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Live Nation Executives Say Ticket Sales, Fan Spending Remain Strong Despite Economic Headwinds
Despite various economic headwinds, including inflation, we have not seen any pullback in demand,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said during the company’s earnings call on Thursday (Nov. 3). In the third quarter, Live Nation posted record revenue for its concerts division of $5.3 billion as well as the company’s best-ever gross transaction value at its Ticketmaster division of $6.7 billion. Its high-margin sponsorship and advertising division also produced record adjusted operating income of $226 million, up 56% from the same period in 2019.
Looking ahead to 2023, Live Nation is “feeling very good about the attendance levels for next year,” said president and CFO Joe Berchtold. “Our tickets sold for the shows that we have on sale for next year are up consistently across all venue types relative to a year ago.” Excluding rescheduled events, Ticketmaster’s sales for 2023 concerts are up by double digits compared to advance ticket sales at the same point in 2021.
Demand depends on the supply of artist tours, and Live Nation executives believe next year’s tours will have a similar level of quality as this year’s headline tours, which included runs by Bad Bunny, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Weeknd, among others. “If you were a stadium act, a large selling arena act, you probably debated whether you went out in ‘22 or you went out in ‘23,” said Rapino. “From clubs to stadiums to arenas, it looks like a similar year [in terms of] quality.” Next year, Live Nation will promote tours by Taylor Swift, Blink-182, Shania Twain, Dead & Company, Depeche Mode and the Eagles.
The warning signs for pending economic doom are everywhere. On Thursday, hedge fund giant Elliott warned of a “global societal collapse” and a further 50% decline in equity markets due to hyperinflation and an end to an “extraordinary” period of cheap money. The same day, the Bank of England warned that the U.K., facing high energy costs and rising interest rates, could suffer its longest-ever recession and a possible doubling of unemployment over the next two years.
The biggest banks have raised concerns, too. On Wednesday, Citi said the U.S. could fall into a recession in the second half of 2023. JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said earlier this month the global U.S. economies would hit a recession in mid-2023, although he added the U.S. economy was “actually still doing well” at present.
The U.S. economy is a grab bag of mixed signals that point to both resilience and stress. U.S. payrolls increased by 261,000 in October. Yet auto loan delinquencies are on the rise, according to TransUnion, and repeated interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve means consumers with credit card balances will pay more in interest.
But Live Nation’s numbers show fans are spending money on concerts in record numbers. At Live Nation’s U.S. amphitheaters and global festivals, ancillary fan spending — which covers items such as food, beverage, merchandise and parking — in the third quarter increased almost 30% to $38 per fan from the same period in 2019. At U.S. and U.K. theaters, ancillary fan spending increased by over 20% relative to 2019.
Caroline Jones Joins Zac Brown Band as Full-Time Band Member
Zac Brown Band has added singer and musician Caroline Jones as a full-time band member, the group announced on Thursday (Nov. 3). This makes her the first and only female in the eight-member group.
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Jones first opened for Zac Brown Band on their 2017 tour and continued as an opener for the next two years. The band asked her to join their 2021 The Comeback Tour as a guest band member, and welcomed her back as a guest member for their current Out in the Middle Tour. Jones also performed with the group during this year’s CMA Festival and 2021’s CMA Awards, as well as the band’s stint opening for the Rolling Stones at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Brown has become a mentor for Jones and is a co-producer on her song “So Many Skies,” featured on her album Antipodes. The album debuted at No. 4 on the iTunes Country chart, and also features her song “Come In (But Don’t Make Yourself Comfortable).” Jones also previously opened for Kenny Chesney on his 2019 Songs for the Saints Tour and teamed with Chesney and Jimmy Buffett for her song “Gulf Coast Girl.”
See Zac Brown Band’s upcoming tour dates below:
- Nov. 4 – Los Angeles – Hollywood Bowl+
- Nov. 4 – Los Angeles – The Hotel Cafe (That Girl In The Band Tour)
- Nov. 6 – Oakland, Calif. – Oakland Arena+
- Nov. 18 – San Diego, Calif. – WonderFront Festival+
- Nov. 19 – Phoenix, Ariz. – Chase Field+~
+Special Guest Robert Randolph Band
~ Special Guest Sam Hunt
First Country: Maren Morris‘ New Album, Brothers Osborne Cover the Rolling Stones, Mickey Guyton Belts Out ’I Still Pray’ & More | Billboard News
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week. Maren Morris has a new album, Brothers Osborne and The War and Treaty pay tribute to the Rolling Stones, Mickey Guyton belts out her latest song ‘I Still Pray’.
