Hot Seat: Evelyn Richardson – CEO Live Performance Australia
Evelyn Richardso knows all about a tricky economy, a dodgy dollar and a looming election. They’re some of the big factors Australia’s live music business has to contend with. Live Performance Australia’s newly-published Ticket Attendance & Revenue Survey reveals rock and pop concerts, on the whole, had a tough year in 2012. Gross revenue from “contemporary music” declined by 10.6% to $482.18 million while total attendance shrunk by 7.7%. The average ticket price for a concert fell by 3.1% to $100.27 in 2012.
Across the live entertainment sector, more than 16 million people attended live events, down 6.2% year-on-year. And, in value terms, ticket sales were down 8% to $1.205 billion. Still, it’s a vibrant sector. Rock and pop concerts do punch hard – “contemporary music” accounted for 40% of all live entertainment revenue. And the festivals market showed lift.
LPA certainly thinks the live business is worth celebrating. The peak body’s annual Helpmann Awards on July 29 recognised the major achievements on the stage over the past year, with Frontier Touring Company’s work on the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band “Wrecking Ball” tour taking out the best international contemporary concert category.
The report indicates both a fall in number of tickets sold, and a drop in revenue. Is there cause for alarm?
I wouldn’t say its cause for alarm. The 2012 survey reflects that the industry is stable. We’ve seen decreases in revenue and attendance, but those declines are relatively modest if you put them in the context of the broader economic climate, where we know consumer confidence is down across the board. So, if confidence is down then our industry is not immune to it. And that’s certainly reflected in these numbers this year.
The report shows lower revenue in the “contemporary music” field was down double-digits, which was described as “significant.”
Yeah, but it was down 18% the previous year. If you look back to 2009, there was that strong growth of just under 20%, and that huge growth of 2010 because it was such a large touring year. The last two years we’ve seen a decrease. That’s very much reflected by the activity that’s been happening in the broader market.
It is a strange economic climate and the dollar has dropped sharply. Would you expect there to be more pain over the next year?
I think so. For the contemporary music sector, certainly the dollar always has an impact here. Depending on which deals are in place. The worst case scenario is if the Australian dollar falls to U.S 80 cents or that order, that may drive up ticket prices. The economy is not as it was 12-24 months ago. So, there may be some further period where it’s unstable. We’ve also had an unstable environment with such a long lead-up to the election. Once a lot of that is settled and we move into the next phase, once that’s out of the way, it should be fine.
We see so many headlines of big-selling international tours. Beyonce recently adds four more dates this year, Pink’s tour is massive and has sold well.
They do (well), but last year we saw attendances drop by 7%. And that was largely due to the smaller number of stadium tours and tours by big-name artists. If you have concerts in the larger venues, that impacts on the numbers. That was certainly the case for 2012.
Do you get a sense that the live scene is saturated?
Certainly, I know the last 12 months have been very competitive, and I don’t think it’s been a secret that promoters have had to work hard on those tours. In the “single” music festival categories, there was a slight increase in revenue but a very strong increase in attendance. We know music festivals were strong, particularly for those festivals with strong brands. We also know in the last summer season a number of festivals fell over. We were certainly prepared for that, because we were at a point in the Australian market where there was probably too many festivals. Those with the stronger brands went gangbusters. We were fully prepared for that because we were going to reach a saturation point with how many summer festivals the Australian market could absorb. We saw that market correction occurring, certainly over last summer.
Of course promoters are being punished by the fluctuating dollar. If you bought an act in American dollars, and the Aussie dollar slumps badly, you can lose your profit on a sell-out.
It’ll be tough. And it’ll be interesting to see just where the dollar stabilises too. Over the next two to three years it will be more challenging for promoters and there may be fewer acts that come through, which may affect festivals in particular. Some have felt the pain, even in the last summer season. But others have thrived. Before we see a stabilising of the dollar and the economy, it’ll be very much “steady as she goes” over the next 12 to 18 months.
Do you get a sense of where Australia’s live business fits in the global space?
Michael Chugg has said Aussies spend more than anyone else. The market is very strong here. It’s not just because of the strength of the dollar it’s because contemporary music is a very popular market and that’s why so many big acts keep coming here.
The LPA report notes that festivals and small, self-ticketed venues continue to be under-reported. Will there be an improved snapshot in future?
We’re going to do a supplementary survey later in the year. We’re going to be working with the Australia Council and, regionally, with the Australian association for performing arts. So we’ll capture that activity in regional venues. In terms of clubs, pubs and hotels, that’s a much bigger challenge. A couple of years ago a survey was done on that sector. In future we’ll look at ways for engaging with, in particular, music festivals. Because often they self-ticket, so we can try and capture that data and give a fuller-picture. We always say, particularly with the contemporary music sector, that these numbers are conservative. Each year we’re trying to extend our reach so we can give a more complete picture. It’s a challenge.
Are there any key festivals who aren’t yet providing data?
There are a number. For example, Bluesfest hasn’t historically. But Peter (Noble) has just said he’s very happy to provide it, so we’ll have that data next year. A lot of the larger ones we capture because they’re ticketed by the agencies who provide ticketing data to us.
The federal government recently announced more than half-a-million dollars in funding for a live music office? What are your thoughts on that, and how it might boost the live biz?
We certainly welcome the announcement. Like anything, the devil is in the detail. So until we see what’s actually planned, it’s very difficult to comment. There has been a contemporary music working group for some years, trying to get traction with federal government. So until we see what the priorities are and how they want to work with the industry, it’s a little bit unclear. We certainly welcome the focus on the sector. It’s long overdue.
What are the big challenges facing the live sector going forward?
In an economy where consumer confidence is down and there’s more uncertainty more broadly, it’s about ensuring that you’re engaging with the audiences you want to engage in. It’s like any other sector. Promoters are going to be looking very closely at ticket prices and pricing them for the market. It’s not a new challenge, but I think in an environment where there is more uncertainty with the dollar dropping, they’ll be looking at it more closely.