As summer 2023 approaches, many signs point to a healthy and growing live music business for the rest of the year. In recent weeks, executives at publicly traded concert promotion and ticketing companies have indicated that growing consumer demand will not slow, and there will be enough tours to satiate music fans’ appetite for live events.
Live Nation CEO Says “Demand Has Been Strong” And Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down Michael Rapinoe during the company’s May 4 earnings call. Live Nation is expected to sell more than 600 million tickets in 2023, up from 550 million in 2022. To date, the concert promoter has sold more than 100 million tickets for Live Nation events, up 20% from the prior-year period, and expects to host a record number of fans in 2023.
Vivid Seats, a publicly traded secondary ticketing marketplace, shares Live Nation’s sentiment. “Consumers continued to crave live experiences in the first quarter,” the CEO said. Stan Chia during the May 9 earnings call, “and we believe this trend will continue for many years.” Vivid Seats primarily operates in the US while German promoter and ticketing provider CTS Eventim focuses on Europe. “In Germany and internationally, we are pursuing organic growth and expect our business performance to continue on its successful course,” said the CEO of CTS Eventim. Klaus-Peter Schulenburg The positive outlook for 2022 was reiterated in the annual report of “modestly higher earnings” for the live entertainment segment for 2023 in the quarterly results released May 24.
The concert business is living up to and perhaps even surpassing some of the loftiest expectations. In 2022, as the concert business emerged out of the pandemic, the widespread belief was that pent-up demand for personalized experiences would drive the concert business past pre-pandemic levels. It turned out to be true. Concert promoter Live Nation posted record revenue of $6.2 billion in the third quarter, up 67% from the same period in 2019. What’s more, the amount of fans returning to concert venues was fueled by an unmatched willingness to absorb the higher prices. Frenzied demand for tours by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen – and skyrocketing prices on the secondary market – have shown that A-list artists have yet to find their ceiling on prices.
Concert promoters posted strong quarterly earnings that fit their narratives. Live Nation’s first quarter revenue jumped 71% to $3.1 billion. CTS Eventim’s online ticket sales rose 58% to 18 million as consolidated revenue rose 163% to 366.2 million euros ($393 million). At Vivid Seats, which also deals in major sports such as baseball and basketball, first-quarter revenue rose 23.2% to $161 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization doubled to $42.4 million.
Investors absorb past earnings history when figuring out what to expect in the future, according to JPMorgan analyst david karnowski They often ask two questions about Live Nation: First, is there enough supply to meet the growing, healthy demand? Yes, Live Nation President and CFO Joe Berchtold said at JP Morgan’s Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday. That’s because global streaming platforms like Spotify and social media apps like Instagram and TikTok allow artists to build global followings in ways that weren’t possible before, he explained. K-pop and other up-and-coming styles of music “that maybe once were regional are now going global,” he said, and artists who used to sell out mid-sized venues are now selling out stadiums. “So, you’re seeing that supply continues to build up.”
Secondly, investors want to know how demand will respond during a soft economy. Live Nation follows indicators closely — such as on-sales show closing — but we’re not seeing anything that gives us pause, Berchtold said. Separately, Berchtold said that Live Nation’s research indicates that getting back to concerts is one of fans’ top priorities after the pandemic and “will be one of the last things they’re going to cut back on.”
Vivid Seats CFO Lawrence Fay It also addressed the possibility of an economic recession – becoming increasingly likely a scenario in the US should Congress fail to reach agreement on raising the debt limit in early June. ,[T]Fay said there is “a lot of chatter and concern” that demand will weaken “in the not too distant future,” but continues to make the case that we are seeing very strong demand across our event categories. [and] at price points. In addition to continued strong demand, Vivid Seats was “pleasantly surprised by the supply calendar,” particularly a concert schedule that includes recently announced tours by Drake and Aerosmith, he added, “and [that] gives us optimism.
