ANALYSIS/Cultural event promoters upbeat about concert economics

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) The term concert economics has become a buzzword for many cities around Asia, including in Taiwan, which see it as a potential driver of tourism growth capable of giving their local economies a much needed boost.

Kaohsiung is one of those cities, having held Coldplay and Ed Sheeran concerts in late 2023 and early 2024, respectively. It has also scheduled appearances by Maroon 5 and Kylie Minogue in the first quarter of 2025.

To date, however, some of the biggest beneficiaries of the trend, which has particularly blossomed since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been Taiwan's concert promoters, and they are expecting even better things in 2025.

Kuang Hong Arts Management Inc., HIM International Music Inc., and Kwan's International Co. are among the local promoters eager to ride the concert economics wave.

Kuang Hong is excited about the potential sales boost it will likely get from the upcoming 20 concerts to be staged by award-winning Taiwanese signer Jody Chiang (江蕙) this year.

Speaking with CNA in a recent interview, Kuang Hong Chief Financial Officer Wang Sheng-po (汪聖柏) said the company generated NT$1.57 billion (US$47.58 million) in revenue in the first 11 months of 2024, up 44.6 percent from a year earlier, due to the concert boom, and this year may be even better.

Chiang's tour will start in Kaohsiung with eight concerts in July and an additional 12 concerts in Taipei in August and September, Wang said.

Kuang Hong will also promote 52 shows of the musical Les Misérables, to be held in June and July in Taipei and Kaohsiung, leading Wang to predict that July will be the best month for the company in 2025.

Analysts have estimated Chiang's 20 concerts will have a NT$1 billion box office and the Les Misérables run is expected to generate an additional NT$400 million in revenue.

Wang said that with the opening of the Taipei Dome in 2024 and other cities planning to build dome-like venues suitable for concerts, "concert economics" are now making sense for companies like Kuang Hong.

Prior to the pandemic, the company's revenues from events were already on the rise, from NT$742 million in 2017 to NT$1.36 billion in 2019, but it was not until last year that Kuang Hong had fully rebounded from the COVID slump.

Another promoter benefiting from the trend is HIM International, which includes pop singer Yoga Lin (林宥嘉) and singing duo Power Station (動力火車) in its lineup of artists.

Its artists have seen their number of engagements grow year-to-year in the post-pandemic era, and in 2024 Lin and Power Station staged 44 concerts in China, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia, the most in their careers, according to the company.

Chiu Li-kwan (邱瓈寬), CEO of cultural activity planner Kwan's International Co., cited Taylor Swift abroad and A-Mei (張惠妹) at home as two good examples of the booming concert scene.

Around 200,000 tickets were sold to Diva A-Mei's five year-end concerts at Taipei Dome, and local media estimated that those concerts grossed more than NT$800 million and created NT$1.1 billion in total tourism income.

Chiu said the cultural creative business has been the company's largest income source, and the number of concerts it is booking is expected to double to almost 100 in 2025, including overseas performances by Taiwanese pop signers Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and Rainie Yang (楊丞琳), and those by Cyndi Wang (王心凌) in China.

The company is now reaching out to foreign performers. After signing South Korea's pop singer IU to throw two concerts in Taipei in 2024, Chiu said her company is in talks with a Korean band to come to Taiwan in the second half of this year.

Chou Yu-yang (周佑洋), CEO of promoter B'IN Live Co., said his company has also embraced concert economics and will promote Taiwanese artists overseas through concerts in countries in Southeast Asia and Japan.

In addition, B'IN Live will arrange a tour for Japanese vocal duo Yoasobi in Thailand this year.

Yet whether the benefits of the concert economics trend can have a sizable impact on Taiwan's economy or tourism sector remains an open question.

MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said the scale of "concert economics" in Taiwan appeared limited, covering only major cities like Taipei and Kaohsiung that can provide ideal venues for staging performances.

Tang also said he did not think the benefits will spread to companies throughout the cultural and creative firms but only to companies like Kuang Hong that can arrange concerts for the biggest names.