StubHub Reveals Strait, Bryan as 2014 Top Sellers

StubHub has revealed a list of the 10 artists in 2014 whose names generated the most revenue for the secondary ticketing site and its users. Country acts George Strait and Luke Bryan round out the top 3, with the British X Factor band One Direction claiming first prize.

Glen Lehrman of StubHub told AdWeek that more tickets were sold for Strait’s farewell show in Arlington, TX than the next two largest events in 2014 (concerts by Bryan and Justin Timberlake). ”I don’t think we realize how huge country music is,” Lehrman told the paper’s Michelle Castillo. Of course that final tour stop broke a North American attendance record for an indoor concert.  

StubHub gross sales are based on how much the ticket commanded by selling price. Artists and their teams rarely participate in revenue generated from these secondary marketplaces, which allow ticket holders to resell tickets from face value. Earlier this year, Live Nation conservatively estimated the secondary market generates $9 billion annually. Controversially, the Foo Fighters declined to honor tickets purchased on secondary sites for its sold-out, intimate show at the Ryman Auditorium in October 2014 in the name of protecting fans from scalpers and brokers.

Q Prime Management’s VP of Touring, Fielding Logan, discussed the current ticketing landscape in MusicRow‘s August/September print magazine alongside the Bridgestone Arena’s director of ticketing, Lonnie Wilkerson.

StubHub’s Top 10 Live Acts for 2014:

1. One Direction
2. George Strait
3. Luke Bryan
4. Justin Timberlake
5. Beyonce & Jay-Z
6. Billy Joel
7. Fleetwood Mac
8. Bruno Mars
9. Katy Perry
10. Paul McCartney

*Top grossing artists on StubHub, for which which tickets were made available.