Singapore reaches record $68 million concert ticket sales in 2011

Concert ticket sales in Singapore reached a record high last year, generating about $68 million in revenue - a $26-million increase compared to concert ticket sales in 2010, when about $42 million was recorded.

The numbers were $38 million for 2009 and $45 million for 2008.

The figures, revealed to local media by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) were estimated based on its royalty collection for popular concerts, which range from mainstream to indie music.

COMPASS Chief Executive and Director Dr Edmund Lam explained "the growth seems to suggest that consumers still prefer consuming music live, despite the availability and easy accessibility of digital music."

An industry plagued by piracy woes over recent years, physical and digital music sales in Singapore dropped by close to 23% last year, compared to 2010.

However, concert promoters cited acts such as Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Iron Maiden as some of the top contributors to Singapore's growing concert scene last year.

Michael Hosking, Managing Director of regional concert organiser Midas Promotions attributes the jump in concert ticket sales to more acts performing Singapore and higher ticket prices.

Hosking explains "we are seeing more acts at a greater frequency. Ticket prices have also doubled, compared to five years ago."

Noting a higher volume of concerts held in Singapore last year, LAMC Productions Director Ross Knudson said Asia, including Singapore, is now on the touring map of many acts, even those with a high profile.

Knudson added "a lot of artists are seeing Asia as an emerging market, and that trend will continue."

Knudson believes that this is because acts now have much more direct contact with their fans via social-media websites such as Twitter. These sites have also made the fans in other parts of the world known to the musicians.

While musicians used to decide where to hold a concert based on their record sales, they now "get the vibe" of where their fans are from social media, added Knudson.

Besides Western acts, Asian artists, particularly from South Korea, created a stir in Singapore last year, a concert by Girls Generation at the Singapore Indoor Stadium selling out in four hours.

Image: Singapore's Laneway Festival

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