While the Australian music industry continues to recover its losses from Covid, music lovers are paying the price.
The average concert ticket price in Australia has increased from $83.72 in 2016 to $111.48 in 2023, according to the latest ticket report from Live Performance Australia.
An Australian Institute report last year found that the biggest barrier for young people attending concerts is cost.
Source: The Australian Insitute
Some artists have been changing the nature of live music events to help combat the rising trend.
Australian music artist Will Baker created ‘Over the Fence’ in 2024, a Sydney-based mini-music festival that is free for patrons.
Over the Fence ran for the second time last Friday at the Beach Burrito in Coogee.
“The first time I played at a house party was with another band, I had been in music for two or three years and never been to anything like it,” Mr Baker said.
“That left me inspired to create a version of that where there’s people gathering for live music in a really comfortable setting.”
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According to the Australian Institute study, 64 per cent of young Australians strongly agree that live music is extremely important.
Source: The Australian Institute
52 per cent of young Australians attend a music event, featuring artists from their local area, at least once or twice a year.
“I love having a DIY event like this. People don’t just remember the music, they remember how you made them feel,” Mr Baker said.
“They’re dancing with their friends, someone’s got a camcorder, it’s one of those nights that just feels like a movie.”
Mr Baker attributed much of the success of the festival to the assistance of the local music community.
“Starting a festival from scratch takes a lot of creative and like-minded people to put it together. This type of event really attracts people that wanna make a difference,” he said.
Concert ticket prices are a problem for young people on a global scale. Average ticket prices globally rose 23.3 per cent in 2023, according to data from Pollstar.
The 2000s rock band The All-American Rejects have kickstarted a ‘house-party’ tour this month, to counteract rising ticket prices.
The band has been crowdsourcing stops in nontraditional venues, performing on college campuses and in fan’s backyards.
I am currently obsessed with The All American Rejects house party tour.
Probably the coolest way to become relevant again. pic.twitter.com/kbC5ORBsta
— Chuck Naso (@ChuckNaso) May 19, 2025
Lead singer of The All-American rejects Tyson Ritter said he was concerned about the current economic state of the live music industry.
“I recently read something about people financing festival tickets, the complete inaccessibility of the concert experience in 2025, and how it’s juxtaposed against these wild and weird economic times,” he said.
“It blows my mind that our shows can still work.”
Over the Fence is anticipated to continue to grow as a festival, challenging the current confines of the Australian music industry.
“The dream would be to tour like this, picking out properties and houses to play at,” Mr Baker said.
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