Beyoncé and Taylor

​read in browser​

Hey! Let’s dive into the rise of concert films. This is a topic I’ve been wanting to explore for a while, so I’m glad that my friend, Jimmy Stone from Alderbrook Companies, was interested in it as well. This is one of our guest stories while I’m out on paternity leave.

Jimmy shares great insights about music, tech, and investing at Leveling Up. You can read his full story here, read a few highlights below, or listen to our upcoming episode once it drops!

What is Driving the Rise of Concert Films?

Over the past few years, there has seemingly been increased interest and investment in motion pictures showcasing live musical performances. Let’s explore a few of the likely drivers of this trend from the point of view of two key stakeholders: the artist/rights holder and the distributor/film studio. For the first group, there are several reasons to consider releasing a concert film.

They’re an alternative way for artists to engage and retain fans

Musicians releasing their IP in new formats to continuously engage with their audiences aligns with the transmedia entertainment trend. Leveling Up has written about transmedia storytelling in the music industry when we analyzed the South Korean music company HYBE.

As a reminder, transmedia storytelling is the telling of stories across platforms. For example, a story might originate in a comic book series and then be expanded through television, novels, games, films, etc.

For actively touring artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce, releasing a concert film helps keep their content fresh in the minds of their fanbases. Meanwhile, for legacy artists, concert films can help rights holders re-engage their older fanbases and/or enable discovery by a new generation of fans (like my college experience with The Last Waltz).

For example, film studio A24 re-released Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense late last year. Originally released in 1984, the film grossed ~$5 million in theaters and contributed to the band’s internet search interest spiking (depicted below). According to the Hollywood Reporter, nearly 60% of the audience for Stop Making Sense’s opening weekend was under 35 years old, with many attendees not even born when the Talking Heads split up.

Source:Google Trends.

Concert films enable artists to engage and monetize new demographics

Certain fans may prefer concert films to live or live streaming at home. For fans with less disposable income, concert movies can be an attractive alternative. While it may be an extreme example, the ticket pricing for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert films ranged from $19.89 for adults to $13.13 for children and seniors in the U.S. versus the average resale prices for The Eras Tour live concert, reaching over $1,000 per ticket.

Similarly, other demographics – including children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and/or those impacted by geographic constraints – may find a movie venue much more accessible than a live concert. As one Taylor Swift fan said,

At the same time, the concert film still enables an artist’s fans to share an in-person experience with other fans. This can get lost watching a concert at home on a streaming service. Along these lines, moviegoers were allowed to ignore typical big screen etiquette for The Eras Tour film, with fans encouraged to dance and sing along to the film. Here’s a link to what dozens of Swifties going nuts at the movie look like. Simply put, concert films can help artists extend their demographic reach.

Concert films can catalyze fans to engage more often with an artist’s music

Instead of cannibalizing consumption of an artist’s other IP, the data suggests that concert films may actually lead passionate audiences to consume even more of an artist’s content. According to Luminate, Taylor Swift, Talking Heads, and Beyonce all saw a meaningful increase in U.S. and global on-demand audio streams in the weeks after their films were released in 2023 (depicted below).

Source: Luminate.**

You can read the rest of the piece here.

Thanks to Emily, Hannah and Adam for the feedback, input, and editing!

Leveling Up’s work is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should always do your own research and consult advisors on these subjects. In addition, our work may feature entities in which Alderbrook Companies, LLC or the author has invested and/or has provided consulting services.

Chartmetric stat of the week

Beyonce’s Renaissance film made its released on December 1, 2023. The week before its release (Nov 22-28), her average Chartmetric artist rank was #20 of all the artists in the world. By the end of December, her rank jumped up to #13.

Hope you enjoyed this memo. If so, please share. Forward this email to someone who should read it. Text it to a friend. Drop the link in the group chat.

Share on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
Or copy and paste the link below.

​https://trapital.co/2024/03/15/the-rise-of-concert-films/​

want your company featured in Trapital?

We are looking for a few more sponsors in Q2 who want to reach the artists, creators, and execs who read and listen to Trapital on a regular basis. Want to see how your brand can reach Trapital’s audience? Reach out to us here.