I\u2019d just sat down at Claudelands Events Centre with a very strong coffee when I felt a tap on my arm. Mark Kneebone, the managing director for Live Nation New Zealand, shook my hand, asked how I was, then rifled through a sheaf of paper covered in typed words and scrawled notes. Then he whispered: \u201cI\u2019m here to talk about your favourite topic \u2013\u00a0why acts aren\u2019t coming to New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon, at\u00a0Eventing the Future,<\/a>\u00a0the New Zealand Events Association\u2019s annual conference, Kneebone was standing on stage doing exactly that. For 13 minutes, he spoke fast and direct, delivering the day\u2019s key state of the nation address. Initially, things sounded positive. Last year was a \u201cboom\u201d for live entertainment, Kneebone announced, one that broke many live touring records. \u201cMore than 1.5 million people attended our events up and down the country,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was mammoth.\u201d<\/p>\n Just one year on, things have changed\u00a0\u2013\u00a0drastically. \u201cWe find ourselves looking down the barrel of a different pipeline,\u201d Kneebone admitted. He\u2019s calling this, \u201cThe year of the slow burn\u201d. What\u2019s the problem? Almost everything. Kneebone went through a list of issues causing the world\u2019s biggest artists to bypass us in favour of exclusive Australian shows, including rising costs, the lack of incentives and changing trends.<\/p>\n It got grim. Kneebone called enticing artists to New Zealand \u201ca grind\u201d. At one point, he said: \u201cThe allure of New Zealand as a destination and must-do touring market is in a state of flux.\u201d Later on he said: \u201cOur nation is falling down the global pecking order.\u201d Then he said: \u201cWe have fallen further behind our friends across the ditch.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of this we already knew. For the past three months, I have been\u00a0pointing<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0shouting<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0waving<\/a>\u00a0to anyone who will listen about how acts like Green Day, The Killers, Billie Eilish and Katy Perry are skipping Aotearoa in favour of exclusive Australian tours. So many are doing it\u00a0I had to rank them all<\/a>. By the end of the year, Oasis, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga will all perform major stadium tours across Australia.\u00a0In one insane week<\/a>, Melbourne will get more stadium shows and festivals than Auckland is getting\u00a0all year.<\/p>\n Why? Kneebone laid out the reasons like a bricklayer. It was a litany of concerns and complaints that painted a very sorry picture. They went something like this\u2026<\/p>\n The cost of doing business.\u00a0\u201cAll our deals with international clients are done in USD,\u201d said Kneebone. \u201cHaving a dollar that buys 59 cents is like starting every offer on our back foot.\u201d Ahh, the land of Oz. Over there, with a market buoyed by unprecedented demand and huge major event incentives paid for by local governments, concert-goers are experiencing a musical bonanza. Kneebone pointed to this fact time and again. \u201cAustralia [is] a market which is still seeing a huge boost in premiere ticket sales and record-breaking touring hitting their shores, in part by significant investment in state governments to drive domestic tourism, but also thanks to the very healthy live ecosystem,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that Queensland is the fastest growing economy in Australia and has some lofty tourism and event targets which will be supported by significant investment.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re angry that your favourite stadium-filling artist isn\u2019t coming here, hearing all this won\u2019t help. But it was refreshing to hear the world\u2019s biggest live entertainment company front up for the first time and give honest answers to questions I swore I wouldn\u2019t stop looking for<\/a>. It was a shame, then, that the person who needed to hear Kneebone speak the most wasn\u2019t there. Despite appearing on stage earlier in the day, tourism and hospitality minister Louise Upston had quietly exited the conference before Kneebone spoke.<\/p>\n For her own presentation, Upston spoke for twice as long and said half as much. She spent a lot of time talking about \u201cpipelines,\u201d reminded us of the prime minister\u2019s cringe infatuation with Taylor Swift, requested pitches for ideas, then spent a good chunk of time detailing her own event management experience, which amounted to running a high school car show and accidentally crushing one of the vehicles.<\/p>\n Several weeks ago,\u00a0Upston questioned<\/a> whether \u201cconcerts generate economic value\u201d and suggested \u201cprofits tend to go offshore\u201d. At Eventing the Future, she didn\u2019t mention that, or tackle why her Major Events Fund specifically excludes concerts and festivals. But she did allude to an announcement that may or may not be coming next week. \u201cWe\u2019ll have more to say, both about the one-off new fund for 2026, and further conversations about major events,\u201d she said. Upston wrapped things up by listing a bunch of sporting events coming here.<\/p>\n Kneebone didn\u2019t seem dismayed by all the problems the touring industry faces. He said it could be solved, and we know it can be done. Yesterday,\u00a0The Post published an interview<\/a>\u00a0with former Victoria premier Jeff Kennett, who helped his state come back from rough economic times by becoming a major event destination. Kennett suggests, with a plan and the right incentives, the same thing can happen here. Kneebone agrees. \u201cDemand for live entertainment is still growing,\u201d he said. \u201cKiwis are showing up with ticket sales surpassing expectations and consistently selling out.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he left, Kneebone had one more comment for the crowd. It felt like it might be aimed directly at Upston. \u201cThe most important thing we can do collectively is dispel the notion that artists are going to come to New Zealand because they like the country or because we\u2019ve invested in infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile every artist has their own motivation for touring, the one common denominator for every touring party is that they need to be able to afford to come here in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\nLady Gaga\u2019s Mayhem Ball tour (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\nRising shipping costs and bigger productions.\u00a0\u201cAs tours get bigger, more complex and push the boundaries of tech and production, freight becomes more of a factor,\u201d said Kneebone. \u201cShows are becoming more complex and artists are less open to playing without their entire stage rig.\u201d
\nArtists want fans to come to them. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing artists play more shows in less cities,\u201d he said. He detailed a 10-15 percent cost increase in putting on a show here compared to Australia. \u201cThe proposition between Auckland and Brisbane is becoming starker. The gap between what an artist can earn between the two cities continued to widen in 2024.\u201d
\nAotearoa hasn\u2019t caught up with international vibes. \u201cAustralia\u2019s growth is not just driven by stadium fillers like Oasis and Lady Gaga, but also by non-English-speaking acts like Stray Kids and Bad Bunny,\u201d said Kneebone. \u201cThese acts have graduated into arenas and stadiums, but here in New Zealand we\u2019re still waiting for the genres to mature to the point where our market is a serious proposition.\u201d<\/p>\nTaylor Swift at Mt Smart Stadium in 2018 (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n
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