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New research from UK Music Ltd shows music tourism spending in 2023 was £8 billion – an increase of 21% on 2022. 📈 London saw a 40% rise in music tourists from 4.9 million in 2022, to 6.9 million in 2023. As the world’s second largest exporter of music, this data highlights the soft power of our music sector and promotes Britain's position as a cultural superpower. 🎵 However, the record-breaking numbers are down to arena and stadium-size events while the grassroots and live music ecosystem struggles: - 125 music venues closed in 2023... - Over 50 festivals closed this year… The current system isn’t fit for purpose….which means plenty work for new policymakers. Amending legislation around planning, financial support and cultural recognition is critical. 🏛 https://lnkd.in/d6Td9RQN

More than 19.2 million domestic and overseas music fans travelled to attend gigs and festivals across the UK in 2023 - a 33% increase from the previous year, new research from UK Music Ltd reveals. Music tourism spending was also up 21%, reaching £8 billion – an increase of 21%. This includes the money fans spend on their ticket, on-site spend, travel, accommodation, and meals while travelling to events, as well as money spent indirectly through the value chain, including costs such as fencing and security or a restaurant paying for ingredients. There was also a 22% increase in employment sustained by music tourism. Most of the rise in attendance was driven by domestic music fans, with numbers up by just over a third. The number of overseas visitors dropped slightly from 1.053 million to 1.014 million. The report also highlights that despite the growth in music tourism, independent festivals and grassroots music venues are still struggling with rising costs and changes in ticket-buying habits. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) reports that 50 UK festivals have completely closed or been postponed or cancelled for 2024, while the Music Venue Trust (MVT) reports that 125 venues in 2023 either shut or stopped live music. https://lnkd.in/eveZqrxS

Just coming off the back of our festival running for the first time since COVID-2020, this article captures the reality of what is actually happening out there. Navigating the post-COVID landscape, independent music festivals face challenges amid a saturation of events and well-funded international promoters. A concern is the demographic shift, particularly with a substantial drop in teenage attendance, possibly due to today’s teens struggling to socialize beyond screens after spending formative years in isolation. Adapting to these changes is crucial, but rising operational costs and real financial risks pose significant obstacles. Ticket prices rise to mitigate risks, and additional costs inside, especially food truck prices, strain attending families. Throw climate change into the mix, and you’re essentially gambling! Despite these challenges, independent music and arts festivals play a vital role in building connected communities. To thrive, a focus on collaborating with fellow festivals and implementing innovative online and offline audience engagement will be key strategies. Fostering community support, exploring creative marketing, and collaborating with local businesses become imperative. Emphasizing unique grassroots aspects, building a board of connected locals, and creating distinct identities are crucial for success. Building partnerships, diversifying revenue streams, and adapting to changing preferences are essential for sustainability in this challenging environment. Undoubtedly, innovative independent events serve as the glue that binds people together, providing a crucial platform for musicians and artists and a strong sense of connection to communities. The recent wave of festival cancellations is devastating. I extend my hopes and best wishes to everyone navigating this challenging time and look forward to us all coming together to create a stronger future. After all, where would we be without music, creativity, art, film, and connection?

Some 19.2 million music fans travelled from across the UK or from overseas in 2023 to attend live music shows and festivals in the UK, according to new research by music industry trade body UK Music Ltd. The number of music tourists who attended UK-based live music events in 2023 was up 33% on the 14.4m in 2022, with the sharp rise originating from increased UK travel rather than oversees visitors. UK Music CEO Tom Kiehl said the research demonstrates the positive impact music tourism has on UK towns and cities but while music generates huge benefits for local areas, beyond a handful of very successful musicians the opportunities for many artists are becoming increasingly squeezed. #news #music #tourism #economy #uk https://lnkd.in/eTs5TVjR

https://lnkd.in/g-kMfkwH 🎵 This is an interesting article you might want to check out 🎵 Music festivals are struggling a lot at the moment but according to this article some music festivals that are genre-specific are still doing really well. We might start to see a shift towards less musically diverse music festivals. I think that this would be quite sad because we'll lose a lot of music that isn't considered mainstream or marketable. I guess the music festivals will do what they have to do to survive 😔 #MusicFestivals #AustralianMusic #GenreSpecific #EventCancellations #MusicIndustry

🎶 Music Australia launches Music Festivals Survey 🎶 Music Australia is calling for information from festival organisers across the country about their 2024 festivals (held, in planning, or cancelled). Recent years have seen significant challenges for music festivals due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, regulatory changes and rising operational costs. Following the publication of Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector, alongside ongoing festival cancellations, there has been much discussion about the way forward for the music festival sector. Music Australia are now seeking updated data from festival organisers so that they can understand how current pressures are playing out across the festival sector. Festival organisers are invited to contribute by 1 May 2024 and can contact comms@creative.gov.au to participate. Read Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector via https://lnkd.in/gEBY-32p #music #industry #survey #haveyoursay #festivals #tourism #visitoreconomy #regionalnsw #nsw

