Malaga Loses €6 Million in Live Music Performances

Malaga’s live music performances dropped by half last year, losing the area more than €6 million.

THE live music performances that went ahead last year in Malaga last year was half the previous year.
According to Spanish newspaper Sur, Malaga’s figures dropped less than the national average but still saw half the number of concerts.
Turnover from ticket sales in the year of the pandemic fell by 57 per cent in the province of Malaga compared to 2019, meaning a loss of more than €6 million.
Nationally the figures were lower, with a drop of 63.78 per cent in ticket sales and €138 million in sales compared to €382 million the year before.
Albert Salmeron, president of the Association of Music Promoters (APM), said: “It takes us back to times when the live industry was very underdeveloped.”
Last year, 11,851 musical events were held in Malaga Province, 79,255 less than in 2019.  Meanwhile there were only 2.5 million audience members last year compared to 21 million the previous year.
Despite the data, turnover fell less in Malaga than in the country as a whole. The province ranks fifth in ticket sales, surpassed only by Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Sevilla and Cadiz, thanks to festivals including Fuengirola’s Marenostrum.
The APM has called on the government to help encourage the live music industry again after its figures fell last year.
The news comes after acts for this year’s Marenostrum Festival in Fuengirola were announced.
The Marenostrum festival in Fuengirola will host almost 30 acts this year, beginning in June with Ara Malikian on Friday June 4.
Organised by Fuengirola Council, the concerts will take place in the surroundings of Castle Sohail or a stage on the beach front.
Created in 2016, the Marenostrum Festival will this year edition will offer more than 50 musical concerts, making the festival an annual event for both locals and tourists.