Concertgoing down slightly but remains strong in Oz
Music is still the most popular art form in Australia, new research shows, with 54% of population attending a live music event and 97% listening to recorded music in 2016.
The latest Connecting Australians report by the Australia Council for the Arts reveals more than 14 million Australians aged 15 or over saw a concert last year, with 27% attending a music festival specifically.
The figure compares favourably with similar studies in other developed live music markets – slightly less than the 62% seen in Norway but more than in Denmark, where the number of concertgoers stands at 41% of the population – but is actually a slight decline on previous years’ reports, which reported 58% in 2009 and 59% in 2013. The fall may be attributable to the “substantial increase” in the number of Australians attending theatre or dance events compared to 2013 (42% to 53%), says Australia Council, as well as a rise in attendances for visual arts, craft and literary events.
As elsewhere in the world, young people are most likely to see live entertainment, while Australians of all ages are attending ‘First Nations’ (aboriginal) events in greater numbers.
Ninety-eight per cent of Australians “engage with the arts” – which include music, visual arts, theatre, dance and literature – in some way, the report concludes.
“New and additional arts experiences are expanding on rather than replacing live attendance, which remains strong”
“It is overwhelmingly apparent from the data that while 98% of Australians engage in the arts, they do so more frequently and with much greater breadth than they realise,” comments Australia Council chief executive Tony Grybowski (pictured). “We need to demystify what we mean by ‘the arts’. Many Australians have a narrow view of what the arts include, often dismissing the things we enjoy most frequently, such as listening to music, reading or going to a festival. As a result, they are underestimating the vital role the arts play in the quality of their everyday experience. Gaining this clarity is important so that when talking about the value of supporting the arts we all understand what is at stake.
“As the third survey in the series, the research identifies important trends. Engagement with First Nations arts has doubled since 2009, reaching seven million Australians last year. Creating, accessing and sharing the arts online is booming – new and additional arts experiences are expanding on rather than replacing live attendance, which remains strong.
“The report also reveals the importance of the arts in the lives of younger Australians. They create and experience the arts at the highest rates, especially online; they love festivals and over half engage with the arts as part of their cultural background. This gives the arts a unique role in shaping the future of our national culture.”
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Australians prefer films to live music: study
Cinemas are the most popular arts venues in Australia, with concerts lagging behind films as the way in which most Australians get their cultural fix.
That’s according to new data from the Australian government, which has released figures on the proportion of people aged 15 and over who attended arts events from June 2013–14 (the newest available data).
Drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australia Council for the Arts found 66% of people went to the cinema that year, compared to 33% for popular music events and 20% for classical music or opera, for an “any music” total of 42%.
Live music was, however, the second most-popular cultural pursuit, outperforming libraries and archives (35%), performing arts (32%), museums (28%) and art galleries (27%).
The Australian live entertainment industry contracted in 2015, with revenue and attendances falling 6.7% and 0.9%, respectively.
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‘Hardcore festies’ also key to Australian success
Mirroring the trend seen in the UK and US, festival super-fans – dubbed ‘hardcore festies’ – are driving the majority of festival business in Australia, despite making up only 14% of festivalgoers, research by Eventbrite reveals.
The ticketing company’s State of Australian Music Festivals 2016 study found that while Australian hardcore festies represent a smaller proportion of the overall market than in Britain and America (where they comprise 28% and 20% of festivalgoers, respectively), they still “outrank casual fans in VIP purchasing, social influence and virtually every other aspect of spending, attending and engagement”, with an average annual festival ticket spend of over A$600 (US$459 or £348).
Eventbrite also revealed that, despite the recent disappearance of high-profile music festivals such as Stereosonic and Soundwave, demand remains strong, with 65% of respondents going to the same number or more music festivals this year compared to 2015 and 49% planning to attend more festivals next year.
“While people have a growing appetite for festivals, there are also more festivals than ever before… which is why the hardcore festival fan is so critical”
As in Britain and America, headliners are the number one reason (35%) for attending festivals, with the artist line-up as a whole most important overall (46%).
Hardcore festies’ favourite festivals are (in order) Stereosonic, Groovin the Moo, Soundwave, Falls Festival and Splendour in the Grass.
“While people have a growing appetite for festivals, there are also more festivals than ever before,” says the report, “making it harder for festival producers to turn a profit – which is why the hardcore festival fan is critical to the success of your business.”
Read the report in full at Australian Festival Fans Revealed: What Drives the Most Valuable Festival-Goers to Spend and Attend More.
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