Pollstar (12/13/23) Areliz, Oscar

Two years removed from the COVID-19 crisis, the live music industry is booming at a record pace. Live Nation, the industry’s No. 1 promoter, is poised for a record year of revenue — $8.2 billion in the third quarter alone and a whopping $16.9 billion for the year. That's up 36% from 2022. In 2023, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé set touring records, and Pollstar’s Year End charts also included high rankings from such major acts as Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, P!NK, Drake, Ed Sheeran, and George Strait, among others. "We really believe this is a cultural behavioral change with consumers," commented Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino. "So, [with] demand on a global basis, we believe the next decade is going to be very strong." External factors, though, could impact the growth of live music moving forward, primarily those tied to the economy. Credit card balances soared by $48 billion to $1.08 trillion in 2023's July-through-September period, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports, and concert production remains as costly as ever.

Read the full story from Pollstar.