Ryan Reynolds Pokes Fun at Nick Cannon Following Announcement of Baby No. 11
Ryan Reynolds had some hysterical thoughts when it came to pal Nick Cannon‘s rapidly growing family, and didn’t shy away from sharing them via social media on Thursday (Nov. 3).
“We’re gonna need a bigger bottle,” the actor quipped on Twitter while retweeting a link to a People story about the host of The Masked Singer announcing model Alyssa Scott’s pregnancy with his eleventh child.
Earlier this year, Reynolds and Cannon teamed up for a Father’s Day ad promoting the former’s alcohol brand, Aviation Gin, by making a cocktail known amusingly as The Vasectomy. “Lord knows I need one,” Cannon joked at the time, though since the end of July, he’s welcomed three more kids: Legendary Love with Bre Tiesi, Onyx Ice with Lanisha Cole and Rise Messiah with Brittany Bell. (Following Bell’s pregnancy announcement, DJ Abby De La Rosa, who shares twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir with the star, joked he’s in the midst of creating “Gen C” with his approach to what he terms “consensual non-monogamy.“)
Whenever it arrives, baby No. 11 will actually be Cannon and Scott’s second together. Their son Zen died at just five months old last December following a devastating battle with an aggressive malignant brain tumor.
Meanwhile, Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, are expecting their fourth child together, with the Gossip Girl alum showing off her growing bump on Instagram in a September photo with bestie Taylor Swift. (As Swifties well know, the “Anti-Hero” singer has incorporated the couple’s kids into her songs on various occasions — featuring the voice of eldest James in the intro for 2017’s “Gorgeous,” and utilizing the names of all three as characters in 2020’s “Betty.”)
Read Reynolds’ gentle roast of Cannon below.
Alexis Ohanian Appears to Clap Back at Drake Diss on Twitter
Drake threw shots at Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian on his Her Loss song, “Middle of the Ocean,” and now Ohanian is clapping back.
“Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie/He claim we don’t got a problem but/No, boo, it is, like you comin’ for sushi/We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki,” Drake, who was rumored to be dating Williams in the past, rapped on his track.
In response, Ohanian shared a sweet photo to Twitter on Friday (Nov. 4) smiling while watching the tennis superstar on the court alongside the couple’s daughter, Olympia. “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter,” he captioned the post, which seems to be a direct reference to the “groupie” lyric.
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Ohanian is not the only person to respond to Drake’s Her Loss jabs following the album’s release. Megan Thee Stallion called out Drake for a line from his “Circo Loco” song off the rapper’s new joint album with 21 Savage, where he suggested that the Houston rapper lied about getting shot by Tory Lanez.
“This b—h lie ’bout getting shots, but she still a stallion/ She don’t even get the joke/ But she still smiling,” Drake raps on the song, in which he doesn’t mention Meg by name. He then says, “Shorty say she graduated, she ain’t learn enough/ Play your album, track one, ‘kay, I heard enough.”
“Stop using my shooting for clout b–h ass N—-s! Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot !” she tweeted early Friday morning in a series of heated comments that did not call out Drake by name, but which appeared to be a reaction to the “Loco” lines, which The Daily Beast described as a “vile, misogynistic” attack. “You n—-s especially RAP N—-S ARE LAME! Ready to boycott bout shoes and clothes but dog pile on a black woman when she say one of y’all homeboys abused her.”
First Spin: The Week’s Best New Dance Tracks From John Summit, Shouse & Jason Derulo, Blond:ish, Gryffin & More
This week in dance music: The scene went international, with the MTV EMAs announcing that David Guetta and Bebe Rexha will perform at the awards happening in in Düsseldorf, Germany on November 13. (The pair is nominated for best electronic and best collaboration for their unstoppable collab “I’m Good (Blue),” which they will also presumably perform.) Even further afield, Tiësto and Tate McRae partnered on the single “10:35,” which was created in partnership with Dubai’s new ultra-luxury resort Atlantis The Royal. The song is accompanied by a music video highlighting the new high-end destination, and will appear on Tiësto’s upcoming album Drive, due out Feb. 24 via Atlantic Records.
Whether you yourself are getting out this weekend or hanging closer to home, we’ve got the tunes to fill your headphones. Let’s dig in.
