Concert ticket sales increased by 60–100% in 2023

After a market collapse due to the pandemic, hostilities, cancellation of tours of foreign stars and the departure of popular performers, sales of tickets to concerts at the end of 2023 began to recover, increasing by 60–100%. The concert market itself has also stabilized and showed growth of 10–35%, reaching 80–90 billion rubles, promoters say. In 2024, they expect growth of another 33–63%. Experts believe that the development of the market will be held back by the lack of good concert venues, especially in the regions.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the data of ticket sales services based on the results of 2023. Thus, MTS (controls the Ticketland and Ticketscloud services) sales in money increased by almost 60% by 2022, and the number of tickets sold by 45%. The average ticket price, according to MTS Live, increased by 9.2%.

The top events of the year, MTS Live clarified, included concerts by Anna Asti “The Phoenix Show” and Philip Kirkorov’s “55. Golden hits. Encore!”, Alexander Rosenbaum’s “Fly – so fly!” and two events by singer Andrei Kosolapov (pseudonym Macan) – a show at the VTB Arena and at the Stas Namin Theater.

The trend is confirmed in Yandex Poster. Thus, according to the service, the number of concert tickets sold year-on-year increased by 115%, to 3 million. The average bill for orders (which may contain more than one ticket) on the platform increased by 13%. The top 5 concerts of musical performers by tickets sold were headed by the group “Hands Up!” (“Luzhniki”), in second place is Leonid Agutin (“VTB Arena”), the top three is completed by Basta (“Megasport”). The rating also included “Beasts” (VTB Arena) and Diana Arbenina (Otkritie Bank Arena).

The turnover of the concert events market itself increased by 10–35% at the end of 2023, reaching 80–90 billion rubles, says Sergei Babich, organizer of the Colisium international music industry forum. He clarified that the assessment includes festivals, concerts, theaters – excluding corporate events, but with government orders. The head of the NCA concert agency, Mikhail Shurygin, estimates the annual market growth more conservatively – at 10%.

After the outbreak of hostilities in 2022, the concert market, which had already sagged during the pandemic, collapsed. Ticket sales for concerts in Russia were half as high as in the pre-pandemic 2019 (see Kommersant, September 2, 2022). This was largely due to the cancellation of performances by foreign artists: Imagine Dragons, Green Day, Slipknot, Bjork and many others refused to work in Russia. Many popular domestic performers also left the country.

But last year the market began to recover, says Eduard Ratnikov, CEO and founder of TCI (specializing in working with world stars): “There is hope that in 2024 we will experience growth, and very significant growth, about a third more than what happened in 2023 -m”. The growth was ensured by concerts of Russian performers, who gained fame amid the departure of more famous stars, emphasizes a Kommersant source in the media market.

Mr. Shurygin adds that the market is consolidating around a small number of artists. At the same time, he clarifies, against the background of patriotic and nostalgic sentiments, “ten more alternative artists similar to Shaman may well appear.” Mikhail Shurygin believes that the “deficiency of the musical plan” will be compensated by improving the quality of the show. Also, the expert notes, “tours that will be financially supported by banking structures and mobile operators will also be popular.”

Industry turnover by the end of 2024 could reach 120–130 billion rubles, believes Sergei Babich, since “large ecosystems are actively investing in the production of new content, and large players are becoming more active in the market.” Thus, the parent structure of Alfa Bank – AB Holding – became a co-owner in the ticket operator Kassir.ru with a 25% share (see Kommersant of August 8, 2023), and VK is negotiating the purchase of Intickets.ru ( cloud service for monitoring and managing the sale of tickets online and offline) and shares in Kassir.ru (see “Kommersant” dated November 29, 2023). Enrico Mazavrishvili, director of content at Yandex Afisha, clarifies that development can be slowed down by “a limited number of good mass platforms, especially in the regions.”

Yulia Yurasova