Features
Q1 2010 Numbers
The worldwide concert business continues to fare better than other sectors of the global economy. Although Q1 is traditionally the lightest touring period on the calendar, the new year appears to be off to a solid start.
The Top 100 Tours worldwide sold more than 10.9 million tickets compared with 10.1 million for the same period one year ago and 9.9 million in 2008.
Total worldwide concert grosses reported to Pollstar for Q1 exceeded $1 billion for the first time, marking a substantial jump from the previous year’s $941.6 million. The total tickets reported sold worldwide was more than 18.6 million with about 12 million of those coming from North American shows.
Based on these early results, Pollstar projects another record year for concert revenues. Profitability, however, will as always depend on the sanity of the underlying booking deals made by promoters.