Live and recorded music segments are faring well in the UK, but dig into the numbers and you’ll see that spending growth was not evenly distributed.
As reported on Friday at Billboard, PRS for Music, the UK performing rights collection society, announced consumer spending on live music grew slightly to £1.45 billion ($1.8 billion) from £1.39 billion ($1.72 billion) – a 4.3% increase.
Last month, the BPI announced that 2009 recorded music revenues were essentially flat in the UK. In today’s climate, flat revenue is successful and low single-digit growth is cause for a parade. In 2009, UK prices grew only 1% while GDP shrank 3%, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Considering the difficult economic climate last year, a 4.3% increase in live music spending is quite impressive. Combined with the relative success of recorded music, these new figures show a rare strength in the UK market.
Consumer spending is composed of primary tickets, which PRS tracks through tariffs from venues, and the secondary market, which it tracks with the help of TixDax. Primary ticket revenue was up 3.4%, according to PRS, while secondary revenue grew 15%. A few calculations show the primary marketplace accounted for about £1.37 ($1.69 billion) billion in 2009, or 95% of consumer spending on live music, while the secondary marketplace for live music totaled about £74 million ($92 million).
Based on where that spending goes, it appears most of the gains are going to already established acts that play festivals and large venues. PRS revealed that 37% of spending went toward arenas, 21% to mid-sized venues, 19% to festivals and 11% to stadiums. Only 11% of consumer spending was for events at clubs. Parks got 1% of spending. So, arenas and stadiums took in just under half of all live spending. Add in mid-sized venues and you’ve got over 70% of the market going to venues played by established artists.
And not all the gain was spread evenly across venues. Growth in festival revenue accounted for nearly all the growth in 2009 live revenues. PRS chief economist Will Page revealed that about £275 million ($340 million) was spent on festivals, up £50 million ($62 million) from £225 million ($279 million) in 2009. Since the 2009 spending gain was £60 million ($74 million), that means about 83% of the gains in 2009 came from festival spending. That leaves few gains for the types of venues typically played by developing and out-of-the-mainstream acts.
