Concert organizers hope for a better year than 2014

Romania’s musical market of events is on an upward trend according to an analysis from zf.ro. Concert organizers hope that the industry will grow further and average price tickets could increase, but the lack of appropriate venues remains a major obstacle.

2014 was a packed with musical events and yet there were no major concerts from international artists that could draw a huge number of ticket payers. Christian Raetscher, general manager GQE, said that 2014 “was a year for small events, more underground. sales were very poor”. Hugh Laurie, 30 seconds to Mars and Peter Gabriel were some of the artists that visited Romania for the first time in 2014, with others such as Billy Idol and Placebo returning.

Sorina Burlacu, general director Events, thinks that 2014 was a poor year because of “lack of international artists but also on account of promoter caution”.

“We are observing an increase in the average price for a ticket, which can now reach EUR 40/50. The taxes remain very high, especially those requested by UCMR – ADA (Romania’s Union of Composers and Musicologists – Copyright Association). We are hoping to organize a common lobby with all the Romanian promoters to cutback these taxes. Romania is a virgin territory in a way – we are still waiting for the first visit of huge names like Robbie Williams or U2”, according to Burlacu.

As far as the future is concerned, the organizers hope the market continues to grow and Romania will hopefully be able to offer the necessary conditions for huge concerts. One of the main obstacles in the way of this objective is the lack of appropriate venues.

“While we already have impressive announcement for 2015: Andre Rieu (classical music), Robbie Williams (pop), Toto and Godsmack (rock). The evolution of this business depends on the prosperity of a nation. If Romania continues its upward trend, the number and quality of events will also grow. With price tickets we are already closing in on several other European countries, but we need to bring purchasing power to the same level”, believes Mohi Younes, general manager Phoenix Entertaintment.

“First and foremost, we lack the appropriate infrastructure. We need an event hall which is up to standard, we also need a skating ring. We always manage, in winter time, with Sala Palatului or Sala Polivalenta, but its never exactly what we need. If the infrastructure would be different and we could have venues to bring artists in front of 12,000 – 16,000 people, then the market would be able to grow”, concluded Raluca Popescu, general manager Amphitrion.