Industry Noize: Mercedes-Benz Arena Honored

The Dao Strategy Research Center is the only Chinese research institute dedicated to the performing arts industry and is the sole owner of a comprehensive database of domestic performance.

The center’s Industry Summit is in its fourth year. By applying objective data analysis and the perspectives of industry professionals, the summit is considered the standard for gauging industry achievements.

This year, 500 professionals and 100 performing arts organizations attended the summit to “discuss the current state and future of the industry,” according to Mercedes-Benz Arena.

The arena beat out the Beijing Workers’ Stadium, the National Stadium, the Shanghai Grand Stage, the MasterCard Center, Guangzhou Gymnasium and other venues for the coveted

Rankings were decided based on the total number of performances hosted during the 2013 calendar year and total attendance, as well as weighted rankings for various factors.

The Center’s figures show that the Shanghai concert market has grown on an annual basis in terms of box office revenues, audience size, and performance numbers to the extent that it now outperforms Beijing to become China’s largest concert market.

In 2013, the arena hosted 148 performances in front of an aggregate audience of 641,000. A good portion of these events involved foreign artists, including The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars and, most recently, Taylor Swift, whose concert sold out in a matter of minutes.

Artists from North America and Europe accounted for 19 percent of all concert box office revenues in China, or about $65 million, a 10 percent increase from 2012.

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