The cultural sector in 2022 showed resilience with a notable recovery from the previous year, though it did not return to pre-pandemic levels. Notably, pop music concerts stood out, with overall collections rising by ten percent compared to 2019, even as some segments lagged behind.
These findings come from the SGAE 2023 Performance, Music and Audiovisual Arts Yearbook, which outlines key statistics on culture and entertainment in Spain during 2022. The report was presented by Antonio Onetti, president of the General Society of Authors and Editors, along with Juan José Solana and Rubén Gutiérrez, who lead the SGAE Foundation as president and general secretary, respectively.
Despite momentum in the performing arts, live events in fields such as performing arts, classical music, and cinema still faced a partial rebound. These areas recorded 89 percent higher revenue in 2022 than in 2021 but remained about 40 percent below 2019 income levels.
In 2022, the performing arts saw an 18.7 percent rise in performances, a 29.8 percent increase in audience size, and a 37.9 percent jump in revenue compared with 2021. Yet, against 2019, the number of performances fell by 14.6 percent, while attendance and revenue declined by 47.4 percent and 38.3 percent, respectively.
Rubén Gutiérrez notes that in both the performing arts and classical music, supply appears to outpace public participation and income. He emphasizes the need for public administrations to bolster audience engagement to close the gap.
The situation differed for live pop concerts in February, where the market expanded significantly. Offer rose by 51.4 percent year over year, totaling about 98,000 concerts. Attendance more than doubled, and the audience nearly tripled compared with the previous year.
Compared with pre-pandemic levels, bids rose by 7.5 percent, and collections grew by more than ten percent, yet participants remained 11.8 percent below those levels. Gutiérrez explains that this gap is partly due to the continuing maturation of major music festivals as a dominant form of entertainment.
In Spain, as in the global market for recorded music, positive trends continued in 2022. Promusicae data indicate that total sector revenues reached €461.99 million, up 12.4 percent from the prior year.
The peak revenue in recorded music was driven by streaming, which alone generated €340.33 million, reflecting the fact that more than half of the population regularly uses streaming platforms.
Price increases in the physical market drew renewed attention to vinyl, underscoring that it is no longer a marginal or niche market, according to Gutiérrez.
In the cinema sector, while there were improvements over 2021, cinema’s rebound did not approach pre-pandemic benchmarks. The number of screenings rose 35.5 percent, attendance climbed 44.2 percent, and revenue grew 47.9 percent versus 2021, but compared with 2019, sessions were 16.4 percent fewer, audience figures were 43.3 percent lower, and revenue was down 40.2 percent.
The 2022 annual average for tickets purchased per person in Spain stood at 1.24, with average spending per person around €7.70.
Television and video games
Average daily television consumption in Spain dropped to 183 minutes per person in 2022, down 22 minutes from the previous year. Radio listening rose by two minutes year over year.
The number of households subscribing to pay television platforms continued to grow, reaching 68.7 percent of households in 2022.
The video game segment generated €2.012 billion in revenue, up 12.1 percent from 2021. The sector maintains stability in its physical format while continuing to expand in digital formats, signaling a healthy, adaptive market.