The lull was short-lived. Concert, performance and theater venues are barely above water in terms of attendance – the larger ones have regained their audiences, but the medium and smaller ones have not recovered, far from it , their pre-Covid-19 low water level. However, this reconquest is coupled with a bundle of financial difficulties which combines the inflation of energy costs, the surge in artists’ fees, salary increases, a drop in public aid… To the point where many are wondering how to continue to produce performances until the end of the year.
For Vincent Moisselin, director of the National Union of Artistic and Cultural Enterprises (Syndeac), which represents 450 structures including the vast majority of national drama centers (CDN), the question of attendance is a thing of the past: “Since September, the public has returned to 95% of its pre-crisis level”he said. “Young people have a furious desire to go out and the concerts of urban music are packedconfirms Malika Seguineau, general manager of Prodiss, the employers’ organization of the main companies in the musical and variety show. Headliners and major concerts are selling very well, although it is more tight for some festivals. » Even very expensive tickets for Indochine, Orelsan, Red Hot Chili Peppers or Coldplay sold out very quickly. The trend is also optimistic for Aurélie Hannedouche, director of the Union of Contemporary Music (SMA), who confirms “a rebound in concert ticket sales at the end of the year” among its members.
Same observation at Paris La Défense Arena, where the vice-president, Bathilde Lorenzetti, plans as in 2022 a sold out for the great upcoming concerts of Bruce Springsteen, Céline Dion or Stromae. La Seine musicale was also sold out for starmania, and 90 new performances – conditional on the success of this first salvo – have been confirmed for November 2023.
In the same building, Insula Orchestra, the orchestra on period instruments by Laurence Equilbey, is more struggling: it has lost at least 15% of listeners compared to 2019. According to Jean-Philippe Thiellay, president of the Center national of music (CNM), “theaters with less than a thousand seats are suffering enormously, their attendance remains at – 35%, even – 40%, compared to 2019”. Ticketing revenues forecast for 2022 should resemble those of before Covid-19, which can only be explained by the return to grace of the public in theaters with more than 5,000 seats (+ 15% to 20% compared to to 2019).
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