MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by music data analytics firm Chartmetric.
Live Nation Entertainment President and CEO Michael Rapino told the company’s investors on Thursday (February 22) that “the live music industry reached new heights in 2023″.
Rapino’s comments arrived alongside the concert giant’s Q4 and FY 2023 earnings, which, published on Thursday, saw the company report results for its “biggest year ever”.
The promoter posted full-year revenues of $22.7 billion, up 36% YoY. Those revenues were generated across all divisions, including concerts, ticketing and advertising & sponsorship.
Digging deeper into Live Nation’s results reveals that the company’s ‘Concerts’ business generated revenues of $18.7 billion across the full year ended December 31, which was up 39% YoYat constant currency (see above).
Live Nation reports that attendance to its concerts rose 20% in 2023, with over 145 million fans attending over 50,000 LN events last year.
That overall fan growth of 20% was led by International markets, up 25%, and North America, which was up 17%.
Live Nation says that its stadium shows led attendance growth with over 29 million fans globally attending stadium shows, up 60% YoY.
The company also notes that it offered a “wide variety of price points” in 2023 with two-thirds of its US concert tickets priced under $100 and one-third under $50.
According to Live Nation, the average secondary ticket price in 2023 was roughly twice that of primary ticket prices, “showing that tickets remain priced below market value”.
Elsewhere, Live Nation’s ticketing business, Ticketmaster, generated revenues of $2.9 billion, which reflected growth of 32% YoY at constant currency.
Live Nation reports that the total number of tickets handled by Ticketmaster in 2023 was up 13% to over 620 million tickets, including fee-bearing tickets up 17% to 329 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2023 (the three months to end of December), Live Nation generated total revenues of $5.8 billion, up 37% YoYat constant currency.
The company’s concerts business generated $4.9 billion in Q4, which represented growth of 45% YoY at constant currency (see above).
Live Nation reports that it ended Q4 2023 with $6.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, including $1.5 billion in ticketing client cash and $2.2 billion in free cash.
Credit: Live Nation/press
“The live music industry reached new heights in 2023, and demand for live music continues to build.”
Michael Rapino, Live Nation Entertainment
“The live music industry reached new heights in 2023, and demand for live music continues to build,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment.
“Our digital world empowers artists to develop global followings, while inspiring fans to crave in-person experiences more than ever. At the same time, 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 AOI growth again this year, with our profitability compounding by double-digits over the next several years.”
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