The Numbers Are In!: Pollstar's Mid-year Report

Pollstar's mid-year concert report numbers are in; ticket sales are up and the Queen of Pop, Madonna, is on top.

Here are the bullet points :

• With a combined revenue of $1.012 billion, the Top 10 tours of 2006 have earned 38.5% more than last year's Top 10 at mid-year '05.
• The number of tours earning over $20 million has doubled this year to 12.
• The average tickets sold per city was up 1,233, or 22.7 percent, to 6,660.
• The average ticket price was up 16% compared to this period last year, continuing a decade long trend of yearly increases (with the exception of a price drop in 2004).
• Most new headliners are in the country music sphere, though Fall Out Boy did make the jump to a headlining rock act.
• Live Nation reported to Pollstar that it sold 10.6 million tickets worldwide in the first half of 2006. AEG reported 3.6 million sold and House Of Blues 3.2 million. Needless to say, if the Feds don't put the brakes on the deal, the purchase of House of Blues will make Live Nation an even more unbeatable force and a newly dominant force in the nightclub business.

Here are some questions:

• Where will the new headliners come from in the coming years?
• Will the ongoing litigation against Live Nation be enough to raise an eyebrow and slow the sale of House of Blues?
• With Live Nation as pretty much the only game in town in most markets will artists go direct instead of using agents to broker deals? (question stolen from Pollstar and rephrased)

Pollstar Business Analysis here
List of Top 100 Concerts here
Links to other superimportant lists and charts to geek out to here(login required)