The Reside Music Market: Music Lovers Are in Their Live performance Period

Between a post-pandemic revival and large names within the music trade happening tour, akin to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, and Harry Types’ Love On Tour, the dwell music and occasions trade has seen big development. Mintel’s knowledge reveals attendance for each concert events and festivals has been on the rise in 2024, almost returning to pre-pandemic ranges. This was, partly, attributable to inflation, together with rising ticket costs and the price of ancillary spend throughout the cost-of-living disaster.

Whereas massive acts akin to these talked about above rejoice monumental successes, the place does that depart 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 might be trying on the post-pandemic restoration of the UK dwell music market, how technological development is revolutionising the trade, and the way developments and client behaviours are altering.

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

Whereas massive occasions and venues thrive, smaller venues are nonetheless combating the post-COVID influence, 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 weak grassroots dwell music sector that’s not thriving from renewed, post-pandemic curiosity. This rising ‘two-tier’ break up poses a risk to the long-term sustainability of the sector.

In addition to big-name worldwide artists, many music followers travelling overseas are involved in 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 benefit from this, dwell occasion discovery platforms might provide recommendations primarily based on supposed vacation places.

Social media – which is changing into increasingly necessary within the dwell music market, may also play a key function right here. Platforms can develop a hyperlocal ‘what’s on in my space’ strategy, serving to to help 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 lowered the variety of occasions they attend because of rising ticket costs. To unfold out prices, they’re in search of versatile cost schemes, opening up alternatives for ticket sellers and venues to incorporate these of their affords.

After all, inflation is one cause for prime ticket costs, however demand for large-scale ‘must-see’ occasions can also be driving a rising pattern in direction of dynamic pricing fashions on ticketing websites, thus additional inflating costs for sold-out occasions on resale websites: Virtually 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 big tightening of laws on the UK’s rising dwell occasions secondary ticketing sector. In March 2024, Sir Keir Starmer introduced that an incoming Labour Authorities would cap the resale value of tickets, limit the variety of tickets particular person re-sellers might listing, and provides the CMA the powers it wanted to take swift motion in opposition to touts and platforms.

Expertise, akin to dwell streaming, digital and augmented actuality, and AI-driven avatar concert events have already brought about a ripple all through the dwell 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 ready to increase the longevity of iconic acts not out there to see within the flesh. The AI and hologram applied sciences that make experiences like this doable are starting to open up main new income streams for dwell performances, and the success of ABBA Voyage is ready 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 enchantment of this new kind, with these aged 50 to 60 mentioned to make up the largest demographic. It has additionally drawn in youthful followers, with one in 10 mentioned to be below 24. The ‘Throwback Pattern’ explores the highly effective enchantment of nostalgia in well-liked 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 dwell music market and music competition promoting.

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

Within the UK, there’s a pattern of multi-generational household teams attending festivals, with mother and father 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 help. Quite a few ‘fan tasks’ on The Eras Tour testify this. For instance, the making and buying and selling of friendship bracelets with each associates and strangers on the occasion, or the fan chants at particular components all through the live performance, referring to the efficiency on stage. These and numerous different fan tasks 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 all around the world.

This additionally highlights the important thing function of social media in live performance and music competition branding: One third of UK social media customers search Fb to seek out out about occasions, together with concert events and festivals. Customers additionally use social media on the subject of the dwell music market to comply with occasions – as now we have seen, once more, with The Eras Tour that had quite a few followers who weren’t capable of rating tickets comply with the reveals on-line through livestreams. Platforms akin to Instagram additionally present musicians with an area to attach with their followers by way of posts the place they’ll handle them straight 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 in fact the central half, there are facets which are virtually as necessary 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.

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

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

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