Big international stadium tours are cannibalising local music

The Spinoff

4 days ago

The calls are growing louder and more desperate for the world's biggest pop stars to include Aotearoa on their global tours. We ought to be careful what we wish for, writes Ben Howe.
Recently, many have been asking why so many global blockbuster music acts venture no further south than Australia. Major artists such as Taylor Swift, Oasis and Billie Eilish have caused much fan angst – how could they pass us by?
This has coincided with much discussion on large-scale events, among them competing stadium proposals for Auckland's Western Springs and Green MP Tamatha Paul advocating for an arena venue in Wellington. Music journalist Chris Schulz has been a zealous voice, writing passionately on the perceived shortage of global hitmakers visiting our shores.
An arena show can be a memorable experience. I still recall, as a child, attending Bob Marley's legendary 1978 Western Springs show with my parents. However, too many international events coming down here can also have a hidden cost for local music, one which is not healthy for our industry and the overall economy.
But, let's begin with one thing arena event campaigners and myself do agree on; that live music is important. A recent study by my colleagues at Massey University, Measuring and Articulating the Value of Live Performance in Aotearoa, found that live events benefit individual and community well-being. It estimates the economic, social and cultural value of the live performance sector at a hefty $17.3 billion.
The research, however, also identifies that cost is the primary barrier preventing people from attending more live events. Simply put, individuals have limited disposable income. Gigs are expensive and we can't go to everything. A big night out, including parking, dinner, babysitters, stopping off at a bar in Kingsland before Coldplay, for example, means those same dollars can't be spent at a different restaurant, in another town, on a different day.
This is why regions around Aotearoa seek to capture a greater share of the events market. They compete internally by subsidising various fixtures, hoping to encourage domestic tourism and boost local businesses.
Crucially though, this substitution of the dollar also affects local music. If fans don't blow their entertainment budget on an epic rock night with Pearl Jam, then they'll get sweaty with Wellington's DARTZ instead. Hirsute metalheads might appreciate swords and sorcery with Auckland's Princess Chelsea, in place of Metallica. Imaginative perhaps, but my overall point is we know these sort of exchanges do happen. When the borders were closed (but we could still attend events) during Covid, people tried different things; local live music thrived.
International arena events also don't grow the overall entertainment dollar, because they don't bring in overseas fans. In the 2024/5 financial year the international tourism spend was $12.2 billion, of which 9% was on 'entertainment'. Only 6.2% of visitors to this country said an event brought them here, but this includes personal occasions such as weddings. In this study, sport captures 2.5% and music isn't even mentioned.
Instead, if we bring in more big arena shows, this will capture a greater share of our finite live music market. Most of these shows are promoted by the major multinational companies such as Live Nation and TEG. These businesses' primary focus is maximising market share. In order to achieve this, they consolidate vertical integration and venue ownership – clipping your dollar from the ticketing fees to the beer at the bar, along with everything in between.
Among the live music infrastructure controlled or owned by these companies is Ticketek (TEG), Ticketmaster (Live Nation), Spark Arena (very convoluted but ultimately Live Nation), Laneway Festival (TEG), Rhythm & Vines (Live Nation) and many others. Overseas, this market dominance has resulted in accusations of anti-competitive behaviour.
In addition to stadium tours cannibalising local music, a large proportion of the income and profits generated from stadium events in Aotearoa flows offshore. This extraction can happen via the sizeable artist fees, the international promoter's cut, ticketing companies and in many other ways. In contrast, with local artist shows and events, most economic benefits circulate internally.
Riding this recent wave of arena show flag waving – or possibly generating it – some major international music promoters have started calling for tax incentives and government support. They say help is needed to assuage the challenges landing the desirable but slippery big fish. Apparently, we need to start pumping more megastars through the pipeline. How else will we fill all the stadiums we've built or are building?
While public funding and support for arts, culture, and music is important, it must be used in ways that generate value for the local music community and economy – ones that support grass roots music and develop our own global success stories.
We could also learn from our cousins across the ditch. They are developing intelligent ways to safeguard Australian music. One of these is called 'Michael's Rule', a self-regulating system where all international tours must have a local support artist.
While international mega-gigs do have their place, to ensure things are fair for local artists, we need to cultivate more policies such as 'Michael's Rule'. In the arena show discussion, it is important to consider the interests of the Aotearoa music community.