John Summit feat. Hannah Boleyn, “Show Me”
Few dance artists have had as big a 2022 as John Summit, the hard-partying mega-productive house wunderkind who’s been tearing through clubs and festivals in a post pandemic blaze of glory. The latest from the Chicago producer is “Show Me,” a wind-up house-leaning electropop heater with an intoxicating earworm vocal loop from London singer Hannah Boleyn. “from edc to coachella to ultra and more, Show Me has been my go to track all year and it’s finally out,” Summit wrote upon the track’s release at midnight. Now available for your on-demand listening pleasure, “Show Me” comes in at just under three minutes as a petite but mighty slice of peak time intensity. That said, we recommend the five and a half minute extended mix, both of which are out via Summit’s own Off the Grid imprint. — KATIE BAIN
Jason Derulo & Shouse – “Never Let You Go”
Have you been yearning for the big room anthems of the peak EDM era? This new one from Jason Derulo and Shouse taps a bit into that epic feeling, but with a modern and tempered R&B twist. Mr. “Want to Want Me” delivers a silky-smooth and sultry vocal performance over the Australian-New Zealand duo’s synth-heavy house rhythms. “Never thought the legend Jason Derulo hearing our music evrywhere [sic] in Ibiza would lead to a collab like this,” Shouse writes on Instagram, “but love what he’s done!” Let this one play loud when you’ve got to dance yourself clean of a heartbreak, or are just looking to let loose from Friday to Sunday. – KAT BEIN
Mount Kimbie, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning
The setup of Mount Kimbie’s latest double-album, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning, is a bit unusual. In the vein of OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the LP is presented in two halves, each half produced by one of members Dom Maker and Kai Campos. No surprise then that they’re also stylistically different. Maker’s Die Cuts, inspired by his move from London to L.A., takes advantage of his new collaboration-ready environment to build a feature-stacked (slowthai, Danny Brown, James Blake, Kučka, et al.) record swirling with rap, R&B, and soul.
Meanwhile, Campos’ City Planning goes deeper into electronic music’s futuristic roots, producing almost sketch-like, textured instrumental loops, each some combination of driving, dreamy, and industrial. In its entirety, City Planning could be the soundtrack to a 4:00 a.m. drive, perhaps on the way home from a warehouse party. Somewhere between the drum-focused drive of opener “Q” and the white-noise ambient of closer “Human Voices,” “Transit Mat (Flattened)” plays out like a tense highway trip in pouring rain. With its relentless rhythm, waterlogged atmosphere and blunt blockiness, it instantly evokes stark, grayscale images of concrete, metal and bright headlights softened by the storm. MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning is out now on Warp Records — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Skream & Jansons, “World Is Empty”
Lace up your roller skates and put on your blacklight reactive neon. Skream and Jansons just dropped a freestyle bass banger that feels like adult night at the entertainment-plex. A beautiful vocal sample from The Surpremes complements a haunting vibe, thanks to the deep, dark and minimal production, matching the emptiness of Diana Ross’ broken heart. Truly, the synth organ breakdown is downright spooky, but the bumpin’ ‘80s beat pits this night time tune squarely in the dance floor space. It’s a cool one, and it’s out now on CircoLoco Records. We even think the extended seven-minute version is the proper way to catch the electro groove. – KAT BEIN
Hugel & Blond:ish feat. NFasis, “Tra Tra”
After Hugel remixed Blond:ish’s single “Sete” earlier this year, the two producers have teamed up for their own collaboration, “Tra Tra.” Like on the former song, Blond:ish continues to explore different cultural influences alongside international collaborators, this time pulling up with the Latin house-loving Frenchman as well as Dominican rapper NFasis. Together, the three made a total bump-and-groover of a track: the production seems most at home in an Ibiza superclub, with a bass-heavy rhythm that’s as melodic as it is hip-grinding, and as dark as it is sexy, while NFasis’ gravelly vocal delivery feels like a command to dance and never stop moving. With a recent shout by Pete Tong on his BBC Radio 1 Dance show, “Tra Tra” already has a big stamp of approval. — K.R.
The Toxic Avenger, Yes Future
The Francophile vibes are strong on the latest from French producer The Toxic Avenger, who’s back with his first album in 15 years. The all-around excellent Yes Future gives heavy French Touch, synth and electro vibes, giving equal parts Justice, Kavinsky and the best of The Toxic Avenger himself. Released in September, the album’s lead single (the aptly titled “Getting Started“) is a stunner, and the rest of the LP is also equally tough and sensual and tres, tres cool. — K. Bain
Gryffin & Maia Wright, “Sometimes You Know”
Gryffin has long been a purveyor of brightly massive bangers big enough to fill the large-scale venues he frequently plays. No surprise then that the producer’s latest LP, Alive, is absolutely full of them, with the high-energy, high-emotion LP containing a flurry of previously released singles including the recent and exceedingly sleek Tinashe collab “Scandalous” along with the pop-forward chest-beater “Sometimes You Know” featuring Swedish singer Maia Wright. Alive is the San Francisco producer first album since his 2019 debut Gravity, which hit No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Albums, and the fanbasae that sent him to the top spot is still clearly here for Gryffin, who this weekend plays a pair of headline shows at Los Angeles’ 20,000 capacity State Historic Park. — K. Bain
One Year Later, The Massive Litigation Over Astroworld Is Just Getting Started
A year after the deadly disaster at Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival on Nov. 5, 2021, event organizers and victims are still locked in sprawling litigation over the tragedy, with hundreds of millions in potential damages on the line and no quick end in sight.
