Pollstar report advises of records tumbling for Australian and New Zealand concerts

August 28, 2023

A report in USA-based trade publication Pollstar has advised of the strong performance of the concert and live music sector in Australia and New Zealand

Building on 2022 PWC forecast of a 30.8% compound annual growth rate for the years 2021 to 2026, which showed Australia as having the second fastest growing live sector in the world, the report cites the sector’s strong performance despite the weak Australian dollar, escalating production and travel costs, along with rising living costs and insurance premium dramas.

The report also notes that as records tumbled through 2023 and set up for a strong summer, Australasia’s promoters continued to expand their footprint across the globe.

Believing that 2023 could equal the promoter’s best performance in 2018, Frontier Touring Chief Executive, Dion Brant told Pollstar “it’s shaping up as a really great year.”

Ed Sheeran in March was Frontier’s biggest tour selling 900,000 tickets in Australia and New Zealand, compared to 1 million for his 2018 tour.

However, Sheeran set new venue attendances in five cities, notably at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 3rd March, with 109,500, his largest crowd in the world.

Elton John was nearing 1 million tickets until torrential rain forced the cancellation of his final show at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium on 27th January.

Frontier’s slate for the rest of 2023 includes Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Foo Fighters, Sam Smith and The Chicks.

Taylor Swift’s multiple dates in Sydney and Melbourne in February 2024 saw 4 million vie for a reported 680,000 seats. Bookings at the Hilton Melbourne shot up 9400% and 1129% at the Sydney Hilton while domestic flight searches to the two cities around the time of her shows were up 282% and 151%, respectively.

Swift is up against P!nk’s 16 stadium concerts February and March next year, which has sold over 750,000, making it, according to Live Nation ANZ President, Roger Field “ the biggest selling Australian tour ever by a female artist.”

Field added “LN Australasia is having a record year and we are on track for the biggest year ever.

“We’re seeing unprecedented attendances at all levels from clubs to arenas. More artists are visiting us Down Under.

“We’ve also seen several arena acts take the huge step up into stadiums and sell phenomenally well, and we’re having our biggest stadium years thanks to artists such as P!nk, Harry Styles and our Coldplay shows in Perth.”

Field was impressed by how mid-range acts like IDLES, Sam Fender, Melanie Martinez and NIKI successfully transitioned to larger venues.

Equally impressed by current performance, TEG group Chief Executive, Geoff Jones added “we wondered for a while there what would happen as stadium acts got older and retired.

“But there are replacements lining up very strongly, which gives us great confidence going forward at the stadium level.”

TEG’s biggest successes have been touring festivals, Laneway in January and February, and Knotfest in March. Founders Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio, advised that Laneway hit a record 100,000 over five cities while Knotfest reached 100,000 rock fans over three cities.

Jones added “we were absolutely delighted with them.

“Both were at different ends of the spectrum with very different audiences but generated great experiences.”

Independent operator Untitled Group achieved its target of 400,000 tickets from 373 events July 2022 to June 2023 with its festivals, including its flagship at the end of the year, Beyond The Valley, which sold out its 35,000 allocation in minutes, and the multi-city Grapevine Gathering and Wildlands.

Untitled, which showcases at Amsterdam Dance Event, will push further into the Asian markets with on-the-ground staff “so we can offer acts Australian and Asian dates that are more lucrative and can often push them over the line.”

TEG continued to expand in the UK and Europe as well as in Asian territories, specifically India and Indonesia.

Field wants Live Nation’s global Ones To Watch program to increase the profile of Australasian acts.

The Frontier-AEG partnership sees them operate independently but makes it easy to pitch Australasian acts to AEG-affiliated festivals in the northern hemisphere.

The New Zealand scene, has according to NZ Promoters Association President Brent Eccles, “always been reasonably buoyant.”

Pollstar is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry.

Images: Ed Sheeran at Sydney's Accor Stadium in March this year (top), Live Nation's Roger Field (middle) and.TEG's Geoff Jones (below).

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