​Estimated 40% of ticketholders aren’t showing up to music events

Bands, DJs and artists are currently seeing up to 40% no-shows at gigs as COVID cases skyrocket, according to a new report by The Guardian.

An estimated 4 in 10 ticketholders aren’t turning up to shows and events, including club nights and concerts, a dramatic increase in no-shows since the clubs first reopened in July.

After February’s ‘freedom day’ announcement which initially gave a roadmap out of lockdown with its final stages including the reopening of nightclubs on June 21 - later pushed back to July 19 - with tickets to events selling out in minutes.

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Now, just five months down the line, no-shows are around eight times higher than normal. Artist manager Graeme Stewart told The Guardian that “you always had people that didn’t turn up,” although this is now a larger-scale issue.

“It was around 5% normally, but you’re getting as much as 40% no-shows for some gigs now. It’s an enormous problem, and it’s happening for anything that’s ticketed,” he said.

In an effort to push for larger crowds, artists are now having to invite larger guest lists and fork the losses as crowd sizes dwindle.

“You cannot message every person to see if they’re still coming, so no one knows what is going to happen,” said Stewart. While many ticketholders don’t ask for refunds, it's often hard to understand how many will drop out until the night of the event.

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He continued: “You are still getting money coming in from the tickets, but money is being lost on bar spend and security costs. The first few events were bananas but as time goes on people are not as committed to nights they bought tickets to months in advance.”

Parklife founder and Warehouse Project head Sacha Lord also told The Guardian: “We’re seeing a big drop-off, even at really hot, sold-out shows. It’s happening every single night, and it’s affecting all artists.”

Although it's unclear whether tickets are being left as a result of COVID concerns or increased rates, or simply non-committal fans, Lord argues that “the knock-on effects of this are phenomenal,” adding: “It’s decimating the whole industry.”

[Via: The Guardian]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter