What awaits the concert market after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall?

Ticket services and cinemas have begun to refund funds for entertainment and public events planned for March 23 and 24 that were canceled after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. There are no mass cancellations of tickets for future events yet, market participants say. However, they recognize the risks of losing viewers both due to the fears of citizens and due to possible restrictions from the authorities – for example, the Sverdlovsk region has already taken this step. Both event organizers and experts talk about the need to strengthen security measures, but do not see clearly effective ways.

Representatives of ticket services told Kommersant that they began to return funds to citizens for concerts and other events canceled throughout the country on March 23 and 24. Thus, Yandex Afisha reported that they will automatically issue a full refund for tickets to the concert of the Picnic group, before which the tragedy occurred on March 22. To receive a full refund (including service fee) for other events, you will have to fill out an application, the service clarified. They assured that they are “working with event organizers to ensure the exchange or refund of previously purchased tickets.”

MTS Live (Ticketland, Ticketscloud services) said that a full refund for tickets for events that are more than three days away is available via a button in your personal account: “Refunds for events on March 23 and 24 will be made automatically to everyone clients.”

If there is no button (possibly for events that are less than three days away), the buyer can write to the support email, attaching the order number, they clarified in MTS Live: “Everything will be returned in full.”

Kassir.ru also returns money for canceled events: “We work closely with the organizers, they also need time.” Over the weekend, “thousands of events were supposed to take place, and completely different ones,” the service emphasizes: “These are concerts, theater performances, sports competitions. The mechanics of returns may differ, but the main thing is that we will provide refunds to everyone in accordance with established rules and laws.”

Cinemas followed the example of ticket services. Thus, the networks “Karo”, “Formula Kino”, “Kinomax”, “Cinema Star”, “Almaz Cinema”, “Luxor” announced the suspension of work on the 23rd and 24th.

Some refund funds in full automatically, others suggest contacting support and attaching a corresponding application.

Representatives of ticket services interviewed by Kommersant say that citizens are concerned about the fate of future events. “Users are concerned, we can see this from the number of requests related to upcoming events,” say Yandex Poster, confirmed by MTS Live and Kassir.ru. The latest service clarified that “it will take time to process and respond to requests.”

Kommersant’s interlocutors in the music market claim that there is no mass request for ticket refunds yet, but the exact data will be known later. Over the weekend, according to their information, up to 70–80 thousand tickets were refunded in Moscow alone. Kommersant’s sources emphasize the uncertainty of the situation, since “the general decision of the government on the future fate of all events is still unknown.”

There really is no unified policy on canceling entertainment events for a long period; each region determines its own rules.

For example, by decision of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Evgeny Kuyvashev, all entertainment, shopping and public events in the region are suspended until May 13. When holding “sports and patriotic events,” it is required to exclude places where “the requirements for anti-terrorist security are not met,” follows from the order of the anti-terrorism commission in the Sverdlovsk region.

Citizens are now in no hurry to return tickets for events that will take place in two or three weeks, says a top manager of one of the services: “There is a general concern, we saw something similar after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in 2022. “Entertainment events ceased to interest everyone for a while, but literally a month passed and people began to go to theaters, museums, and attend concerts again.”

The organizers themselves, Kommersant’s interlocutor clarifies, are also not ready to cancel the events, since they will incur colossal losses: the cost of renting venues, personnel costs, lighting and sound equipment, etc.

“It is clear that the concert industry’s revenues are recovering compared to 2022, but the market size is still not comparable to pre-pandemic levels,” he emphasizes.

The damage from the cancellation of events in these two days in Moscow can be estimated at 250–350 million rubles, notes Colisium International Music Forum producer Sergei Babich. According to him, about 300–400 events of “noticeable caliber” were supposed to take place in Moscow over the weekend. Losses from the cancellation of entertainment events in the Sverdlovsk region, Mr. Babich believes, will range from 1.5–2 billion rubles. The damage from the suspension of all concert activities in Moscow for two months can be estimated at 2.5–3 billion rubles, he adds.

Some of the organizers interviewed by Kommersant fear that 2–5% of the audience will still go to return tickets.

“Inside ourselves, in our worst dreams, we are preparing for the fact that we will not work for two months, as we did during the pandemic (applies only to concerts),” admits a Kommersant source in the music market.

So far, nothing is known about the cancellation of concerts by the artists themselves. The head of the NCA concert agency, chairman of the Association of Concert, Theater and Ticket Organizations (KTiBO) Mikhail Shurygin doubts that such decisions will be widespread: “In such cases, in my opinion, the artist must compensate for all costs incurred in connection with the organization of the event, but I don’t such cases are familiar.”

Market participants are also concerned about the possible tightening of general rules for holding mass events. Security measures at the next concerts with an attendance of more than 500 people after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall can be increased by strengthening private security companies (PSC), organizers interviewed by Kommersant believe. Among the radical measures, companies will have to obtain permission or approval from the FSB before selling tickets for the event, says Kommersant’s interlocutor in one of the music publishing houses: “For example, for a month now, organizers of concerts in Tula have been required to obtain approval from the city administration in several instances “

Mikhail Shurygin believes that the state needs to establish prompt and effective contact with the organizers of mass events: “A model must be defined that will provide a clear and quick matrix of the security system during events, taking into account the characteristics of each site. It is necessary to develop regulations and uniform rules with the joint participation of business and the state.”

As an example, Mr. Shurygin cites the organization of concerts at the Gazprom Arena and SK Arena: “We go through security screening at the venues, like at an airport.” However, he admits, concert organizers with the same level of security may face colossal costs, which could equal the cost of renting the entire venue.

Yulia Yurasova