Bobby Campbell

Global touring has drastically changed in the last 30-plus years, according to Live Nation Concerts president of global touring/chairman Arthur Fogel. During a conversation at the Billboard Live Music Summit in Los Angeles on Thursday (Nov. 14), the veteran promoter said infrastructure around the globe has drastically improved and opened touring to nearly double the number of countries over that time.
“The first time that I went to South America was in the 1990s with David Bowie, so 35-ish years ago. It was a different world down there. It was a very different world everywhere,” said Fogel. “It was the Wild West. It was very difficult, despite the audience being great, but you fast forward to today and the level of expertise that’s been created. There’s the ability to do business on a very serious level.”

In conversation with Haus of Gaga’s Bobby Campbell, who is Lady Gaga‘s manager, Fogel explained that global touring is “night and day” compared to 35 years ago when North American artists would only have the opportunity to tour 15 to 20 countries. Now, Fogel said there are 60 to 70 countries available to them.

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According to Campbell, touring has become more than just an economic engine for artists; it’s become a marketing driver for the music itself.

“You used to have cycles where you put out the album, promote the album through talk shows and TV performances and award shows, then eventually you go on tour,” said Campbell. “Now tours are becoming a central part of the marketing plan for the album.” He added that artists will now change small aspects of their shows, such as the setlist or certain dance moves, to create new content for each stop.

These small adjustments are a far stretch from the dramatic changes tours would have to make decades ago as they crossed continents, explained Fogel, who said that artists used to create a touring show specifically for North America and then scale back and change it for other parts of the world.

“There are so many new state-of-the-art venues coming online that have really helped propel the ability for artists to go and play all kinds of different places,” said Fogel, who pointed out that Africa, essentially the last frontier on the touring front, has recently opened up.

“South America, Central America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, India, South Africa, Eastern Europe — all those territories and regions of the world that were once very hard to access in terms of touring have really developed dramatically over the last decade and a half,” Fogel added. “To provide the opportunity for an artist to go basically anywhere in the world at this point and connect with their fans is really a pretty interesting and important piece. Maybe it’s the most important piece in terms of development in our business.”