Beginning just hours after the incident, more than 4,900 alleged victims have filed legal claims against Live Nation, Travis Scott and other festival organizers over the disaster at Astroworld, in which a crowd crush during Scott’s headlining performance left 10 dead and hundreds physically injured.
The cases claim the organizers were legally negligent in how they planned and conducted the event, including not providing enough security and having insufficient emergency protocols in place. One case, filed by the family of a boy who died that night, claimed Live Nation and Scott had “egregiously failed in their duty to protect the health, safety, and lives of those in attendance.”
Combined, the cases are seeking billions in damages over the disaster. Even if a final settlement comes no where close to that total — and it likely won’t — the huge potential penalties resulting such “mass tort” cases should serve a stark reminder for those planning future music festivals.
“In business situations there’s always a pressure to cut costs, but you can’t cut costs in a way that ends up costing people lives and limbs,” says Mark Geistfeld, a professor at New York University School of Law and an expert in such litigation. “The point of mass torts is that you need something out there to temper the profit motive.”
“These cases can be a real wake up call,” Geistfeld says. “Are we actually spending enough on security and things like that to make sure these kinds things don’t happen?”
The lawsuits over Astroworld were all filed individually by the different victims, but they’ve been consolidated before a single Texas state judge as a “multidistrict litigation” — a standard procedure aimed at avoiding the inefficiency of individually litigating many cases that share key similarities.
Such a move not only helps streamline the proceedings, but also could make it easier to reach a broad settlement with all victims, like the $800 million deal that ended similar litigation over a 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert festival.
“Settlements are the way these cases almost always end,” says Jay Tidmarsh, a professor at Notre Dame Law School and an expert in complex civil litigation. “They make sense because of the risks of loss on both sides as well as the cost of litigation.”
A year into the case over Astroworld, sources close to the litigation tell Billboard that the parties are currently in the midst of what is known as discovery — the laborious process during lawsuits in which each side hands over mountains of evidence to their opponents, like internal emails about how the event was planned. Requests for such info have been exchanged, and disputes over what should be disclosed will be hammered out by the judge in the months ahead.
The parties are also gearing up to start depositions, in which attorneys for each side will take testimony from the various figures in the case, potentially including victims themselves, witnesses to the disaster, people involved in planning and many others. Each side is also lining up their own “expert witnesses” — specialists and professionals who will offer dueling analysis on what went down at Astroworld.
That work could still take well over another year, given the sweeping scope of a case involving more than a dozen defendants and thousands of plaintiffs. But when discovery and depositions eventually wrap up, the case will likely head in one of two ways.
One is a quick settlement. Based on what gets disclosed during discovery, it could become apparent to attorneys for the organizers that they’re facing a very strong case. Or plaintiffs might get worried that their ultimate damages award might be limited, even after years of costly litigation.
“One way these cases go is what’s called global peace — a large settlement that will cover all of these claims,” Geistfeld says. “If the amount is right, it might just be better for both sides to take that route rather than go to case by case litigation.”
If the parties can’t reach such a deal, they’ll keep litigating. But they won’t just take all 4,900 cases to trial. Instead, the litigation will likely proceed toward what are known as “bellwethers” – a handful of trials over individual victims that aim to serve as a representative sample of the broader case.
In the bellwethers, the two sides will grapple over the core question in all the cases — whether the conduct of Live Nation, Scott or any of the other planners caused the injuries suffered by various concertgoers. As reported by Billboard last year, that question will turn on whether the planners could have seen such a disaster coming, and whether they then took the proper steps to avoid it.
No matter how those early cases play out, experts say the case is still likely to eventually end in a settlement. But the outcome of the bellwethers will play a huge role in decided how that deal is ultimately structured.
“What [bellwether trials] do is set a baseline for negotiation,” Tidmarsh says. “Say the plaintiffs lose almost all of the early cases, then the settlement value goes way down. Say they win millions, then the value goes way up.”
