Consumers Embrace Live Musical Experiences The Top 100 North American concert tours of 2016 grossed $3.4 billion, a 7% increase from 2015, and an all-time record. The Top 100 acts also set records, with 43.63 million tickets sold, a 4% increase. Average ticket prices increased to a record of $76.55. The Top 100 Worldwide Tours produced $4.88 billion in sales, increasing 4% from 2015, but still less than 2013’s record of $5 billion. More tickets were sold, 60.49 million, compared to 2015’s 59.78 million. During 2016, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band topped the worldwide tour chart with $268.3 million in gross sales, followed by Beyoncé with $256.2 million.

2017 Will Be a Year to Remember The Top 100 North American Tours set mid-year 2017 revenue records, with $1.64 billion, an 11% increase. Ticket sales increased 15% to 22.8 million. The average show gross increased 5% to $658,600. Average ticket prices decreased 3.3% to $72.16.   During the first half of 2017, U2 had the top-grossing North American tour, with $118.1 million in 16 cities. Metallica was second with $68.7 million. The top 5 worldwide promoters sold more than 30 million tickets during the first six months of 2017.

Concert Halls: Hale and Hearty In the Top 100 Arenas category, as measured by worldwide ticket sales during the first half of 2017, the only US venue in the top 10 was Barclays Center in Brooklyn, at #9, with 376,230 tickets sold. In the Top 200 Theatre Venues category worldwide, Axis at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas was #3. US theater venues captured 7 of the top 10 spots. The House of Blues, Boston was the #1 club venue worldwide. Of the top 10 club venues, all but one was in the US, with 4 in New York, 2 in Boston, 1 in Minneapolis and 1 in St. Louis

Touring Is Where Artists Make Their Money Beyoncé topped Billboard’s list of Top 50 2016 Money Makers with $62.1 million, $54.7 million of which came from her Formation World Tour. She also led the list in revenue from sales, streaming and publishing. Guns ‘N Roses was #2, earning $42.3 million. The top 10 moneymakers included four pop artists (#1, #5, #6 and #7), two country artists, two rappers (#4 and #9) and two rock ‘n rollers (#2 and #3). The list was filled with music veterans, including Billy Joel (#11), Metallica (#15), Paul McCartney (#16), Barbara Streisand (#20), AC/DC (#21), Black Sabbath (#29), Elton John (#32) and, even David Bowie (#34), despite his death during January 2016.

Festivals and Concerts Thrive on Tech Fans expect more choice, leading to niche events as well as hybrid events that include complementary interests, such as live musical performances at an art festival. Mobile and RFID technology are creating better attendee experiences, shortening lines, enabling easy cashless purchasing and synchronizing with guests’ social networks. Social media directly impacts sales. Facebook sharing contributed approximately $4.15 to each future ticket sold and each Twitter tweet was worth $2.18 for a ticket sale.

In Pursuit of the Hardcore Festie Approximately one in five festival-goers is considered a “hardcore festie,” attending 5 to 6 festivals a year. This group is responsible for more than half of the total festival ticket sales in North America. Hardcore festies spend $91 more on an average ticket than the casual festie (attending 1 festival per year). Moderate festies (2 to 3 festivals per year) are half of festival-goers and casual festies are 30% of the total. Hardcore festies attend their favorite festival an average of three times. They also spread the word to others; almost 70% say their friends rely on them to tell them about upcoming festivals and they are 42% more likely to post on social media at festivals.

Advertising Strategies Advertising should emphasize the overall experience, not just the musical lineup. Other aspects of the experience might include onsite games, meet-and-greets with celebrities, VIP experiences, food and other unique activities at the event. Use early-morning TV news and late-night TV programming to drive viewers to promoters, venues and ticket brokers’ social media sites or Website sales landing pages, with special offers for those who enter a code from TV spots. TV is the perfect medium to advertise various special offers at family concerts and festivals: a discount for multigenerational ticket sales (at least three generations), Invite-a-Neighbor-Family tickets bundle or a group-meal coupon.

New Media Strategies Facebook marketing is the most valuable, with each share resulting in an average of 15 views of the event’s ticketing page per fan. Twitter was also valuable, since each tweet produced 28 event page views, although it generated less actual sales than Facebook. Festival Websites and social media pages should feature attendee-created content and videos, even allowing them to upload content directly from the event for authentic testimonials and social proof. Local venues and ticket brokers should use social media to distribute an occasional survey or poll to help make the concert/festival experience better. Ask about parking and safety issues and participants’ suggestions of new food and beverage items.