iTunes Chart-Toppers (a/o February 21st):
Is it any wonder that younger fans are leaving the building? The latest figures show a mass exodus of 12-to-24 concertgoers, thanks partly to recessionary effects. But even in good times, $100+ seats are tough to stomach, and the biggest grosses often belong to older artists.
How old? We did a canvas of the top 50 grossing tours of 2009, using Pollstar data, and researched the age of every front-line performer. So, the Jonas Brothers - ranked 9th with a gross of $96.6 million that year - came in at ages 18, 21, and 23, while Simon & Garfunkel - 50th at $25.8 million - clocked 69 years each.
And the average age? 46... and getting older! And just for kicks, the average ticket price on the top 50-grossing shows? $76.44.
Indeed, the largest-grossing acts are typically closer to a Garfunkel than a Jonas. The list of over-performers included U2 (the top-grossing band that year, late 40s/early 50s), Metallica (late 40s), Cher (64), No Doubt (now in their 40s), Bob Dylan (69), and Kiss (hitting 60s). On the other end, some youth was coming from tours like American Idol 2009 and Miley Cyrus (18).
Here's a breakdown of who was performing on stage...
Average age of a top-touring artist, 2009. Based on the top 50 grossing worldwide tour ranking as calculated by Pollstar.
The Pollstar ranking is here.
And, here's the breakdown of every artist's age.
Comments Closed
@ethanwsj Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Ethan Smith
Fantastic number crunching
@ethanwsj Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Ethan Smith
And this without the Stones or the Who on the road
PartlyCloudy Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Good point. Actually, there's also a lot of American Idols on this list if you check the data, dragging the age down even more.
Dorsey Tuesday, November 30, 2010
YAWN.
The average age for ALL people in their peak earning years is late 40's/early 50's. This has ALWAYS been the case, even for musicians.
It's not news, and the only thing shocking is your apparent lack of knowledge.
bydesign Tuesday, November 30, 2010
yikes Dorsey, grab a cold one maybe?
@leiacosta Tuesday, November 30, 2010
lei acosta
guess i could still make the cut, haha
@jonnieberry Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Jon Berry
Thanks Bono. The scene may just die away. Of old age!
@BamCabral Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Bam Cabral
Interesting.
@josuerivas Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Josué Ricardo Rivas
BUen artículo...
@musicstrategist Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Al Risi
Interesting stats on 2009 touring biz....
@petterjaam Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Petter Nilsson
so true!
@digimuziek Tuesday, November 30, 2010
@CoalMinerTN Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Curtis Lynn
Who says we're AVERAGE?
@annkpowers Tuesday, November 30, 2010
annkpowers
Pop is for the youth?
@jessebowness Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Jesse Bowness
5x Rolling Stones at 178yrs old each drag the avg way up
@marccuevas Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Marc Cuevas
Who's gonna play in stadiums when these guys can't tour anymore?
@Bpoz Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Brian Posnanski
Smells like teen spirit?
@Edgecliffe Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A Edgecliffe-Johnson
Stat of the day, from Digital Music News
@darcyday Tuesday, November 30, 2010
darcyday
How can that be?
@onapoleon Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Brenda Elthon
There's hope for me yet!
@woulfer Tuesday, November 30, 2010
woulfer
Whew. There is still time.
@revista69 Tuesday, November 30, 2010
69
¿Cuál es la edad promedio de los músicos más exitosos en concierto? 46 años, y subiendo
@vdovault Tuesday, November 30, 2010
VDO Vault
Excellent
@audiosocket Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Audiosocket
Why aren't today's stars doing better? Not as original?
@rknthefreewrld Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Erica Ramon
no offense, but that's scary
Woff Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Interesting, though not all that surprising.
What I did find surprising however, was on the link to the individual artist ages, where for AC/DC it had the following:
Bon Scott 64
Brian Johnson 63
etc
What? I'd heard the rumours about Elvis being alive, but Bon too?
presnikoff Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Woff, thanks for noticing that. Well, the rumors are false ;)
Anyway, I recalculated everything, and the average remains at 46 (specifically 46.3, from 46.4).
@stefangoldby Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Stefan Goldby
Average age of the Top 50 musical touring artists in the US? 46
Average ticket price? $76
Yikes.
deankay Wednesday, December 01, 2010
I used to work for Lawrence Welk. Whenever he was on the road, I would track his concert receipts against the concerts of the hottest rock acts as reported in Billboard. He would invariably out perform the hot acts in terms of ticket sales and gross receipts -- even though Billboard never included his concerts in their charts.
Concerts, for the most part, are a nostalgia based business..
The old guys on the road, today, are today's Lawrence Welks.
But there is a new factor to add into the today's mix. There is now a generational divide between those who grew up cherishing their music and the artists who made it and the current - Net driven - generation who treat music as disposable and valueless.
The move to a one too one delivery as opposed to one too many removes the foundation of successful live performances - the communal spirt shared by those who attend concerts - as an example, the ability for everyone in the hall to sing along with the entertainer.
What we're witnessing is the death of another element of yesterday's music business ... the large venue live concert.
It's as inevitable as it is sad.
skooh Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Its ok to say Lionel Richie in print. You know Nichole's dad.
SMh
@allenwentz Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Allen Wentz
So yesterday someone posted about being over the hill at 30. Well.. this should cheer up you old geezers..
@nordmach Thursday, December 02, 2010
Chris Blais
O i lk ths!
stevenblanton Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Young or old good music is good music... players play because they can.
@joshdoyle Thursday, December 02, 2010
joshdoyle
This is good news for me I suppose, got a good way to go...
@chriscollie Thursday, December 02, 2010
Chris Collie
That's nearly 3 Biebers
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