The live industry is booming, with revenues and profits surging. Well, the upper end of the live industry that is dominated by Live Nation is. The live giant published its year-end figures for 2023 yesterday, with revenues up 36% to $22.7 billion and operating income up 46% to $1.07 billion. However, these buoyant stats contrast starkly with what many artists, promoters and venues are experiencing at the grassroots and even mid-tier of the live music sector.
“The live music industry reached new heights in 2023, and demand for live music continues to build", declares Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino alongside those impressive stats. "Our digital world empowers artists to develop global followings, while inspiring fans to crave in-person experiences more than ever".
"At the same time", he adds, "the industry is delivering a wider variety of concerts which draws in new audiences, and developing more venues to support a larger show pipeline. Against this backdrop, we expect all our businesses to continue growing and adding value to artists and fans as we deliver double-digit operating income and adjusted operating income growth again this year, with our profitability compounding by double-digits over the next several years".
Top level stats from Live Nation's year-end report include that concert attendance was up 20% and, as a result, tours have 15% more shows on average compared to five years ago. There is also higher spending on food and drink at events and growing demand in the brand partnership domain, with sponsorship revenue up 13%.
And if you think that 2023 was a fluke year, think again, the live giant adds. "Concert ticket sales are pacing up 6% with 57 million tickets sold for shows this year, and arena and amphitheater sales are up double-digits", it states, adding "there is "strong demand across all price points”.
The live industry has always been top heavy, with the upper end making lots of money and things being much more challenging for those artists, promoters and venues staging smaller capacity shows. Since the end of the COVID shutdown of live, the contrast between the upper level and the grassroots has become even more stark.
In the UK, that has led to calls that the bigger shows should be doing more to support the grass roots, where the headliners of tomorrow are being developed. The Music Venue Trust has repeatedly called for a ticket levy on large-scale shows to support those operating at the grassroots and mid-tier.
Though when yet another grassroots music venue announced its closure earlier this month - The Chameleon in Nottingham - MVT boss Mark Davyd said "there’s too many people in our industry looking in the other direction and hoping this problem will just go away".
There have also been plenty of calls for more government support, in particular a VAT cut on tickets. The Association Of Independent Festivals renewed its call for that this morning after another event announced it was cancelling its 2024 edition.
Organisers of the 110 Above Festival in Leicestershire stated that "the current economic climate means it would be reckless to plough on with such uncertainty and volatile costs - particularly for a fully independent festival like ours".
“Week-by-week, day-by-day, one-by-one these brilliant, vital independent music festivals are disappearing", says AIF CEO John Rostron. "With it, we lose the pipeline of talent development for artists and a space for audiences to find new music across the UK. Future headliners were made here".
"The costs of putting on these festivals has risen so much, way beyond the price of the ticket, and so independent festival promoters - already losing money - are having to call time. This is a long tail impact of COVID and of Brexit".
He concludes, "if the UK wants to be a world leader in music, then the UK government needs to do as other countries across the world have done, and support the festival sector for a few years to make its recovery. Lower VAT on tickets to 5% for three years, and we’ll prevent more festivals having to say enough is enough and goodbye".
