Q1 Analysis: Attendance Up, Ticket Prices and Grosses Down Point To Mixed Year Ahead

Since the return to performing post-pandemic, box-office activity from concert touring has been analyzed and scrutinized with questions about the current health of the live industry and prospects for the future. And during much of the past three and a half years, growth at the box office has been the norm considering that, in many ways, the industry was starting from scratch in 2021, getting artists back on stages and filling seats

.See Q1 Quarterly Charts here

Growth has been the trademark of quarterly recaps since the shutdown. In the first analysis of 2023, grosses from the top 100 touring artists jumped more than 52 percent compared to 2022’s Q1, a period that began only a few months after the first indoor arena shows began appearing in 2021. Then in 2024, first-quarter grosses jumped 35 percent in contrast to 2023, with the top 100 artists surpassing $1 billion for the first time ever at Q1.

Ticket sales, which is another metric for attendance, last year also increased in the first quarter, but at a moderate 3 percent over the previous year. That was quite a change, considering that, in 2023, Q1 ticket sales had topped 2022’s total by a much heartier 55 percent.

Ultimately, 2024 proved to be a year with higher grosses at every quarter but with both ups and downs in ticket sales as the year progressed. By the end of last year, grosses from the top 100 tours only surpassed 2023’s total by 3.6 percent, while ticket sales were down by less than 1 percent. Much of that growth was due to increases in average ticket prices.

Now, after the first quarter of 2025 (Nov. 14–Feb. 12), the prospects loom: Will the live industry this year see the fast-and-furious growth of 2023 or the moderate settling at the box office in 2024? Based on 2025’s first quarter data, it appears to be more of the latter as, once again, there is a mixed bag with Q1 statistics reflecting both rises and falls.

This year, however, the two metrics have changed course as grosses, although still topping $1 billion, have dropped by 6.4 percent, while the number of sold tickets increased by 17.3 percent among the top 100 artists. Likewise, the average gross per show also reflects a year-to-year decrease of just over 5 percent, yet the average number of tickets sold per show jumps by 18.8 percent. Interestingly, Q1 also saw a drop in the average ticket price in one of the few times it’s occurred since the shutdown.

This year’s average price is $98.40, 20.2 percent less than 2024’s $123.25. It is closer to the average ticket prices in both previous years, though, and higher than 2023’s average by 4.6 percent and 2022’s by 2.9 percent.

Quarterly recaps reflect the touring dynamics of each specific year as the artists on tour, the venues they play and when they’re on the road all impact box office success. A closer look at the results from this year’s top 100 artists shows that the most dramatic differences in a year-to-year comparison are seen at the top of the chart.

While grosses are lower in each section of the top 100, the difference lessens as more artists are added to the mix. For example, the gross from the top five headliners is 39.3 percent lower than what the top five grossed last year, but, among the top 10, the percentage difference is 33.2. Then, the top 25 grossed 22.5 percent less, while the top 50 saw a 13.2 percent decrease. Finally, grosses from the top 75 were 8.6 percent lower, and among all 100 artists, 6.4 percent less. This trend points to revenue being spread out more evenly across the tours than in previous years. 

First-quarter ticket sales were higher overall but showed decreases in the top quarter of the chart, beginning with a 10.3 percent drop among the top five. Yet, the decrease was only 4 percent in the top 10 and a mere 2.9 percent among the top 25. Sales by the top 50 artists increased by 8.8 percent; the top 75 saw a 13.2 percent jump, and the full top 100 sold 17.3 percent more tickets.

At No. 1, Coldplay’s 11-show gross totaled $69.4 million, but No. 2-ranked Trans-Siberian Orchestra grossed just $1.3 million less with $68.1 million from 107 performances. The ticket count from TSO’s winter tour was 823,749, the highest of any top 100 headliner, but Coldplay had the second-highest ticket total at 703,160.

Elsewhere in the top five, Luke Combs grossed just under $49 million from six stadium concerts in Australia, while Eagles’ $37.3 million came from the band’s December/January shows at Sphere in Las Vegas. Then, Justin Timberlake is fifth based on sales at North American arena dates. 

This year’s Q1 chart included 52 international and/or Spanish-speaking acts, more than in the two previous years. Nine of them land in the top 20, including Colombian artists Feid at No. 10 and Morat at No. 15 as well as Mexico’s Luis Miguel at No. 17.  New entrants included Australian DJ Dom Dolla, who just performed two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden, coming in at No. 24, Irish band The Script at No. 30 and Belgian group Clouseau at No. 32.