Live & Direct to herald live study.

Leading market research bureau Mintel is to unveil details from its brand new study of the UK live business, as part of this month's Live & Direct conference. The conference, organised by Music Week Events in partnership with the Vodafone Live Music Awards, takes place on September 19, the same day as the awards.

The day of debate and discussion will begin with the Mintel presentation, which will draw on the results of the company's Live Entertainment report. It will also look back at the results of its Music Concerts study from August last year.

The Mintel studies indicate that, in 2007, the UK live music market will be worth an estimated #743m in ticket sales alone, after an explosion in the popularity of the sector. According to the company's surveys, the proportion of adults attending music concerts grew by almost one-fifth between 2001 and 2006, from 32% to 38%.

Mintel will also offer a demographic breakdown of live music's most ardent fans; earlier this summer, it interviewed 1,444 18-plus adults, establishing that those most attracted to live music were the 25-34 and 45-54 groupings, as well as those, living as married, who are heavy internet users, broadsheet readers and shoppers in Waitrose and M&S.

Mintel researcher Richard Cope says this bodes well for the live industry, with the high-spending 45- to 54-year-old demographic set to expand over the next six years, presenting increased opportunities for corporate venues and lucrative VIP add-ons. The affluent AB socio- economic group will also expand, brining significant "luxury gig" potential, he adds.

This is particularly positive for the live business, with the 18- to 24- year-old demographic set to diminish in the same period, Cope explains.

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