Festival explosion turns live music into £1.9bn big business

The Glastonbury factor, hugely hyped "once in a lifetime" shows by artists such as Led Zeppelin and Barbra Streisand and revivals by the likes of The Police and The Spice Girls have lifted live music to unprecedented levels of popularity, according to a report published today.

It estimates that Britons spent £1.9 billion on live music last year, compared with CD and download sales of just over £1.5billion.

The turnaround has been largely driven by an explosion in the number of festivals, and Britain now has more of the events than any other country.

The festival website efestivals.co.uk lists 664 this year, compared with just 12 in 2000.

Other new trends in live music include "picnic on a lawn" concerts at castles and stately homes such as Blenheim Palace.

There has also been a marked ageing of the concert-going public with the continued touring of "dinosaurs" such as Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles and Neil Diamond attracting so-called "grey giggers" in their forties and fifties.

Older and wealthier concert-goers are also prepared to pay more for tickets, according to the report.

Top tickets for Streisand's concerts at the O2were £500 while The Eagles' private gig at Indigo2 set a new face value record of £950. Tickets for Led Zeppelin's one-off concert at the O2were set at £125 but reached £7,000 in the secondary market.

Market researcher Mintel said there has been a huge shift in the industry as the internet has driven down the price of recorded music.

It said: "The traditional relationship was one in which the LP or CD was the focus, with concerts primarily there to sell more records.

"In today's downloadable world, where the price of music has tumbled, and in some cases is even given away free, records, CDs and downloads have been demoted to the status of promotional tools for selling tickets and merchandise. Album sales are in meltdown. Much of the action is moving to the live arena. Live music has become a key route to profitability."

Since 2003, the proportion of adults aged 15 or more going to a rock or pop concert at least once a year has risen by half from 22.8 per cent to 34.4 per cent.

Spending on recorded music peaked at just under £2 billion between 2001 and 2005, but has been in steep decline for three years. Ticket sales rose nearly 20 per cent to £1.9billion last year, with around £1.05billion spent on rock and pop concerts, £500million on classical, £200million on jazz and £150million on opera.

However, some experts fear the "corporatisation" of live music - particularly festivals - will sow the seeds of its downfall.

Neil Greenway, founder of efestivals.co.uk, said ticket sales for next year's festivals including Leeds, V Festival and T In The Park are down. He said: "Festivals have become a fashion thing, something to be ticked off the list of things to do. You get people turning up with Louis Vuitton suitcases who get shocked when they find mud in a field."

QUIRKY, COOL, AND A FEW COMFORTS

MADELEINE THOMPSON has been an avid festival-goer since her teens and spends at least three weekends every year at events around the world.

She said: "They are so fun and so sociable. I normally go with quite a lot of mates and we just relax and have a great time."

She recommended small events, like the Secret Garden Party in Cambridgeshire, and Burning Man, in Nevada.

"They are quirky and cool, and if you are there, it usually means you have gone to some trouble to find out about them," she said. The cashmere designer, 27, from Chelsea, admits that as she has grown older, she has started to crave a few creature comforts.

"Babywipes are an absolute must. Also, I fill my tent with cashmere blankets so when I finally go to bed it is a little warm haven."