Q1 2021 Special Issue: Facing The Music, The State Of Live In Q1

Pollstar’s Boxoffice data, the foundation for the quarterly charts we produce four times each year, continually reflects the state of live entertainment around the globe. With that information, we report on the health of the concert business based on success shared by promoters, venues, booking agents and artist representatives – all of whom graciously report ticket sales figures on an ongoing basis.

In this very unusual time in history, no part of the concert industry has been untouched by the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on live entertainment. Certainly, this year’s Q1 charts reflect that and portray a very different dynamic compared to first-quarter tallies of any previous year – including 2020 when the time period for Q1 ended almost a month before the mid-March shutdown.

Our traditional chart package for Q1 includes a listing of the Top 100 tours as well as the top promoters which number 25, rather than the 50-position chart that has appeared in previous years. 

We also chart the top venues, categorized by three types: arenas, theaters and clubs. In the past, the standard number of chart entries was 100 for arenas and 50 for the other two. With far fewer events reported this year, especially at the arena level, there are only 10 of those ranked. With a higher level of socially distanced activity at smaller venues, however, the count for ranked theaters is 40 and 25 for clubs.

Those five charts are all ranked by the number of tickets sold, determined by the 2021 Q1 period of eligibility that began on Nov. 19, 2020 and continued through Feb. 17, 2021. Any reported live event that occurred during that 13-week period is included in the first-quarter counts.

New to the Q1 chart package for 2021 are the Top 100 Livestreams and Top 100 Livestreamers charts. Both are generated from the data reported for our weekly Livestreams chart, introduced in May 2020 due to the growth of virtual live performing during the shutdown when indoor, full-capacity concerts were not possible.

The two streaming charts are the only ones that are not ranked by ticket sales, rather they are sorted by the number of views of streamed live shows on social media and other virtual platforms.

The Livestreams chart lists the most-viewed individual performances during the Q1 period, while Livestreamers presents the overall collective viewership of all streams reported for each individual artist or event. To rank among the Livestreamers, at least two streamed performances must have been reported for the artist/event to be eligible.