As the tide finally appears to be turning for rock music on streaming services, Live Nation's Andy Copping has told Music Week the rock and metal touring circuit is as strong as ever.
Streams for the year-to-date are up 39.3% (outpacing last year’s 29.8% rise) and are out-performing the total market rise, although the year's Top 100 rock songs are still dominated by heritage acts.
Copping (pictured), Live Nation's president of UK touring, said the overall market was in rude health.
"It's been as strong as it ever has been," he said. "The thing about rock and metal music is that it's a community. I get it, everything moves in cycles and sometimes it's more popular than it is at other times, but there is always a strong core of fans that want to go to rock gigs, and always has been. It's been like that for 40 years and it hasn't changed now."
The thing about rock and metal music is that it's a community. There is always a strong core of fans that want to go to rock gigs.
Andy Copping
Live Nation
The promoter pointed to the live success of bands such as Iron Maiden, Bring Me The Horizon, A Day To Remember, Five Finger Death Punch, Ghost and Alice In Chains as examples of the genre's enduring power.
'"All these bands are either playing arenas on a regular basis or just about to start playing in arenas," said Copping. "The rock market is so, so strong."
Copping is promoting this weekend's Download Festival in Donington Park, headlined by Slipknot, Tool and Def Leppard, who played their biggest ever UK arena tour last year.
"Def Leppard played to 135,000 people across the UK at the end of 2018," he said. "They'd never played to that many people in the UK,huge business. We're very, very lucky that this scene has managed to not only maintain its level of business, but has got stronger."
Click here to read the full interview with Andy Copping from this week's special rock issue.
