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Live Nation Entertainment continued to profit from the red-hot live music market in the second quarter, beating earnings expectations with $5.6 billion in revenue — up 27.1% year over year and coming in a whopping $680 million over expectations. The company generated earnings per share of $1.02, which was $.40 higher than expected.
The financial results, which marked Live Nation’s strongest second quarter ever, also saw the company’s operating income rise 21% year over year to $386 million this quarter, while adjusted operating income was up 23% to $590 million and operating cash flow came in at $491 million, a 41% increase. The earnings report continues an upward trend at the company, indicating that 2023 will again set a revenue record for the concert promotion giant.
“We believe this is a time on a global basis when live will see incredible growth for years to come,” Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino said on an earnings call after the company’s financial results were released Thursday (July 27).
The report noted that a record number of fans have attended Live Nation concerts this year, with 117 million tickets sold year-to-date for Live Nation shows — an increase of 20% year-over-year. Ticketmaster clients reported sales of 151 million fee-bearing tickets sold so far this year, with Ticketmaster on track to sell 300 million fee-bearing tickets in 2023. The company also reported a double-digit increase in sponsorship revenue and $4.3 billion in event-related deferred revenue, up 37% over last year, while double-digit attendance growth is expected next quarter.
In terms of venue size, stadiums saw the most growth, with attendance up 28% to 8.0 million fans, led by Europe and Asia Pacific. Arenas saw the second-highest growth rate, up 19% to 10.7 million fans, largely from Canada, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Finally, festivals grew 14% to 4.5 million fans, driven by global demand across all markets.
Capital expenditures at Live Nation totaled $158 million year-to-date, driven by investments in on-site venue enhancement and the expansion of the company’s venue portfolio. The 2023 capital expenditures forecast remains at $450 million, two-thirds of which is allocated for revenue-generating projects.
Despite the rosy earnings report, shares were slightly down Thursday after close to $96.93, marking a drop of less than 1%.
Below is a summary of 2023 Q2 results:
Total revenue: $5.6 billion, up 27% from 2022 Q2
Adjusted operating income: $168.1 million, up 37% from 2022 Q2
Concert revenue: $4.6 billion, up 29% from 2022 Q2
Ticketing revenue: $709.3 million, up 23% from 2022 Q2
Sponsorship and advertising: $302.9 million, up 15% from 2022 Q2
North American concerts: 8,111, up .67% from 2022 Q2
International concerts: 4,130, down 8% from 2022 Q2
North American fans: 18.5 million, up 6% from 2022 Q2
International fans: 18.6 million, up 13% from 2022 Q2
Fee-bearing tickets: 78.9 million, up 10% from 2022 Q2
As of Thursday (July 27), the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has officially transferred the AM For Every Vehicle Act to the Senate floor. The bill is eligible for a full Senate vote, though no date has yet been set. The AM For Every Vehicle Act would mandate that AM radios be […]
Beats marketplace BeatStars signed a partnership deal with AI music startup Lemonaide that will make “ethically-sourced AI” available to music creators to help them write and produce new works. Lemonaide’s AI technology “purposefully generates short musical ideas to spark inspiration, push creative boundaries, and pull artists out of their creative slump,” according to a press release. The companies claim the AI is “trained exclusively on voluntarily contributed data from producers” to ensure proper compensation for and active participation by those whose musical works are used.
Music festival and live events promoter Insomniac and music and lifestyle brand Emo Nite announced a partnership that will encompass projects ranging from events to music to apparel. First up is the launch of Grave Rave, a new event series coming to Los Angeles in December that will feature “both legendary and emerging bands and DJs…fusing the sounds of electronic music with the melodies of the emo, pop-punk, and rock genres,” according to a press release. A preview party for the series will be held on August 26 at Insomniac’s Academy LA venue with a surprise lineup of DJs who “built their careers on pop-punk/alternative/emo influences,” the press release adds. The two companies have also teamed for the launch of a new record label, Graveboy Records, with forthcoming single releases by We The Kings, Say Anything and Noelle Sucks. The first collection of Insomniac x Emo Nite merch will also debut at HARD Summer 2023.
Atlanta-based record label and management company Love Renaissance (LVRN) will utilize music streaming and discovery platform Audiomack‘s proprietary ArtistRank system to discover and develop emerging musicians under a new partnership. According to a press release, ArtistRank “allows partners to identify better when an artist is building a lasting fanbase, differentiating itself from other analytical tools by emphasizing engagement metrics rather than solely through play growth.” It provides detailed analytics on fan demographics as well as predictive data that analyzes an artist’s potential growth trajectory.
NetEase Cloud Music formed a partnership with leading Chinese music and entertainment company RYCE Entertainment that will see the companies extend their previous agreement while also giving NetEase access to an expanded portfolio of RYCE’s music catalog in China, with 30-day initial launch rights to distribute new additions to the catalog. The companies will additionally team up to promote RYCE artists and music in China. RYCE’s catalog includes works by Jackson Wang, Amber Liu and Tablo, among many others.
