Australasia News: Aussie Acts Lag International Peers; Souled Out Case Delayed; Shihad Lose Merch In Fire

AUSTRALIA

Acts Overshadowed By International Tourists

Aussie audiences overwhelmingly threw their wallets behind international acts over domestic names, ticketing platform Tixel’s hottest 100 events for 2024 showed.

Only one Aussie — DJ Dom Dolla — made the Top 10, topped by Taylor Swift and Coldplay, Olivia Rodrigo, Fred again… and SZA in the Top 5. Dolla’s most recent run was Australia’s biggest EDM tour shifting 170,000 tickets. 

The trend was also reflected on streaming playlists, official charts and radio polls.

“It’s clear the whole live music industry needs to collaborate on better supporting not just the high-flying sellout events and promoters, but also up-and-coming Aussie talent, smaller venues, and independent promoters and festivals,” said Tixel CEO Zac Leigh.

Tixel’s heat rankings are based on length of waitlists for tickets on its platform to a wide range of (usually sold out) live events.

In a breakdown of 14 countries represented on the list, US acts led with one-third of the hottest 100. Australian acts scooped 15 events (22%) with the UK behind with 12.

The four Aussies with strongest demand after Dolla were singer songwriter Missy Higgins, techno purveyors STÜM, veteran hard rock band Cold Chisel and metalcore outfit Parkway Drive. Honourable mentions went to glam-popster Troye Sivan and dj duo X CLUB. Only one in four performers were women, but women drove half the total number of waitlisted fans.

Souled Out Case Delayed

A Brisbane Supreme Court case to wind up Souled Out Pty Ltd., which runs the multi-city new wave R&B Souled Out, was delayed from Feb. 6 to a date to be fixed.

The case was instigated by EventCo Group Pty Ltd, which managed site and operations for Souled Out across Australia and New Zealand in 2024 when it shifted 75,000 tix.

This year’s Souled Out stages Feb. in Melbourne (22), Sydney (23) and Brisbane (28).

Karyn Sutton Joins BCEC

Ahead of its 30th anniversary celebrations in June, ASM Global-managed Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) appointed Karyn Sutton as new communications and marketing manager.

Sutton hailed from business development and PR roles in international five-star hotels, cruise lines and local government.

Gail Sawyer, who held the role for 26 years, is scaling to part time.

NEW ZEALAND

Shihad Lose Merch
In Airport Fire

Multi-awarded rock band Shihad’s sold-out farewell of NZ and Australia hit a fiery glitch.

A cargo pallet containing its merchandise caught fire on Melbourne Airport’s tarmac before being loaded on a plane to Auckland for festival dates.

“Over 37 years, you figure you have been through most scenarios that the music industry can throw at you, but this is a new energy,” the band said.

The tour winds up March 15 before 24,000 at Jim Beam Homegrown festival in Wellington, where they met as art students.