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

Between a post-pandemic revival and large names within the music trade occurring tour, corresponding to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, and Harry Kinds’ Love On Tour, the stay music and occasions trade has seen large progress. Mintel’s knowledge exhibits attendance for each concert events and festivals has been on the rise in 2024, almost returning to pre-pandemic ranges. This was, partially, because of inflation, together with rising ticket costs and the price of ancillary spend through the cost-of-living disaster.

Whereas large acts corresponding to these talked about above have a good time monumental successes, the place does that go away smaller, grassroots venues? To realize 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 stay music market, how technological development is revolutionising the trade, and the way developments and shopper behaviours are altering.

The UK stay music market worth reached an estimated £3.3 billion in 2023, which marked the primary full post-pandemic yr for stay music occasions. This spectacular bounce again within the trade will be traced again to pent-up demand following years of restrictions and cancellations on this sector in addition to greater 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 combating the post-COVID affect, leading to ‘two-tier’ challenges within the live performance and music competition market. Sadly, the energy of the top-level market is in sharp distinction to a way more weak grassroots stay music sector that isn’t thriving from renewed, post-pandemic curiosity. This rising ‘two-tier’ break 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 enthusiastic about experiencing the native grassroots scene of their vacation spot. This feeds right into a key modern journey development of ‘genuine discovery’. Positioning small grassroots venues because the place to expertise the genuine, native music scene is a key messaging component in music competition promoting. To profit from this, stay occasion discovery platforms might supply recommendations based mostly on meant vacation areas.

Social media – which is turning into increasingly essential within the stay 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 stage of progress, 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 because 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 provides.

After all, inflation is one motive for prime ticket costs, however demand for large-scale ‘must-see’ occasions can be driving a rising development in the 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 website.

In August 2021, the Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) really helpful a big tightening of laws on the UK’s rising stay 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 might listing, and provides the CMA the powers it wanted to take swift motion towards touts and platforms.

Know-how, corresponding to stay streaming, digital and augmented actuality, and AI-driven avatar concert events have already precipitated a ripple all through the stay music market, and can proceed to open up new income streams, whereas additionally reinforcing the patron 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 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 stay 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 enchantment of this new kind, with these aged 50 to 60 stated to make up the largest demographic. It has additionally drawn in youthful followers, with one in 10 stated to be underneath 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 stay music market and music competition promoting.

“Lengthy stay all of the mountains we moved. I had the time of my life combating dragons with you” sings Taylor Swift in her tune ‘Lengthy Stay’, capturing the sense of neighborhood and togetherness which are a key component 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 motive 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 development of multi-generational household teams attending festivals, with mother and father introducing their children 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 tasks’ 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 elements all through the live performance, referring to the efficiency on stage. These and varied different fan tasks that began in a single location have been then shared by way of social media the place they achieved virality and received picked up in subsequent exhibits 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 seek out out about occasions, together with concert events and festivals. Customers additionally use social media on the subject of the stay music market to comply with occasions – as we’ve got seen, once more, with The Eras Tour that had quite a few followers who weren’t capable of rating tickets comply with the exhibits on-line by way of livestreams. Platforms corresponding to Instagram additionally present musicians with an area to attach with their followers via posts the place they’ll handle them immediately 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 point out that, whereas the musical efficiency is after all the central half, there are features which are virtually 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.

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

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

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