Live Nation announced the launch of its first permanent venue on the continent of Africa earlier this week, with new “state-of-the-art venue” The Dome due to open in Johannesburg in South Africa in January.
The ever-growing live music behemoth says that the new venue, delivered in partnership with Stadium Management South Africa and Gearhouse South Africa, reflects its “commitment to expanding venue infrastructure, growing the touring circuit, and bringing African fans even more shows from both local and international artists”.
Within South Africa itself, says Justin Van Wyk, CEO at Live Nation’s South African division, the new venue “fills a critical gap” in the country’s live music market, “creating a unique space that will support pan-African talent”.
The Dome is situated next to Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium and aims to become a “hub for local and pan-African talent, featuring genres such as afrobeats, amapiano, dance, pop, hip hop and R&B”.
It’s not just in Africa where Live Nation is busy expanding the venues side of its business. It also announced a new deal this week in Portugal, where it is acquiring a majority stake in Lisbon’s MEO Arena.
That announcement also revealed that “renovations are planned” at the venue to “upgrade premium seating, skyboxes, dressing rooms and concessions, improving the overall fan experience and making the arena more attractive to visiting artists”.
Live Nation boss Michael Rapino recently outlined the commercial opportunities that he sees around venue refurbishments, saying that it represents an opportunity to significantly increase premium and VIP areas from under 10% in some venues to as much as 30%.
Expanding premium and VIP packages at large-scale shows is seen as a big opportunity for Live Nation and the top-level artists it works with. Though the live giant’s expansion of VIP packages is not without controversy. UK collecting society PRS recently sued the company over how it accounts for those packages when calculating what it should pay songwriters and music publishers, with the main PRS concerts licence requiring promoters to pay a percentage of the ticket price.
The renovations at the MEO Arena are not just about selling more VIP packages. Live Nation says it also plans to “build on the venue’s sustainability efforts, focusing on reducing its environmental impact and increasing social benefits in line with its Green Nation pledges”.
Commenting on the deal in Portugal, Live Nation EMEA President John Reid says, “Lisbon is one of Europe’s most exciting capitals, and we’re honoured to be part of its cultural fabric. With this investment, we’re committed to bringing more shows to Portugal, supporting the local economy and creating incredible experiences for fans”.