The Top 100 Tours of 2017 were reported by Pollstar. In these series of posts we explore the most interesting stories revealed by the data. Additionally we referenced our 2016, 2015, 2014 posts; and Wikipedia to confirm basic artist information like years active and music genre.

The best thing about working with data are the stories it tells.
To bring these stories to life, we transformed the PDF from Pollstar into a BuzzFeed-esque format, where each act listed is now featured with a YouTube video of a 2017 live performance next to their key metrics of the year.

If any particular statistic stands out to us, we make a note of that as well in the list; like the fact that most of the artists listed had already started their musical career before Shawn Mendes (also on the list) was even born(!) and that Adele made almost $10 million per performance in 2017.

A. Rock, followed by pop and country.

In most cases, performing a lot of shows means ranking higher on the list.

There's a trend almost reverse to The Rolling Stones' one of ranking high with not so many shows; and that are the acts ranking low with lots of shows and lots of people attending each one; i.e. lots of tickets sold.

A: The 2000s.
The 60s and 80s are then tied for seconds!
90s and 70s come next, also tied.
Presumably the 2010ers are yet to work their way to this level.

Britney has achieved something far bigger than entertaining her 916,184 Vegas residency guests. She's being applauded as a pioneer for the latest addition to the live entertainment industry lineup: the superstar residency.

When she agreed to a Vegas residency it was still viewed as an 'end of career' move. After four record-shattering years, she's done more than doing herself and Vegas proud; many A-list acts are now adopting the residency strategy as their own – even beyond Vegas!

A: The United States mainly.

Those who read the piechart above with a keen eye noticed that the fourth biggest category in the live entertainment industry of 2017 is circus (it's easy to forget that it's not just music people buy tickets to!). Not only that, but all the circus acts on the list (8 total) are run and operated by the same company: the Canadian Cirque du Soleil.

The data that was by far the most interesting to delve into was how touring now incorporates less touring. As in more acts are putting up more shows that involve less travel. We see this in two ways, with the 'concert series' and the boom of residencies.

Take That performed six times in a row at London's O2 and Drake eight times; iconic touring legend Bruce Springsteen took to Broadway (he famously performs continuously for 3-4 hours straight, and in his 40+ year long career as a touring artist he tends to do three years touring for every one year off – an inversed ratio to most other acts), and Garth Brooks of course did nothing but these concert series.