Spain’s live music industry valued in new report
Spain’s live music industry in 2023 has been valued at around €4.2 billion, according to a new report.
Sympathy For The Lawyer (SFTL), a firm specialising in the legal and financial management of the music business, and Incentiva, a music financing platform, have analysed the impact of live music on the economy and employment in Spain.
The study also evaluates the effect of cultural tax incentives, which have been “fundamental” in growing the music sector.
The direct impact of concerts and festivals in Spain in 2023 – including revenue from ticket sales and other direct income generated at the event, such as sales of drinks, food and merchandising – is said to total €963m.
This figure includes €578 million in ticket sales in 2023 (according to APM, Association of Music Promoters yearbook), which makes up 60% of the total direct impact.
The direct impact of concerts and festivals in Spain in 2023 includes €578 million in ticket sales
Indirect impact – the income generated by concerts and festivals for hotels, restaurants, transport etc – was estimated to be €2.25bn last year. Indirect revenue makes up 54% of the total impact.
And induced impact – additional consumption that employees and suppliers in the live music sector make in the economy – was calculated at €963m. Induced impact represents 23% of the total impact.
The report states that the current tax incentive regime for live music productions, launched in 2021, has been key to the growth of the sector.
SFLT and Incentiva says there has been considerable improvement in the conditions for concert and festival promoters, greater financing for projects and a significant increase in companies and self-employed people interested in investing in culture, concerts and festivals, thanks to the regime.
However, the firms warn that tax deductions for live music are lower than those for the audiovisual sector, which represents a competitive disadvantage for the music industry.
“Furthermore, it is advisable to implement measures to ensure that these incentives are effectively allocated to the live music industry, and that part of these funds intended to support our sector are not diverted to projects whose content is not really of a musical/cultural nature,” it continues.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Norwegian live biz grows to four-year high
The value of the Norwegian music industry grew to a four-year high in 2015, with the live sector once again accounting for a majority of music revenue.
Total turnover increased 5% to 3.73 billion krone (kr) – roughly US$440 million – and live revenue 4%, to 1.93bn kr ($228.87m), on 2014, generated from ticket sales in Norway and artist fees from concerts outside Norway, reveals a new report by the Norwegian Arts Council (Kulturrådet). The figure is the highest since the council began compiling its Music in Numbers reports, in 2012.
Export income from concerts, however, fell 6% to 114 million kr ($13.7m), with a “fall in artist fees” blamed.
$228.87m was generated from ticket sales in, and artist fees outside, Norway
While the live industry increased its proportion of generated income – 52%, compared to 51% in 2014 – it was in 2015 outstripped in year-on-year growth by the recorded sector, which grew 9% to 884m kr ($104.4m), driven by the rise of on-demand streaming.
Using data supplied by Norwegian performance rights organisation Tono, Kulturrådet also found capital Oslo is, unsurprisingly, the city with the most live music licences (19%), while Sør-Trøndelag has the most licences in a single county.
At 3.73bn kr, Norway’s music industry was respectively 69% and 43% the size of more populous neighbours Denmark (5.42bn kr) and Sweden (8.77bn kr).
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.