NLess Entertainment co-founders Zach “Z-Bo” Randolph (a former NBA star) and Marcus “Head” Howell are leading a funding found for Connect Music Group, a Black-owned Memphis music company that offers tools and resources to help independent musicians build successful careers while retaining ownership of their masters. Along with fellow investor Richard W. Smith, CEO of airline and international at FedEx, Howell recently hosted an investor event to raise capital for Connect. The amount of the funding round is unknown.
MNRK partnered with New York industry workshop Steel Sessions — based in downtown recording studio The Engine Room — along with its producers Francis “Buda Da Future” Ubiera, Dan “Grandz Muzik” Garcia and Michael “Mike Kuz” Kuzoian. Under the deal, Ubiera, Garcia and Kuzoian will develop artists in the studio to eventually sign them to MNRK while also providing production services for MNRK Urban’s frontline releases, lo-fi instrumental albums, brand partnerships, soundtracks and artist synchs.
Deezer renewed its partnership with French telecoms provider Orange which was first struck in 2010. Under the deal, Orange customers will continue to have access to the Deezer streaming service. In celebration of the renewal, Deezer and Orange will offer six months of Deezer Premium for free to new customers who subscribe to a “Plus que forfait” plan.
Don McLennon, formerly of Brockhampton, has partnered with Nashville-based music tech company Artiphon to release his new track, “Halcyon,” exclusively via the company’s handheld smart instruments, Orba 2 and Chorda. Utilizing stems, Artiphon and McLennon will offer fans the ability to remix the track without any prior musical skill.
The Jenni Rivera Estate has signed a global deal with Universal Music Publishing Group to administer the publishing rights for Jenni Rivera’s global catalog, Billboard has learned. “I’m so excited about this new partnership with Universal Music Publishing. It’ll bring great achievements for my mom’s legacy and for Jenni Rivera Enterprises,” said Jacqie Rivera, CEO of Jenni […]
A Mississippi woman has dropped her copyright lawsuit claiming that Taylor Swift stole aspects of a self-published book of poetry when she created a companion book for her album Lover, months after the star’s lawyers called it a case that “never should have been filed.”
Teresa La Dart sued Swift last year, claiming that “a number of creative elements” from her 2010 book (also called Lover) were copied into Swift’s book. But in a motion filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court, La Dart’s lawyer said she would permanently drop the case.
The sudden voluntary dismissal — which appears to be unilateral and not the product of any kind of settlement — came after Swift’s lawyers harshly criticized the lawsuit in their last filing. Demanding that case be dismissed, they said it was “legally and factually baseless” and “never should have been filed.”
Those arguments echoed what legal experts told Billboard were serious flaws in La Dart’s case. Lawyers said that she was essentially suing Swift over stock elements that could not be monopolized by any one author: “This person might as well sue anyone who’s ever written a diary or made a scrap book.”
Faced with such strong counter-arguments, dropping the case might have made monetary sense for La Dart. If she had continued to litigate the case and had ultimately lost, the judge may have ordered her to repay Swift’s legal bills — a sum that could have totaled tens of thousands of dollars.
La Dart sued Swift in August over the star’s Lover book — an extra bundled with the special edition of her Lover album that the New York Times called a “must-read companion” for Swifties. Released in four different versions, Swift’s book included a total of 120 pages of personal diary entries, accompanied by photos selected by the singer.
The lawsuit claimed that Swift had borrowed a number of visual elements from La Dart, including “pastel pinks and blues” and an image of the author “photographed in a downward pose.” She also claimed a copyright to the book’s overall format, including “a recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components” and “interspersed photographs and writings.”
Just one problem: In their response in February, Swift’s lawyers said those elements were nothing more than commonplace features of almost any book, meaning they fall well short of being unique enough to qualify for copyright protection.
“This is a lawsuit that never should have been filed,” attorney Doug Baldridge wrote for the superstar. “These allegedly-infringing elements, each a generic design format, are not subject to copyright protection. Thus, defendants could not possibly have infringed plaintiff’s copyright.”
That motion to dismiss the case remained pending when La Dart dropped the case on Thursday. Baldridge did not return a request for comment on Thursday.
La Dart’s attorney William S. Parks did not immediately return a request for comment. But after Swift’s response in February, he defended bringing the case: “Miss La Dart has questions that will hopefully and eventually be answered regarding her perceived similarities between the two works,” Parks said at the time. “Unfortunately, she felt it necessary to bring this suit in order to possibly obtain such answers. We will see how the judge decides at this point.”