🇬🇧 This article outlines how Liverpool's new cultural project,  ‘Discover A New Beat,’ aims to encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the city’s music scene. Music festivals, which are part of this programme, are undoubtedly a powerful way for a destination to showcase its rich musical heritage and engage locals in tourism. 🎶 Considering the increasing number of music festivals globally, it's helpful to consider how festival organisers can make efforts to ensure that attendees have a positive experience and are motivated to revisit. We all know how much work goes into organising music festivals- often by voluntary committees- so organisers must be empowered with the knowledge to make the festival the best it can possibly be! 💡 A recent study by Tan et al. (2023) examined how the fear of missing out (FOMO) affects the flow experience, festival satisfaction, and revisitation intention of attendees at a country music festival in Malaysia. 👇 Interesting findings from the study, which have practical implications for music festival organisers included: ✅ When an individual experiences ‘flow’, they are fully immersed and present within a situation and feel positive sensations. ✅ Working on developing visitor ‘flow’ is an essential consideration for event organisers, as when visitors experience ‘flow’, they are more likely to enjoy their experience and intend to revisit. Accordingly, this can contribute to the success and future sustainability of the event. 👇 Certain factors which contributed to a flow experience within the context of the music festival included: ✅ Skill performance - attendees’ perception towards the quality of the performances in music festival ✅ Ambience - developing a multisensory festival environment ✅ Self-congruity - attendees feeling as though the festival aligns with their values and interests ✅ Other consumers’ passion- being surrounded by fellow music lovers ✅ Consumer-to-consumer interaction - interacting with other attendees 💡 In this study, FOMO (fear of missing out) was repositioned as participants fearing to miss out on the same event they were attending. When festival participants reported high FOMO, the indirect effect of flow experience on revisit intention was higher than those with low FOMO. 👇 Implications for event organisers include: ✅ Leveraging FOMO to generate a sense of urgency and scarcity for prospective attendees. This may be achieved by offering time-limited discounts on social media, which may ignite a ‘fear of missing out.’ 👇 To develop a flow experience among attendees, organisers can: ✅ Use visuals and messages in promotional materials consistent with the target audience's self-image. ✅ Ensure that ambience is an essential aspect of the festival planning process and complements the festival theme (e.g. considering factors such as lighting, sound, and decor). ✅ Promote engagement between attendees by offering areas for people to mingle.

Here are the 6 top [new] statistics from Australia's Music Festivals. These are the numbers laid out that everyone keeps trying to guess. The team Creative Australia have just released 'Soundcheck'. It's a report giving insights into the currently volatile festival sector. No matter what part of the music business you are in, the health of the festival sector affects your business. From breaking new artists, to employing vast numbers of talented crew and festival specialists, and onto revenue from royalties, merch, and brand hook ups this sector is important. The report really dives into the facts that you should inform yourself of so that we can have an informed discussion about how to keep the music business moving forward down under. Here are some of the key statistics uncovered in the report. The number of music festivals >>> 535 States with most festivals >>> Vic & NSW ... 149 ea. Festivals by Genres Electronic 23% Rock 21 % Country 19% Indie 17% Artists by Country Australian 80% International 20% Festival Audience Sizes 1,000 to 10,000 >> 42% 10,000 to 20,000 >> 19% Costs, profits and losses? Average cost to run a festival >>> $3.9m Median Profit >>> $731, 579 - 56% of festivals. Median Deficit >>> $470,000 - 35% of festivals. These figures were drawn from a survey of the festival sector conducted between June and December 2023. The full report is available for download at https://lnkd.in/gjZ8jp2g Want more like this? Follow to get regular updates and info. https://lnkd.in/gEvQZa6W

I understand the logic. Music Festivals = Tourism influx / economy boost That is undeniable. But I believe this is bad for the industry. The moment gargantuan brands like Summersonic & Tomorrowland (both mind you, have received tremendous support from their respective governments, tourism boards, grant schemes, local fan base and sponsorship from companies) enter another market and is welcomed by the government; there are massive things at play in the back end that many people are not aware about: 1. Artist fees in those markets do not reflect the artist fees for the same artist in the Thailand market -> this means expect fees to go sky high 2.Production expectation are from international players that have no knowledge of the local market ; and this is again going to increase costs exorbitantly 3.Fans are going to 'FOMO' in -> unknowing to all this and see the ticket prices shred their bank balances (USD250 - 500) at the minimum. While I applaud the efforts of the Thai government to take proactive action and looking into boosting revenue, I believe the best brands have been in Thailand all along and should be cultivated to grow into other markets instead: There's Together Festival, 808 Music Festival, S20 Music Festival, Siam Songkran, along side many other insanely amazing independent promoters that work tooth and nail to build something for fans in thailand; They should be getting the grants, the support and the sponsorships to build these brands they've spent their blood, sweat and tears for. Article here: https://lnkd.in/gaHd3szV

Recently, we’ve seen several of Australia’s music festivals announce cancellations, citing challenges such as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, poor ticket sales, extreme weather events, regulatory changes and rising operational costs. It’s a concerning trend, considering how important music festivals are to Australia’s live music sector. Creative Australia has taken the initiative to better understand these barriers for Australian music festivals. Their new research report ‘Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector’ provides a comprehensive overview of the scope and scale of the industry, as well as insights into the social, cultural and economic impacts of music festivals. Click below to read the report, and learn more about patterns of later ticket buying, the drop in youth attendance at festivals and rising operational costs. Report: https://lnkd.in/gEBY-32p