INTERNATIONAL PROFILES
CHINA Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese | Population (millions): 1,382.3 | Currency: Yuan Renminbi | GDP/Capita (US$): 14,600 Internet Users (millions): 687.8 | Smartphone penetration: 51.7% | Population % aged 15–24: 13.3% | Population % aged 25–54: 48.4% PwC estimated 2017 live revenues US$millions: 233 | PwC forecast 2021 live revenues US$millions: 301
AEG promoted Metallica at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai using Damai as its ticketing partner
T
here have been some dramatic market shifts in China recently with the big ticketing players launching other services and side-lining many of the once leading small- to medium-sized ticketing services that don’t offer other services. The highest revenue growth was in the movie-theatre sector with small increases in concert ticketing revenues. The digital music market rose dramatically in 2016 due to new anti-piracy laws. The result was more services becoming available online and on mobile. Amongst this was a 75% increase in the streaming of songs by Western artists with the overall result of this trend being that China moved from being the 14th largest music market in the world, to the 12th in a period of just one year. The dramatic rise in revenues coupled with changing laws should have a positive influence on the live music market in coming years. The live music scene continues to grow, with more local artists playing at more live music venues. There has also been an increase in audience appetite, although the number of international artists visiting Chinese venues has been limited. The government banned several artists from touring the country, including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Selina Gomez, who all had major outings in 2016, but missed out China. PRIMARY TICKETING With a large population and many events, there are hundreds of ticketing choices, ranging from local to national. While all venues also sell tickets via their own box offices, which include
40 • INTERNATIONAL TICKETING YEARBOOK 2017
online sales, there are several major online players that are used by the vast majority of concert-goers. These include Damai, 228, Piao, Piaobuy, Piao88, Tickets 365 and Mypiao. Paper tickets with holographic seals or barcodes are most often used for bigger events to allow for quick scan and entry. There is a move towards the sole use of electronic tickets at larger and newer venues. Festivals, multiday events and exhibitions still prefer to use wristbands. Maoye, Alibaba, TaoPiaoPiao and Nuomi are major players that are backed by major Internet corporations whose focus is mostly on cinema tickets. An estimated 76% of all tickets sold are for movies, and total box-office revenues are worth an estimated ¥44.4bn (€5.6bn). DISTRIBUTION OF SALES China has six cities with a population of over 10 million (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin, Chengdu and Guangzhou) and another 12 cities with a population of over six million. These are the best markets for touring international artists, but in most cases, major promoters remain focussed on Beijing and Shanghai. Smaller venues rely on their own box-office sales, especially if ticket prices do not exceed ¥300 (€37.6). VALUE OF MARKET There is no official body that collects ticketing data in China. However, an assumption can be made on the basis of music sales,