, including the total number of tickets sold by the Top 100 reaching 22.8 million – a 15% growth on the last year and well surpassinglast year’s record achievement of 19.8 million.

The Top 50 Worldwide Tours grossed a combined $1.97 billion – just short of last year’s record $1.98 billion, while the average show gross among the Top 100 acts was up nearly 5% to a record $658,600.

The average number of tickets sold per show was also up 706 to a record 9,128, however this was no comparison to the most successful global tour in the first six months of 2017 – the Guns N’Roses “Not In This Lifetime” tour,whichgrossed $151.5 million, and was the only concert act to sell over 1 million tickets.

The Gunners also hold the status for largest box office gross, with their two night stand at London Stadium (June 16 and 17) generating $17.3 million.

The Top 100 North American Tours grossed a combined $1.64 billion – a new record which represents an 11% increase from last year’s $1.47 billion which also set a new milestone.

Also setting a new record was the 22.8 million tickets sold by the Top 100, a huge 15% rise. That broke the record 19.8 million in first half of 2016, however ticket prices were down 3.3% to an average of $72.16.

“The bottom line is the industry [in North America] took in more money and sold more tickets than ever before with a slightly lower ticket price… and that’s good for everyone,”Pollstar concluded.

The biggest tour in North America so far was U2 with $118.1 million in just 16 cities. Metallica was #2 with an $68.7 million gross.