Live music attendance is growing but consumers are more discerning about their attendance at festivals according to Moshtix’s inaugural State of Festival Market Report.

The report, prepared in conjunction with CoreData, provides in-depth consumer analysis on the state of the Australian music festival market with findings collected from an online survey of 2,949 respondents.

Mostix’s inaugural State of Festival Market Report has unveiled some interesting insight into what festival attendees want

The results also found that the steep cost of festival tickets is the key reason respondents (83.7 per cent) believe attendance at a number of festivals has declined. Nearly two thirds of people who had attended a festival would only pay up to $499 for tickets to attend festivals across a whole year.

Respondents are happy to pay a little bit more for food and beverages if it means it will help the environment.

When asked how the music festival experience has changed over the last five years, the most common response (41.6 per cent) stated that the music festival experience has gotten worse with the remaining of respondents feeling it had improved or stayed the same.

Line-up/music acts are by far still key in whether or not respondents would attend a particular festival and respondents highlight improved variety and quality of acts as well as better festival organisation as ways festivals had improved in the last five years.

More than half of the respondents (52.7 per cent) think there are just enough festivals in Australia. 27.2 per cent there were too many.

Intimate pubs were chosen as the most favoured place to watch a favourite music act (56.3 per cent). Festivals were second (23.4 per cent).

“The research uncovered three key findings. Firstly, what consumers are and aren’t willing to pay when it comes to attending festivals,” said chief executive officer of News Ticketing, Adam McArthur. “Secondly, opportunities for promoters to evolve their festivals and maintain a relationship with their key audience; and finally, how the festival experience has changed for consumers over the last five years.

“Triggered by the strong Australian dollar, consumers are enjoying the larger variety of international performers coming to our shores. Conversely, the disappointing behaviour of a new generation of festival goers has discouraged other regulars from returning to a festival.” he said.

“Promoters need to find the right balance between securing a high-quality line-up, keeping the ticket price as low as possible and attracting the right crowds to their festivals. The report illustrates that there is still potential for growth in the market and there are still opportunities for promoters that stay connected to their fans. We look forward to working with them to achieve this.”

The survey also showed a keen love for live music and exclusivity.

“Australians have a universal love for music and while we have seen some frustrations from festival attendees with concerns around crowd behaviour at festivals and increasing costs of festival tickets, rather than turning their back on the industry, they are attending few festivals and finding alternate venues and ways to watch their favourite music act perform.

“It was very pleasing to see an increase in attendance at live music gigs over the last five years corresponding with other recent research, however there will be a number of challenges ahead to maintain this momentum.”