Utopia Music has no plans to sell either of its U.K. distribution businesses, Proper Music Group and Utopia Distribution Services, according to the Swiss-based tech company’s co-founder/interim CEO, as it attempts to transition from a hyper-growth company to a profitable one.
Utopia Music acquired Proper Music Group, the United Kingdom’s leading independent physical music distributor, in January 2022 amid a frenetic two-year buying spree that saw the firm rapidly buy up 15 companies spanning distribution, artist and label services, publishing and fintech.
Utopia Distribution Services was launched in September when Utopia acquired the assets of Cinram Novum, one of the United Kingdom’s biggest physical home entertainment suppliers that provides warehouse, fulfillment and distribution services to a range of labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and [PIAS].
The past 12 months have, however, seen Utopia undertake a series of extensive cost-cutting measures, including several rounds of layoffs and the divestment of three companies: U.S.-based music database platform ROSTR, United Kingdom-based publisher Sentric and, most recently, distribution and music services company Absolute Label Services.
Last week, Utopia, which is headquartered in the Swiss town of Zug, announced the closure of its research and development offices in the United Kingdom and Finland, resulting in the loss of another 25 jobs. In under one year, the firm’s global workforce has been trimmed from approximately 1,200 staff to around 440.
The company’s recent troubles also include legal action from U.S. music technology company SourceAudio over a stalled acquisition deal (Utopia says it hopes to settle the dispute in the coming weeks) and reports of unpaid tax bills in Sweden and employees not being paid on time (a spokesperson for the company says the tax debt was cleared in the spring and late payments for staff are all being resolved).
“It’s been quite painful,” co-founder/interim CEO Mattias Hjelmstedt tells Billboard in a rare interview. “Any type of readjustment is hard. I would be lying if I said it isn’t hard to take a hyper-growth company [and turn it into] a sustainable-going-into-profitability company. It’s not something you turn around in one day.”
Hjelmstedt says the streamlining measures he and the company’s board have implemented over the past year are having the desired effect and Utopia is now on a “clear path to profitability,” although he declines to discuss financial figures. (Earlier this year, Hjelmstedt told Billboard that the company generates over €100 million [$110 million] in revenue a year, although this was prior to it offloading Sentric and Absolute).
Key to its future growth, Hjelmstedt says, will be its two main physical music distribution entities: Proper Music Group, which provides distribution services for over 5,000 indie labels and service companies, and Utopia Distribution Services (formerly Cinram Novum).
“Those are fantastic businesses for us and they are actually golden when it comes to industry insight and relations,” says Hjelmstedt. He insists neither company is up for sale and says the ongoing importance of physical music distribution is often overlooked by other parts of the music industry.
“Physical distribution is still a substantial part of the business and a very big part of what makes a hit [album] today. When it comes to revenues, for us those are two of our golden companies,” says Hjelmstedt, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Utopia in 2016 with Thomas Gullberg and has been acting as interim chief executive since former CEO Markku Mäkeläinen exited the company in January.
According to its most recent financial filings, Proper Music Group generated revenue of £42.1 million ($54.4 million) and a loss after tax of £1.2 million ($1.5 million) in the year ended March 31, 2022. The company said the loss was “mainly due to increased operating costs” and was “taking steps to return the group to profitability.” Financial figures for Utopia Distribution Services are yet to be filed.
Evidence of Utopia’s commitment to physical music came in May when it announced a long-term partnership with UAE-headquartered DP World to provide warehousing and logistics for physical music in the United Kingdom and its export markets. As part of the £100 million-plus ($125 million) deal, the two companies have opened a new 25,000-square-meter warehouse in the U.K. that is able to distribute over 30 million units a year.
Addressing the recent reacquisition of Absolute Label Services by its original owners from Utopia, Hjelmstedt says both parties amicably reached an agreement that “the company will probably operate better outside Utopia,” although says he is unable to discuss the terms of the deal. That includes confirming if Absolute’s owners paid any money to Utopia to regain control of the business — or, as indicated to Billboard by music industry sources, whether Absolute changed hands after Utopia failed to meet the financial obligations of its original acquisition deal.
“They were able to reacquire it on good terms between ourselves, so it’s good for them and good for us,” is all Hjelmstedt will say. Absolute Label Services declined to comment.
Referring to Utopia’s recent downsizing, the interim CEO dismisses the idea that mistakes were made during Utopia’s busy buying spree but concedes that some of the companies it bought “didn’t really glue together with the rest to be able to actually serve the industry as we wanted.”
Looking ahead, Hjelmstedt refuses to rule out further cost-cutting measures but says there are no immediate plans for more layoffs or streamlining. “We’re very data-driven now, which means that part of what we have to optimize and implement is performance versus cost.” He says the company’s recent actions have significantly reduced outgoings but warns that if more savings need to be made the company will “take action to get there, but right now that’s not the case.”
