Aussies Love Shows more than Sport or Movies.

Australians spend almost two billion dollars on live entertainment every year– a new survey has found.

The results for 2008 were released by Live Performance Australia [LPA], the peak body for Australia’s live entertainment and performing arts industry.

The Study finds that the industry generated revenues of $1.88 billion in 2008 and contributed $1.1 billion to the Australian economy making it larger than film and video production, sports and physical recreation, book publishing and horse and dog racing.

Most popular were non classical concerts (which means rock music). $654 million dollars worth of tickets were bought in 2008 – or almost 40 percent of the live entertainment dollar.

Next most popular was musical theatre with $384 million dollars spent or just under 17 percent of the pie.

Classical music was close behind with $220 million or eleven percent.

Then came theatre with $153 million or eight percent, followed by Festivals, Dance, Opera then children’s theatre.

The industry employs almost 14,000 full time positions.

Chief Executive of Live Performance Australia (LPA) Evelyn Richardson said the study is broader in scope than those previously undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and demonstrates the significant economic contribution of the industry, despite limited government investment in certain event categories.

“This study provides a snapshot of the live entertainment industry’s economic contribution in terms of gross output, value-add and employment during 2008,” Richardson said.

The live entertainment industry also generates a number of intangible benefits that are not reflected in economic metrics like this benchmark study. These include improved social cohesion, lifestyle improvement, diversity and increased creativity.

“This industry is a sophisticated contributor in terms of financial, employment, and quality of life metrics to the Australian economy. Regular benchmarking enables the industry and importantly its private and Government stakeholders to see its real and tangible value.”

The results were tabulated from members of the LPA and Ticket Agencies.

Excluded from the results were any tickets sales in the community theatre ad community arts sector … which in many cases are extensive.

www.liveperformance.com.au