Record breaking Supafest benefits from strong dollar

With the final artists having been added to the line-up of this weekend's Supafest urban music festival, organisers are expecting in excess of 100,000 fans to attend the four events: at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Saturday 9th April, Perth's Joondalup Arena on Sunday 10th April, Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds on Saturday 16th April and the Melbourne Showgrounds on Sunday 17th April.
Organised by Paperchase Touring and Entertainment, who promoted major urban/pop events in 2010 including Supafest, Winterbeatz and Summerbeatz, Supafest 2011 features major urban music acts Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Taio Cruz, The Game, Busta Rhymes and others performing in four eight-hour live-music shows.
Ticket prices range from $139 to $189.
In its inaugural first year, Supafest drew over 65,000 people and with a stronger line up for 2011, the first event in Sydney has already sold out all tickets, although tickets for an additional ï¾gold' seated section have been just been released.
The strength of the line-up at Supafest 2011 is partly a product of the strong Australian dollar which continues to retain parity with the US dollar, a rate that is up nearly 30% when compared to 12 months ago, and is at its highest level since the currency was floated in 1983.
As a result, local promoters are able to attract the biggest international acts with Justin Bieber and Katy Perry (both of whom played to sold-out houses in 2010) set to return to Australia in 2011, along with rock band Kings of Leon and Miley Cyrus. In addition, major acts U2, Usher and Rihanna have each toured in recent months.
Although the artists don't benefit from the exchange rate (their performance fees are paid in U.S. dollars - in some cases more than $200,000 a show) but the stronger Australian dollar means less risk for the Australian promoters who can sign more acts and bigger names and organise larger festivals at a reduced risk.
As Paperchase Touring and Entertainment Managing Director Dwayne Cross explains, in the past, "working with the currency at 70 (U.S.) cents ï¾ you'd like an act that's US$100,000, but you had to settle for someone that cost US$40,000."
Similarly, next month's Byron Bay's Bluesfest has drawn a trio of major acts - Bob Dylan, B.B. King and English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello - to headline an event unaccustomed to the biggest names in the industry.
Australia's distance from other major economies and, domestically, the distance between its major cities, had previously made it a difficult sell for foreign acts.
However, with sales of recorded music in decline, artists now have to generate more revenue from concerts and the recent surge in the value of the Australian dollar makes Australia a lucrative market.