Melbourne has outshone London and Los Angeles as the live music capital of the world, new data shows.
Live gigs across Australia's sporting capital attracted more people in 2017 than the AFL, NRL, basketball, cricket, soccer, Spring Racing Carnival and Grand Prix combined, the Melbourne Live Music Census found.
About 17.5 million people attended music gigs in Melbourne last year, compared to the 4.66 million crowd total at AFL matches, data results showed on Thursday.
The census found Melbourne has more music venues per person than any other city on Earth, with one venue for every 9503 residents.
This compared to London, with one venue per 34,350 people and Los Angeles, which has one venue per 19,607.
On each Saturday night in 2017, 93 per cent of Melbourne venues hosted a gig, generating more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, drinks, food and merchandise.
The census was a joint effort by RMIT University, inner-city councils and Music Victoria, with volunteers visiting venues across Melbourne and its suburbs to collect the data.
The results show Melbourne has bucked the global trend of a declining live music scene, Music Victoria boss Patrick Donovan said in a statement.
"The number of gigs and audiences are growing, as well as the number of part-time live music venues," he said.
"(It) is consistent with the popularity of live music at non-traditional venues ... such as the (National Gallery of Victoria), the Melbourne Zoo and Melbourne Museum."
