Anyone following the ticketing industries knows that in the last week alone, there have been a series of news reports dealing with the overall decline in popular concert ticket revenues this summer.

The New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Wall Street Journal have all picked up the story and the major study they are citing is this report by the trade magazine Pollstar.

Here are the highlights:

  • Overall sales are down. The WSJ summarizes this nicely: “The top 100 tours in North America show gross ticket-sales revenue of $965.5 million, down 17% from a year earlier. Number of tickets sold: down 12%. Average gross per show, down 14.4%. Ticket prices now average $60.77, compared with $64.61 last year.”
  • The top summer tours by sales revenue in 2010 are:
  1. Bon Jovi
  2. James Taylor/Carole King
  3. Taylor Swift
  4. Paul McCartney
  5. Geoge Strait/Reba/Lee Ann Womack
  • Others, however, aren’t doing so well. According to the Sun-Times, Rihanna, Limp Bizkit, even the Jonas Brothers have erased concerts. The Country Throwdown Tour called off shows in Dallas and Houston, while Christina Aguilera’s tour had to be postponed completely.

What’s to blame?

Of course, the prolonged economic slowdown and steady increase in unemployment has hurt, recent recoveries notwithstanding.

(see this wonderful NYT chart which shows the geographies of the recession)

But what does the secondary ticket market say? Are Bon Jovi tickets selling for more than Rihanna‘s? Let’s dive into the data.

Bon Jovi, with his blockbuster summer tour, will have been to 57 concerts this year (up until the end of July) and the average transaction price for his tickets on the secondary market has been a very healthy $164.

Taylor Swift, 3rd on the list, has been to 41 events this year, and her avg. transaction on the secondary market has been $152. Not too shabby either.

What the artists have in common is that they’re all pushing above the $150 barrier in average transaction prices. Yes, George Strait is at $144, but hey, he’s also the only country artist on the list and the most expensive one too.

And the underperforming artists?

Well, Rihanna‘s average comes in at $130 — not too bad, but not earth-shatteringly low either. And that’s not taking into account that she has canceled shows in Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver and Indianapolis, so yes, we can confirm that her summer isn’t going too well according to the secondary ticket market too.

As for Christina Aguilera, with her cancelled tour, you can be sure that there is no data on her concerts on the secondary ticket markets, so we are doubly sure that she isn’t having a great 2010.

So while overall the ticket industry has been experiencing declining overall sales, there has been significant discrimination between artists, and some have clearly profited heavily this summer.

And if you want to see the hottest tours, at the best price, you all know to come to SeatGeek to for all your ticketing needs.