CONCERT TICKET SALES SPIKE IN '17

A record 23.4m concert tickets were sold worldwide, according mid-year stats released by Pollstar. Guns N’ Roses is tops at the global box office while U2 was #1 in the U.S.

Pollstar, the latest acquisition of Irving Azoff’s Oak View Group, reported that the Top 50 Worldwide Tours grossed a combined $1.97b; the Top 100 North American Tours grossed $1.64b, an 11% spike over 2016; and Live Nation is by far the world’s largest concert promoter, with reported sales of 18.7m tickets.

North America is having a particularly good year, as the Top 100 shows represented 22.8m tickets sold, topping last year’s record of 19.8m. The average number of tickets sold per show was up 706 to a record 9,128.

U2 pulled in $118.1m in 16 cities; Metallica was #2 with $68.7m. Despite Vladimir Putin’s 11th hour discovery of box office “receipts” for Emin concerts, he did not make the Top 50.

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