The summer of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé may be over — but consumer interest in live events shows no signs of slowing, according to the industry’s largest company.
Live Nation (LYV), the parent company of Ticketmaster, said Thursday concert attendance hit a record in the third quarter and revenue rose 32% to $8.2 billion in the period.
“While we have benefited from tailwinds for many years, these have accelerated due to the globalization of our business and a fundamental shift in consumer spending habits toward experiences,” Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation, said in the company’s third-quarter earnings release.
Taylor Swift arrives at the world premiere of the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” at AMC The Grove on October 11, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images) (VALERIE MACON via Getty Images)
Concerts accounted for the largest share of revenue at $7 billion as the company announced it had sold a record 140 million tickets so far this year. That’s 17% more than last year and already exceeds ticket sales of 121 million in 2022.
The strong performance coincided with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. However, Rapino said the momentum is unlikely to slow.
When asked on the earnings call whether he had any concerns about future year-on-year comparisons given the record-breaking success of Swift and Beyoncé’s respective tours, the executive once again pointed to the strength of the business coupled with positive consumer trends.
“No tour will ever hurt us year after year. It’s about our macro portfolio of artists and tours, and we have a very good one.” [pipeline] for next year,” he said, adding: “We expect double-digit growth this year and next year in ticket sales.”
The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the third quarter, buoyed by a resilient consumer who spent big on attending live concerts and even the “Barbenheimer” double act.
Summer concerts and blockbuster movies contributed an estimated $8.5 billion to U.S. growth in the third quarter, according to a recent estimate from Morgan Stanley.
The story goes on
“Live entertainment is the brightest star in the broader media and entertainment universe right now,” Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote in an earlier note to clients.
“Unsurprisingly, we believe that talent, particularly artists who command large followings, will increasingly be able to extract additional value from the ecosystem (primarily driven by increasing supply and ticket prices), while venues that “Having multiple independent revenue streams grows the most value,” the analyst said.
She identified five catalysts that will lead to sustainable, long-term growth for the industry: continued spending shift toward services and experiences; healthy pricing power as demand increases; positive supply and demand trends as social media apps such as TikTok increase global awareness and fan growth; the relatively “failure-proof” nature of live events as a virtual method remains unparalleled; and the emergence of experiential marketing.
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canalLinkedIn and email her at [email protected].
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