Market Report: Austria

Austria may seem small, but sitting at the heart of Europe and being blessed with a cultured, affluent, and enthusiastic audience means the territory has significant clout in the live events market.

“In Austria, the classical music and cultural sector represents a market with significant potential, as do fairs, museums, and exhibitions,” says Eventim’s Dirk Colombet.

“Our diverse ticketing solutions are well-suited to meet the needs of event organisers in these areas, offering features such as time slot management, upselling options, membership programmes, and self-service ticket exchanges.”

Primary ticketing
Two companies still dominate the ticketing landscape – CTS Eventim, operating as OeTicket, is the clear leader when it comes to music, sports, and most other forms of live entertainment, while the City of Vienna-owned Wien Ticket covers a huge range of music, cultural, and sporting events (it also arranges a significant number of exclusive ticketing partnerships).

Other companies remain significant, however, such as Ticketmaster Austria and DEAG-owned myticket.at. There are also various B2B ticketing solution providers that allow venues – particularly smaller, more independent ones – to sell their own tickets, and third-party services like Ticket Gretchen.

Newer companies, such as B.A.M Ticketing and NTRY Ticketing, tend to focus on ticketing tech, such as NFTs, collectibles, and smart ticketing systems, something the bigger companies are also keeping up with. Last year, CTS Eventim launched OeTicket Light, a platform that allows vendors to conveniently sell tickets themselves.

And the likes of OeTicket also have one eye on diversification and expanding their offering.

“To provide customers with a go-to place for classical performances, our Klassikticket brand was launched, and a dedicated campaign is promoting the new platform klassikicket.at,” says Colombet. “This platform serves as a valuable platform providing classical music promoters with access to a targeted audience, increased visibility, marketing support, and streamlined ticketing processes.”

“This platform serves as a valuable platform providing classical music promoters with access to a targeted audience, increased visibility, marketing support, and streamlined ticketing processes.”

Distribution of sales
As in Germany, tradition dies hard in Austria, and many fans – particularly older ones – are wedded to the ability to pay cash for a physical ticket at the many kiosks, outlets, and physical ticket shops that still exist across the country. Many cultural institutions, who sell predominantly to tourists, also still rely on physical tickets. But this is changing.

“While this still varies significantly by genre, venue, and promoter, overall, around 90% of tickets are digital”

“While this still varies significantly by genre, venue, and promoter, overall, around 90% of tickets are digital,” says Klaus Zemke, Ticketmaster’s regional vice president, Central Europe, and managing director, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

Younger fans are driving digital adoption. While demand for solutions like CTS Eventim’s EVENTIM.Pass have proved popular, it remains available only for a select numebr of tours and events.

Secondary ticketing
Unusually for a sizeable market, the resale of tickets and scalping have not typically been much of an issue – only when it comes to the very biggest and most popular A-list superstars.

“Scalping does occur on the willhaben.at platform, and of course there’s Viagogo, too,” says Franz Erhardt, CEO of promoter Barracuda Music. And for once, the largest companies have got out ahead of the issue.

“Ticket transfer and resale are products that fans and event organisers love, and we are pushing their adoption across more events and venues,” says Zemke.

“Ticket transfer and resale are products that fans and event organisers love, and we are pushing their adoption across more events and venues”

“We recently launched an advertising campaign to increase awareness of Eventim’s Fansale.at as a secure ticket resale marketplace,” adds Colombet. “According to a survey, our efforts resulted in a significant increase to the marketplace.”

International/domestic splits & genres
According to Spotify data, pop and rock remain the most popular genres, with hip-hop and rap still growing in popularity. Yet Schlager music remains a cultural juggernaut, especially when it comes to huge, outdoor summer shows and festivals.

And although many stadia and arena shows, particularly in and around Vienna, are dominated by high- profile international artists, the market for domestic artists is extremely strong, in part because of support from some ticketing companies.

“Our global reach lets us help rising acts and grassroots venues connect with wider audiences,” says Zemke. “We’re excited to work with more independent promoters to make this happen.”