Features
$170M Spanish Ticket Sales In 2021 Show ‘Timid Recovery’
The Spanish live music industry recorded €157.6 million ($170 million) in ticket sales in 2021, according to the annual report of Spain’s promoters association Asociación de Promotores Musicales (APM).
The Live Music Yearbook 2022 (Anuario de la Música en Vivo 2022) shows that the Spanish biz had a turnover of €157,637,491 million in ticket sales in 2021, which marks a 13.7% increase compared to 2020, which closed with €138,580,764 million.
APM spoke of a “timid recovery,” seeing that the number is still a long way from pre-COVID sales. Both 2018 (€333.9 million) and 2019 (€382.5 million) were record years for the Spanish live music industry.
The last time annual ticket revenue was as low as in 2021 was in 2013, when the sector turned over €158.1 million).
The main reason for the slow recovery is the fact that Spain only began lifting capacity restrictions last August. Sales significantly picked up speed in the last quarter of 2021, reaching pre-pandemic levels, according to the APM report.
Most sales were generated in the autonomous community of Catalonia (€36.7 million), where Barcelona is located, followed by the autonomous community of Andalusia (€26.1 million) and Madrid (€21.8 million).
The Live Music Yearbook 2022 also ranked the biggest tours and festivals in Spain in 2021. Given the international travel restrictions in place throughout last year, the top-3 tours all come from Spanish artists: Dani Martín sold 127,766 tickets across 11 concerts, several of which took place at Madrid’s WiZink Center. On Dec. 18-19, 2021, for instance, Martín sold 26,707 tickets across both shows, grossing $1,255,173, according to Pollstar’s box office.
José Luis Perales ranks second with 111,933 spectators at 37 concerts. When Perales played WiZink Center on Dec. 21-22, 2021, he sold 18,206 tickets for a gross of $1,142,233, according to Pollstar’s box office reports. He sold out the Palacio De Congresos twice in a row, Dec. 4-5, selling 3,668 tickets and grossing $200,245.
Coming in third is Aitana, who welcomed 105,268 fans across 31 concerts. Her Dec. 7 performance at Madrid’s WiZink Center sold 10,979 tickets, grossing $453,823. She sold out Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi, Dec. 4, selling 13,195 tickets for a $676,006 gross. Other sell outs or almost sold out shows for Anita on her tour through Spain include the 2,500-capacity Centro Hipico in Seville (Sept. 24, 2021), the 3,650-capacity Bilbao Arena in Bilbao (Oct. 16), the 3,000-cap Coliseum in Coruna, and more.