The Live Music Market: Music Lovers Are in Their Concert Era | Mintel

Between a post-pandemic revival and massive names within the music trade occurring tour, akin to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, and Harry Kinds’ Love On Tour, the reside music and occasions trade has seen enormous development. Mintel’s information reveals attendance for each concert events and festivals has been on the rise in 2024, practically returning to pre-pandemic ranges. This was, partly, because of inflation, together with rising ticket costs and the price of ancillary spend in the course of the cost-of-living disaster.

Whereas large acts akin to these talked about above have a good time monumental successes, the place does that go away smaller, grassroots venues? To achieve perception into this and different questions surrounding concert events and festivals within the UK, discover additional with Mintel, as we can be trying on the post-pandemic restoration of the UK reside music market, how technological development is revolutionising the trade, and the way traits and shopper behaviours are altering.

The UK reside music market worth reached an estimated £3.3 billion in 2023, which marked the primary full post-pandemic 12 months for reside music occasions. This spectacular bounce again within the trade may be traced again to pent-up demand following years of restrictions and cancellations on this sector in addition to increased costs because of inflation – which didn’t, nonetheless, deter gig goers from digging deep into their purses.

Whereas large occasions and venues thrive, smaller venues are nonetheless scuffling with the post-COVID impression, leading to ‘two-tier’ challenges within the live performance and music competition market. Sadly, the power of the top-level market is in sharp distinction to a way more susceptible grassroots reside music sector that’s not thriving from renewed, post-pandemic curiosity. This rising ‘two-tier’ cut up poses a menace to the long-term sustainability of the sector.

In addition to big-name worldwide artists, many music followers travelling overseas are excited about experiencing the native grassroots scene of their vacation spot. This feeds right into a key modern journey pattern of ‘genuine discovery’. Positioning small grassroots venues because the place to expertise the genuine, native music scene is a key messaging ingredient in music competition promoting. To take advantage of this, reside occasion discovery platforms may supply ideas based mostly on supposed vacation places.

Social media – which is changing into an increasing number of essential within the reside music market, may also play a key position right here. Platforms can develop a hyperlocal ‘what’s on in my space’ method, serving to to assist the struggling grassroots native music scene.

Beneath the floor degree of development, the live performance and music competition market is seeing extremely contradictory behaviour patterns. Over half of UK followers say they’ve decreased the variety of occasions they attend on account of rising ticket costs. To unfold out prices, they’re in search of versatile fee schemes, opening up alternatives for ticket sellers and venues to incorporate these of their affords.

In fact, inflation is one purpose for prime ticket costs, however demand for large-scale ‘must-see’ occasions can be driving a rising pattern in the direction of dynamic pricing fashions on ticketing websites, thus additional inflating costs for sold-out occasions on resale websites: Nearly 40% of UK attendees within the final 12 months paid considerably extra for a music live performance/competition ticket from a resale web site.

In August 2021, the Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) beneficial a major tightening of laws on the UK’s rising reside occasions secondary ticketing sector. In March 2024, Sir Keir Starmer introduced that an incoming Labour Authorities would cap the resale worth of tickets, limit the variety of tickets particular person re-sellers may checklist, and provides the CMA the powers it wanted to take swift motion towards touts and platforms.

Know-how, akin to reside streaming, digital and augmented actuality, and AI-driven avatar concert events have already precipitated a ripple all through the reside music market, and can proceed to open up new income streams, whereas additionally reinforcing the buyer urge for food for the ‘actual factor’.

Within the wake of ABBA Voyage, a brand new wave of ‘avatar gigs’ is about to increase the longevity of iconic acts not obtainable to see within the flesh. The AI and hologram applied sciences that make experiences like this attainable are starting to open up main new income streams for reside performances, and the success of ABBA Voyage is about to be adopted by Elvis and Kiss. Immersive expertise specialist Layered Actuality is launching Elvis Evolution in Tokyo, Berlin, Las Vegas, and London in 2024.

ABBA Voyage’s two-year run, which has been prolonged to January 2025 has demonstrated the nostalgic attraction of this new kind, with these aged 50 to 60 mentioned to make up the most important demographic. It has additionally drawn in youthful followers, with one in 10 mentioned to be underneath 24. The ‘Throwback Pattern’ explores the highly effective attraction of nostalgia in common tradition, even amongst these too younger to have skilled the unique – one thing that may be leveraged throughout industries, however lends itself particularly within the reside music market and music competition promoting.

“Lengthy reside all of the mountains we moved. I had the time of my life preventing dragons with you” sings Taylor Swift in her track ‘Lengthy Stay’, capturing the sense of neighborhood and togetherness which might be a key ingredient amongst many live performance and competition attendees, as they get to socialize with buddies, household, and new folks. Whereas seeing a specific band or act is the highest purpose to attend concert events and festivals, practically half of future attendees in Germany prioritise different components, such because the social facet.

Within the UK, there’s a pattern of multi-generational household teams attending festivals, with dad and mom introducing their youngsters to musical tradition. This displays the significance of shared experiences and bonding throughout generations.

Past household bonding experiences, occasions can foster a way of belonging and neighborhood assist. Quite a few ‘fan initiatives’ on The Eras Tour testify this. For instance, the making and buying and selling of friendship bracelets with each buddies and strangers on the occasion, or the fan chants at particular components all through the live performance, regarding the efficiency on stage. These and numerous different fan initiatives that began in a single location had been then shared through social media the place they achieved virality and acquired picked up in subsequent reveals everywhere in the world.

This additionally highlights the important thing position of social media in live performance and music competition branding: One third of UK social media customers search Fb to search out out about occasions, together with concert events and festivals. Customers additionally use social media close to the reside music market to observe occasions – as we now have seen, once more, with The Eras Tour that had quite a few followers who weren’t in a position to rating tickets observe the reveals on-line through livestreams. Platforms akin to Instagram additionally present musicians with an area to attach with their followers by means of posts the place they will tackle them instantly or by sharing behind-the-scenes and bonus content material.

On her Instagram web page, Taylor Swift has made it a behavior to thank and reward the crowds after wrapping up her concert events in each metropolis she performed in, alongside some candid pictures of her performances in that metropolis.

All of this goes to indicate that, whereas the musical efficiency is after all the central half, there are elements which might be nearly as essential for folks attending concert events and festivals. This presents alternatives for entrepreneurs to resonate by selling concert events and festivals as rounded, particular experiences that attendees will cherish for a very long time after the occasion.

Wanting forward, the two-tier cut up within the reside music market will proceed to develop: On the one hand, there’s a cohort of ‘superfans’, prepared to spend massive sums on their live performance/competition expertise, driving worth development. Alternatively, smaller, grassroots venues will face continued challenges and closures as they wrestle to remain afloat.

Development in know-how will proceed to revolutionise the live performance and music competition market by means of reside streaming, digital/augmented actuality, and AI-driven avatar concert events, which is able to open up new income streams, whereas additionally reinforcing the buyer urge for food for the ‘actual factor’.

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