A New Take on the Concert Industry: Playing for the Audience

Let’s take a look at the concert industry for the last 4 years. Who has been touring and selling out shows?  How much are consumers paying for tickets?  Who is the audience?  Are people still interested in live music? 

First, it seems as though the bands that are selling out, are bands that have been touring for many years, bands that were popular in the 80’s.  According to Live 2.0, the top grossing touring acts hasn’t changed much since 1988.  Here are the bands on that list that were also touring in 1988:  Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC.  (McCarthy, 2009)  Other “older” bands that are still touring and selling out stadiums are U2 (top grossing band of 2011), and Roger Waters.  Roger Waters, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and the original Van Halen are already selling out venues this year. 

So, who is the audience?  The audience is not just the “baby boomers” or those who could have been to any of these concerts in the 80’s.  Now a younger crowd, probably the children of those baby boomers are attending.  I think that the reason people are attending concerts is because they want to be there with their favorite band and be part of the music.  Ticket prices are high, but seeing your favorite band live is worth paying the high prices. 

I found an interesting article written in 2011, by Jim McCarthy, CEO of Goldstar.  The article included some informative links and a Ted talks audio, and talks about how the concert industry has evolved over the past 10 – 15 years.   A lot of this has to do with record sales.  Record sales have gone way down over the past few years, with the inexpensive price of downloads, verses vinyl and/or CD’s.  Because of the cheap price of music, people are placing a higher value on live interaction than ever before.  In the article, Jim made a good point, when he said that younger bands are going to have to start “tuning up” to entice the audiences of tomorrow.  The older bands like Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and even U2 are not going to be selling out stadiums, or even smaller venues in 2020.  Other bands, venues, and artist managers are going to have to work and find out what the audience wants in a live performance.  






(McCarthy, Jim). (Jan. 15, 2009). Maybe I Should be Writing this on my Commodore 64. Retrieved on February 16, 2012 from http://www.download-not-available.com/quick-takes/maybe-i-should-be-writing-this-on-my-commodore-64-too

(McCarthy, Jim). (Nov. 10, 2011). Live Music Needs a Tuneup To Entice the Audiences of Tomorrow. Retrieved on February 16, 2012 from
http://www.fastcompany.com/1794113/pricing-live-music-to-lure-tomorrows-fans#ixzz1dmdaGsrS