A regional breakdown of engagement in the arts across the country shows Ballarat has a 44 per cent attendance rate at popular music events, followed by Bendigo with 38 per cent.

Ballarat beats the national average by 11 per cent.

Inner Melbourne had a 54 per cent attendance rate.

Ballarat has seen a line up of heavy hitters this month with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to be followed this weekend by the Red Hot Summer tour and Xavier Rudd and The Cat Empire.

Organs of the Goldfields, a 10 day festival which wrapped up last week, saw one of its highest attendance levels in its 22 years.

Ballarat has had a “strong music foundation” for many years which has preserved they city’s live music scene, Karova Lounge venue manager Shaun Adams said.

The Field Street venue often hosts several gigs a week.

“It’s ebbed and flowed as everything does but ultimately it comes down to the people supporting it.”

“It’s all good to have all the bands and the venues, but without the support from the wider community we would find ourselves in the same situation as whats facing other towns or cities.”

Challenges facing the live music scene in Ballarat included rising costs for venues and the saturation of social media, Mr Adams said.  

City of Ballarat Live Music Advisory chairman Belinda Coates said the committee hoped to build on the city’s success.

“We have such a lot of diversity and we have a really strong history of having grown big musicians from our area as well,” Cr Coates said.

“We really want to build on that success and it’s really heartening to see that the stats are supporting us and that what we’re doing is hopefully making a difference.”

The new interactive dashboard will “build a richer picture” of cultural participation in Australia, Australia Council for the Arts’ John Smithies said. 

Ballarat has a 15 per cent attendance at classical music concerts, musicals and opera, with a total attendance rate at music events of 51 per cent. 

Cinemas saw the highest attendance with 60 per cent, with a total participation level at arts or cultural venues or events sitting at 82 per cent.