A Review of the 2022 Concert Comeback with Eventbrite’s Roseli Ilano

2022 was the year of the concert comeback! According to Eventbrite, music was the lifeblood for Americans in 2022 with 28 million tickets sold, despite the reality of inflation. We got a chance to connect with Roseli Ilano, Head of Community at Eventbrite to discuss some of the trends discussed in their 2022 report on the resurgence of various live events.

After two years of the pandemic, the demand for live events increased, and consumers revealed they were even willing to pay more for tickets, especially for performers they loved. Interesting findings from Eventbrite’s trends report include:

Themed music nights are on the rise: Genre-specific events like emo night, 80s night, and K-pop night have grown by 95% over last year, and attendance to these types of events has skyrocketed by 130%.
More music, more release parties: The number of album and record release parties in 2022 grew by 54% over last year.
Live music rocks on: There were over 95,000 concerts hosted on Eventbrite in the U.S. in 2022, an increase of 51% over last year.
Despite music having its moment, silent disco is on its way out: Silent disco events are down 17% over last year.

Roseli Ilano, Head of Community at Eventbrite

Roseli Ilano, Head of Community at Eventbrite weighs in on a few things and gives a bit more insight into the report highlights listed above and every one of those points concretely aligns with what we’ve been experiencing in the lifestyle and entertainment media.

As the live entertainment industry began to return to some semblance of normalcy in 2022 after a very rough patch during the COVID pandemic, what have been some of the most popular types of events this year?

We analyzed millions of experiences from our diverse inventory to reveal how people gathered in 2022 and we saw a spike in events that enabled people to not only dive deeper into their personal passions, but to also build a community of like-minded enthusiasts along the way. My favorite examples are Britt Parrish of Plant.Sip.Vibe. in Tulsa who brings plant lovers together to learn tips on how to care for the hottest new houseplants over wine and charcuterie style foods, or Xavier Henderson co-founder of SoulfulofNoise, Los Angeles’s largest open mic, bringing emerging musical talent on stage to perform for hundreds of future fans. Whether it’s for a handful of people, or for hundreds, the throughline we saw this year is the power live events have to ignite people’s shared passions.

During the first 9 months of the year alone, we helped creators transact a whopping 84 million tickets. To put that in perspective, that’s nearly the same size as the population of Germany; or enough to fill Madison Square Garden roughly 4,000 times over. The top 5 categories were:

Music – 28M total tickets
Business & Professional – 18M total tickets
Food & Drink – 13M total tickets
Community & Culture – 13M total tickets
Visual & Performing Arts – 12M total tickets

I’ve been getting a slew of release party invites since the middle of the year, is that something your platform has had more listings for?

Yes, it’s all about what’s new and what’s next on Eventbrite, and our inventory reflects that energy. After analyzing millions of events in 2022, we uncovered a 54% increase in album and record release parties over last year. Release parties offer tastemakers the chance to be the first to connect with an artist’s work, and there’s no better way to bring such an influential and passionate audience together. Eventbrite is the home for culture-shapers, so it’s no surprise that release parties for new music are skyrocketing on Eventbrite.

Eventbrite is the posting and ticketing standard for many smaller and private events I’ve seen listed on social media, has this popularity increase inspired any innovations for the platform as regards integrations with social media?

It’s a great question because we know how hard independent event creators and entrepreneurs work, and we want to make their lives easier. Event creators are focused on building communities to keep attendees engaged year-round — but they’re competing for attention against a wide (and growing) group. One innovation that we launched this year is Eventbrite Boost, an all-in-one event marketing platform to help event creators sell more tickets using data, automation, and integration. It’s our one-stop suite of tools to help creators stand out from the crowd with social media advertising and audience insights, integrations for marketing multi-event advertising, and even advertising on Instagram stories.

The results thus far have been stunning – Boost creators hold on average twice as many events, drawing double the event size, and generating three times more ticket sales compared to creators who have not yet adopted Boost. One of our music creators Matt Orlove from the namesake dance party series Orlove, calls it his “secret sauce” and consistently sees 30% email open rates.

The Eventbrite Trends Report shows an upward trend for African / Caribbean roots (Reggae, Afrobeats, Soca) music, which gels with editorial submissions the media has been receiving as well as radio airplay. When did your team notice the movement and what did you do to accommodate it?

Eventbrite’s music category continues to experience strong growth as live events come roaring back and people are eager to gather. Based on Eventbrite’s analysis of millions of events, music events with African / Caribbean roots (Reggae, Afrobeats, Soca) grew 102% over last year and attendance to these events has increased 104% over the previous year.

This increase in vibrant, genre-based dance events such as those focused on Reggae, Soca, and Afrobeats have benefitted from the post-pandemic desire for fun and gathering, but also from their emphasis on community. An excellent example of an Eventbrite creator who used the pandemic to pivot and expand their business model is Reggae Fest Tour.

Honestly didn’t know Silent Discos were a real thing across the music spectrum…what was that all about and what have you noticed is different today?

Like many music event formats, the popularity of silent discos is cyclical. These events have come a long way from their humble beginnings, and now have regular events with dedicated communities and lower barriers to entry with regard to the necessary technology. However, 2022 post-pandemic demand appears strongest for events with more attendee connectivity focused under a single music experience. Accordingly, we actually saw a year-over-year decline in silent disco events.

What does Eventbrite see for 2023 and how will it position itself in the market to highlight and showcase changes or what initiatives will it embark on?

In 2023, Eventbrite will continue to serve as the hub for people all over the world to discover new things to do, get social, tap into their passions and find their crowd. One important initiative that is returning even bigger and better next year is Eventbrite’s RECONVENE Accelerator program, which provides direct support and mentorship to emerging creators who build community and shape culture. This year, Eventbrite’s RECONVENE Accelerator winners like Syd Suntha and Britt Parrish hosted one-of-a-kind events, like a 36-course Wu-Tang Clan-themed dinner and plant party bus.

You can find a breakdown of Eventbrite’s music trends from 2022 HERE.

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Tags: concerts, Eventbrite, live entertainment, Roseli Ilano

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.