Australians turned out in record numbers to enjoy contemporary music performances and music festivals in 2023, but it was still not enough to keep long-running events from going under due to growing costs.
Live Performance Australia’s 2023 Ticket Attendance and Revenue report demonstrated that there were more than 14 million ticketed attendances, producing record revenue totals. Contemporary music generated A$1.5bn (£770m/€920m/$1bn) in revenue, while contemporary music festivals brought in A$355m.
The states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland generated the most revenue and attendance for contemporary music festivals; almost 77% of overall revenue, and 75% of total attendance.
Average ticket prices for contemporary music concerts rose from A$87.01 in 2022 to A$128.21 in 2023, while the average ticket price for contemporary music festivals rose by 12.4% to A$190.54.
Across all categories of live performances in 2023, there were more than 30.1 million ticketed attendances generating A$3.1bn in ticket revenue.
“Australians love their live music. Despite rising cost of living pressures during 2023, they were prepared to invest in memorable live music experiences with their favourite Australian and international artists,” said Live Performance Australia chief executive, Evelyn Richardson.
“There’s always a degree of variability in the yearly results for contemporary music depending on artist touring schedules. 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 noted that while attendance and revenue reached an all-time high in 2023, the number of festival cancellations in 2024 shows that parts of the industry are still struggling. For example, Groovin’ the Moo was cancelled due to low ticket sales, the iconic Bluesfest announced 2025’s edition would be its last, and Splendour in the Grass was axed just two weeks after revealing its 2024 line-up.
“While attendance and revenue peaked in 2023, 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,” added Richardson.
“Governments need to look closely at how they can reduce some of these impacts, particularly 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.
“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.”
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