Music Festival Market Status Update Q3 2023.

The music festival sector globally has made a good recovery since the cancellation of most events during the coronavirus pandemic. The industry has seemingly bounced back to levels greater than before COVID, but it has not been an easy route to recovery with ever decreasing margins and a changing economic landscape too.

There has been little research published in 2023 aside from some data released by Statista in June this year and Market Growth Reports last year (March 2022). There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence this year that would indicate the music festival sector is undergoing changes depending on a number of factors which include internal operational aspects and external influences.

Overall Market Growth and Size.
Despite the interruption of the coronavirus pandemic which caused most live events to be suspended for a few years the live music sector is still forecast to grow. The global gross online merchandise ticket value for live music is expected to top $33.8bn in 2023 which represents a rise of 65% on 2022 and 49% on 2019. These revenues are expected to continue to increase year on year reaching and estimated $39.1bn by 2027 accounting for 330.1m users.

Performance Artists Revenue.
The distribution model for artist’s material has changed dramatically in recent decades with a shift to online streaming. It is notoriously difficult for artists to earn money from streaming, and they have relied in recent years on earning an income from live performances. The coronavirus pandemic shut down of live music had a huge impact on artist’s revenue, the return of live events and music festivals has been welcomed by artists and may be a contributory factor in the resurgence and growth of the industry since 2022.

Festival-goer Data.
The report form Statista included data on the changes occurring with festival-goer's profiles and understanding these profiles may help organisers to craft marketing campaigns and message that specifically relate to them. Concert and music festival-goers generally come from households with higher incomes, or at least higher disposable incomes. These festival-goers also put a high emphasis on happy relationships with friends and family than the average consumer does. Festival-goers tend to fall into the early adopter category of consumers particularly for innovative new products. All festival-goers believe that key economic issues like inflation and the cost-of-living crisis should be addressed as a priority. Festival-goers appear to be more receptive to online advertising and are more likely to remember seeing specific ads on search engines than the average consumer.

Future Implications. 
Whilst the overall live music industry appears to continue its growth there are challenges for organisers and festival-goers alike. Rising costs are a key concern for both and if these can be controlled and managed festival-goers will continue to attend live music events and organisers will adapt their businesses to be more operationally efficient guaranteeing their future.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.
Data courtesy of Statista and Market Growth Reports.

Photo by Tumisu via Pixabay

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