A new report has found that in 2023, Aussie punters turned out in record numbers for contemporary live music performances and music festivals.
The 2023 Ticket Attendance and Revenue report, gathered by Live Performance Australia (LPA), tracked over 14 million ticketed attendances—the highest-ever level recorded in Australia. This would include tickets bought for 2024 tours by Taylor Swift and P!nk.
Live Performance Australia compiled the data in the report through ticketing companies, self-ticketing venues, event promoters, and National Performing Arts Partnership (NPAP) companies.
According to the report, live gigs generated $1.5 billion in revenue, and music festivals amassed $355 million. Audiences in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland gathered the most revenue and attendance for music festivals, with the report discovering that they’d amassed nearly 77% of overall revenue and 75% of overall attendance.
The report also found that in 2023, over 30.1 million ticketed attendances generated $3.1 billion in revenue—and that’s despite rising costs, including ticket prices.
In 2023, ticket prices for live music concerts – think arenas and other large-scale gigs when you see the price – rose to $128.21, up from $87.01 from the previous year. The rise in ticket prices reflects inflation, demand, and the increases in production, touring costs, and artist fees following the two-year pause of live music incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, ticket prices for music festivals also rose (by 12.4%) to $190.54 with the return of multi-day festivals and huge one-day festivals and increased costs in event management, production, artist fees, and touring.
Stating what we all know, Live Performance Australia’s Chief Executive, Evelyn Richardson, declared that Australians “love their live music.” And we continue to invest in it despite the rising cost of living pressures if it means we get those memorable experiences, especially with international artists.
Richardson continued, “Australia was part of a global trend which saw a resurgence in international touring activity during 2023 and a shift towards bigger stadium-level concerts by some headline artists.”
Richardson added that attendance and revenue peaked in 2023 and that the industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pausing or cancellation of festivals this year shows some parts of our industry are still dealing with very challenging business conditions due to higher operating costs, changing audience preferences, and ongoing cost of living pressures,” Richardson said.
Making suggestions to assist struggling sectors of the industry, Richardson said that governments should “look closely” at reducing some of the impacts we’ve seen by cutting “regulatory, licensing and venue costs, in the interests of a strong live music industry.
“They also need to focus their support in areas that will make a real difference to enabling audiences to discover more of our homegrown talent.”
Richardson concluded, “That said, live music by Australian and international artists continues to excite, entertain and engage audiences across all ages and genres and also makes a significant direct and indirect economic contribution, including driving activity for our hospitality, tourism and transport sectors.”
You can read the complete report here.
