SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, today announced the top 10 hottest concerts of the summer, as determined by sales and demand drawn from its more than 16 million visitors and nearly 10 million live events per month: Taylor Swift overwhelmingly takes the #1 spot, nearly tripling the demand of One Direction in the #2 spot.
“Taylor Swift is the hardest working solo female performer in showbiz, having outsold Beyonce by 60% since she started touring in 2011. Legacy acts, however, dominate the list as they generate more demand with impressive career catalogues and fans who are willing to pay more for such novelty shows.”
TOP 10 SUMMER CONCERTS*
*As determined by total sales on StubHub for dates from Memorial Day through Labor Day
1. Taylor Swift
2. One Direction
3. Grateful Dead (with only five total dates!)
4. The Rolling Stones
5. U2
6. Kenny Chesney
7. Ed Sheeran
8. Billy Joel
9. Foo Fighters
10. Rush
“Once again, pop acts lead the list with Taylor Swift and One Direction when it comes to the hottest summer concerts to see,” said Jonah Freedman, Editor-In-Chief for StubHub. “Taylor Swift is the hardest working solo female performer in showbiz, having outsold Beyonce by 60% since she started touring in 2011. Legacy acts, however, dominate the list as they generate more demand with impressive career catalogues and fans who are willing to pay more for such novelty shows.”
Other trends in concerts this summer show high demand for the Grateful Dead, more than any other music festival this summer, but a continuing growth in music festivals overall:
- Grateful Dead are able to command nearly 65% more sales per show than Taylor Swift.
- Both series of Grateful Dead concerts in Chicago (three dates) and San Francisco (two dates) will outsell any summer festival this year, respectively.
- Taylor Swift’s #1 spot is long-standing: she is the #1 touring female songstress since she started touring in 2011.
- Even with the loss of Zayn Malik, One Direction sales maintain their strength – they maintain the #2 position they held last summer.
- Along with One Direction, Billy Joel is the only other act to reprise his position on the top 10 from last summer.
- Billy Joel has commanded the highest price for a ticket.
- Ed Sheeran is the best deal for a ticket.
- Music festivals continue to grow: Lollapalooza is the hottest summer festival.
Last week, StubHub unveiled updates to the iOS and Android mobile and tablet apps, featuring new personalization tools, content partnerships and recommendation notifications to make it easier than ever for fans to easily discover live events. With iTunes library scanning (on iOS), personalized algorithms to identify team and artist favorites and more, the StubHub app helps ensure fans won’t miss some of their favorite acts, while also providing the opportunity to discover new acts based on personalized recommendations. Yelp and Foursquare integrations and easy-to-use mobile ticketing makes the app even easier to plan a weekend on the go.
About StubHub
StubHub is the world’s largest ticket marketplace, enabling fans the choice to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of sports, concert, theater and other live entertainment events on desktop, tablet or mobile, as well as the ability to discover local live music through its iOS app StubHub Music. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead it through innovation through numerous industry firsts, including the introduction of the industry’s first ticketing application, first interactive seat mapping tool and the first live entertainment Fan Rewards program. The market leader, StubHub is partners with major organizations and brands, including more than 60 teams in MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, plus ESPN, NBC Digital, AEG and Paciolan. Throughout North America and Europe, StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience that is the way ticket buying should be.