May 16, 2011 11:18

UK gig ticket sales down for the first time in a decade

Number of attendees at live shows fall by 6.7 percent last year

Photo: Victor Frankowski/NME

Ticket sales for live gigs in the UK fell for the first time in over a decade last year.

Attendance figures at live shows fell by 6.7 per cent from the 2009 figures with poor sales of a number of high profile acts including Bon Jovi and Paul McCartney being blamed for the shortfall, according to a new survey conducted by PRS For Music.

The results of the survey have been described as "a blip" by Chris Carey, an economist at PRS. He told The Guardian: "I don't think this is a disaster, I think it is a blip, I'm not worried about the future of live music. There had been a lack of big name live acts touring last year, which was set to change in 2011."

Carey added that he believed high-profile tours from the likes of Take That and Kings Of Leon would improve figures for 2011.

Sales of recorded music also suffered a drop, falling by 11 per cent from the figures taken in 2009. There was also a lack of successful new albums, with eight of the Top 10 best-selling albums of 2010 not being released in that year.

The picture is likely to change this year though, with the phenomenal sales of Adele's '21' and big figures predicted for the new releases expected from Coldplay and Lady Gaga.

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