Box Office Insider: Abiding By The New Normal Live75 Takes A Break

In this time of uncharted waters with a sequestered populace unable to attend live concerts because of the coronavirus pandemic, many touring artists are making choices necessary to reach the masses through smart phones and computer screens – since they can’t sell them a floor seat right now.

Pollstar has made necessary decisions during this global period of uncertainty, and most notably, to temporarily suspend the LIVE75 chart after last week’s issue (dated April 13) because of the lack of box office data.  With concerts canceled or postponed in North America and many other parts of the world during the past month, reported box office numbers for shows after March 15 are nonexistent.

The idea behind the creation of LIVE75 just more than one year ago was to highlight the artists who are active right now and out there in the trenches selling tickets. 

With a ranking of tours based on a sold ticket average during the most recent 30-day window, the chart is a barometer of who’s hot in today’s environment and currently pulling in the crowds. 

So, with the “all stop” on concert activity that occurred after the second weekend of March, there is simply no data available from the past 30 days to compile a current chronicling of active tours. In fact, for the April 13 chart we still had to stretch beyond the 30-day window to even come up with a shortened list of 29 tours, nowhere near the normal 75 positions. So, this issue of Pollstar marks the first of what we hope will be a very limited period of time without our marquee chart at the front of the magazine.

LIVE75 was introduced in the first week of April 2019 with Latin pop star Luis Miguel as the highest-ranked artist on the inaugural chart. He topped the list based on sales averages from four performances during his “México Por Siempre” tour’s 2019 Latin American leg. It would be his only appearance at No. 1 last year. However, nine other artists did repeat including Metallica with six weeks at No. 1 in issues during May, June and September, all the result of packed stadium performances in European cities during the band’s “WorldWired” trek. 

Ed Sheeran follows with five turns in the top spot during the home stretch of his record-setting “Divide” tour. Also, South Korean boy band BTS and country headliner Eric Church each headed up the chart four times in 2019.

So far in 2020, Post Malone’s “Runaway” tour leads the charge with five weeks at No. 1, while Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” scored top honors on three charts. Country legend George Strait held No. 1 twice, both in January issues.

Each week LIVE75 highlights artists with special acknowledgement in four classifications. The HEAVY HITTER status goes to the tour with the highest gross average, while the HOT SHOT artist is the one who has the highest-ranked debut on the chart, either for the first time ever or after falling off the chart for more than four weeks. The NOISE MAKER notes the artist who has the largest leap from their previous week’s ranking, and the BREAKTHROUGH moniker acknowledges the artist, ranked outside the Top 25, with the highest sellout average at the most performances.