Despite Brutal Conditions, Concert Attendance and Revenue Reached All-Time Highs In 2024: Report

At the same time, more than 31.4 million tickets changed hands, a 4.6% lift on the previous year, according to Live Performance Australia’s newly-published 2024 Live Performance Attendance and Revenue Report.

Those revenue and attendance figures represent the highest since the report was first published in 2004.

Major international acts and tours were the power pack for the live industry, as the likes of Taylor Swift, Coldplay, P!nk, Pearl Jam, The Weeknd and Travis Scott worked their magic to crowds across the country.

At the same time, ticket prices grew by 3.3% across the industry, doing a small part to offset ballooning operational costs, according to LPA, which publishes the annual report based on information from nearly 90 data providers, with support from research partner EY.

The average ticket price of $115.12 is also the highest ever recorded for the industry.

LPA’s 2024 ticketing survey is the first since Eric Lassen took the reins as chief executive officer, succeeding Evelyn Richardson.

“While the overall results paint a positive story, growth was concentrated in a limited number of categories and states,” Lassen remarks. “These mixed outcomes highlight the evolving nature of audience behaviour and preferences, as well as challenging economic conditions overall.”

Contemporary music was, again, the backbone of the live entertainment industry, generating more than $1.8 billion in revenue (or 54% of the total), a 21.8% year-on-year increase. And more than 14 million Australians went to a concert (44.8% of the total), a 17.3% increase from the previous year.

Combined, the Contemporary Music and Festivals (Contemporary Music) categories contributed 63.9% of national revenue and 51.2% of national attendance.

For the first time, the LPA’s study breaks down the share of revenue and attendance across metropolitan and regional markets in each state and territory.

Among them, Splendour in the Grass, Groovin’ the Moo, Spilt Milk, and Harvest Rock — all of which contributed to an overall decline in revenue from fests ($331 million, down 6.7%) and attendance ($2 million, down 0.9%).

The cost-of-living crisis, those increases in ticket prices, and many other factors are to blame.

However, LPA notes, the scale of the festivals decline was also offset by the addition of a new data provider that tickets many music festivals.

“Australians clearly value live performance,” Lassen remarks, “but it’s also a highly discretionary spend for most households. Against a backdrop of much higher costs of bringing live performance to the stage, audiences are being more selective in how they spend their arts and entertainment dollar.”