LIVE PERFORMANCE IS STILL A WINNER

Live Performance Australia^TM [LPA], the peak body for Australia’s live entertainment and the performing arts industry announced on Monday survey findings that show the industry is worth $1 billion, confirming that despite the global economic downturn, Australians still love to go out and experience a great live show.
Live Performance Australia’s Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey 2008 released Monday, showed that the live entertainment market is still strong with revenues exceeding $1 billion. The commercial sector, as expected, continues to lead in terms of total revenue.
While ticket sales declined overall, they returned to 2005 levels, reflecting that 2006 and 2007 were peak years in the current economic cycle.
The largest revenue-generating categories were contemporary music (37 per cent); musical theatre (24 per cent); classical music (10 per cent) and theatre (8 per cent). These four categories accounted for 79 per cent of the total revenue from live performance during 2008.
Chief Executive of Live Performance Australia^TM (LPA), Evelyn Richardson, said the revenue and attendance figures reflected the continuing strength and dynamic nature of the live performance industry in Australia.
“Spending by Australians on live performance has remained strong” said Richardson. “These figures are comparable to trends in other major territories around the world, highlighting the fact that Australia has a world-class live performance industry. This is evidenced by the success of individual performers and touring shows, for example Dirty Dancing and Priscilla moving to the West End and local hits such as Wicked, Chicago, Billy Elliot and Jersey Boys.”
“The strength of the music sector looks set to continue with recent record breaking ticket sales for concerts such as Pink and AC/DC”.
The real value of the industry is even larger than revealed by the survey, which did not capture all ticketed performances, such as regional venues and smaller, self-ticketing venues and festivals.
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