Live music performance has become a new driver of cultural and tourism consumption in China, with its expansions stimulating more spending on transportation, accommodation, catering and shopping.
In 2025, the number of concerts with an audience exceeding 10,000 people per show grew by over 12 percent year on year in China, and the box office of large-scale music festivals in China's third- and fourth-tier cities has seen a significant increase, according to Wang Shu, general manager of operation with an online data platform.
According to data released by the China Association of Performing Arts, large-scale commercial performances including concerts and music festivals retained the momentum of rapid growth in 2024, with the total box-office revenue reaching 29.636 billion yuan (about 4.2 billion U.S. dollars), up 66 percent year on year and accounting for 51.1 percent of the total box-office revenue of commercial performances.
"More than 180 live concerts have been staged in Beijing [this year]. And our statistics show that around 80 percent of these concerts had the tickets sold out," said Tian Jingquan, manager of a company on operations of large-scale commercial performances.
"The total box office of live music performances in the first three quarters of this year showed that the sector still maintained a momentum of quite obvious growth. It is predicted that the total box office revenue of concerts and music festivals throughout the year will exceed the 30-billion-yuan (about 4.26 billion U.S. dollars) mark. This has also driven comprehensive consumptions involving transportation, accommodation, catering and shopping, and it is estimated that these performances will directly bring over 200 billion yuan (about 28.41 billion U.S. dollars) of other consumptions this year," said Pan Yan, deputy head of the China Association of Performing Arts.
Live music performances become new consumption driver in China