“The idea and concept of [our] acquisition strategy was never just to scale up to build value,” says Hjelmstedt. “It’s always been about the long game when it comes to Utopia. We’re not naive enough to think that you can change the music industry in one year. It’s going to take time.”
Australian singer and songwriter Kita Alexander is the latest addition to the Lemon Tree Music roster, Billboard can reveal.
Alexander signs with the Australia-based artist management company for the world, and will be guided by LTM senior artist manager Elise Naismith.
Kita’s catalog “is anthem after anthem and her new music is no exception,” Naismith comments. “Off the back of her sold out debut headline tour earlier this year, I look forward to empowering Kita as she enters her Queen era, here in Australia and beyond.”
To celebrate the new deal, Alexander today (July 27) releases her new single “Date Night” (via Warner Music Australia), a collaboration with homegrown country star Morgan Evans.
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Based in Byron Bay, Alexander’s profile contributes to grow off the back of several high-profile gigs and new releases, including the introspective “7 Minutes In Heaven” and the belter “Queen,” both of which enjoyed rotation on national youth broadcaster triple j.
Championed by triple j from the early phases of her career, Alexander would go on to achieve commercial radio liftoff with the Hit and Nova networks.
Global combined streams top 145 million, and include the EPs Like You Want To and Hotel, the ARIA gold-certified singles “Damage Done” and “Like You Want To,” and platinum-certified “Between You & I”.
Earlier in the year, she teamed up with Australian DJ Fisher on stage at Coachella. The live dates keep coming, and include a performance this Friday, July 28 at the FIFA Fan Festival, set to be held in Brisbane, Australia following the home nation’s Women’s World Cup group match against Nigeria.
Led by co-founders and directors Regan Lethbridge and David Morgan, LTM’s roster includes award-winning homegrown artists Tash Sultana, Tones and I and Budjerah.
“I’m so excited to announce that I’ve signed with Lemon Tree Music,” Alexander says in a statement. “I’ve been self-managed for the last year and a half waiting until I found the perfect fit. I have wanted to align myself with an Australian based management company that has those international ties to really grow my music and brand. Cannot wait to see what we can achieve together.”
MELBOURNE, Australia — Mushroom Group spawns a new live entertainment company, MG Live.
Unveiled Thursday, July 27, the independent music powerhouse consolidates a string of its events and touring businesses under the umbrella of MG Live, including Illusive Presents, Roundhouse Entertainment, Good Life, I OH YOU Touring, and Arena Touring.
The fresh collective will focus on developing branded events and experiences alongside its domestic and international headline touring, and will continue to deliver tours in conjunction with sister company Frontier Touring, the powerhouse concerts specialist.
“Throughout the last eighteen months we have worked to consolidate a number of Mushroom’s live interests outside of our leading touring business Frontier Touring,” comments Mushroom Group chairman and CEO Matt Gudinski, who helms MG Live, along with an experience executive team.
“We looked at how to best move forward with our other specialist touring and leading event companies,” he continues in a statement, “and decided the time was right to combine their strengths and bring them under one banner.”
Matt Gudinski
Brian Purnell
Speaking with Billboard ahead of the announcement, Gudinski says the seeds for MG Live were planted before the COVID-19 pandemic. And as the Melbourne-based company celebrates its 50th anniversary, expect more change and evolution.
“The consolidation that we’re looking at across a number of different areas of the group,” he explains, “you’ll see a number of other things over the next six to 12 months which will really drive greater success, ensure we’re combining our strengths and, really, allow myself and the other leaders of the group to better manage all the different businesses that are part of Mushroom.”
Those businesses number more than two-dozen affiliates active in every conceivable area of the music and entertainment industries, from touring to publishing, merch and marketing services, venues, exhibition and events production, neighboring rights, branding, labels, talent management and more. In recent weeks, Mushroom Group added a new agency, MBA, a partnership with Guven Yilmaz, founder and managing director of Vita Music Group.
Frontier Touring, a partnership with AEG Presents which is unaffected by the new live entertainment company, has teamed with MG Live’s companies which, in the past 12 months, have sold more than 1.3 million tickets combined, according to the business, and produced tours over that time that include Tyler, The Creator, Fatboy Slim, Ed Sheeran, Billy Joel, Richard Marx, Pavement, and more.
The MG Live touring slate for the months ahead includes Robbie Williams and the Chicks performing at a day on the green, plus Fridayz Live and Boiler Room events, as well as tours by 070 Shake, The Teskey Brothers, DMA’S, Valley and Earl Sweatshirt.
As for the brand, is MG Live a reference to Michael Gudinski, the late, legendary founder and chairman of the group, his son Matt, or the broader business itself, Mushroom Group?
“It might be a combination of all of those,” says Matt Gudinski, cryptically. “It just clicked.”
Universal Music Group (UMG) is starting to see the fruit of higher prices and new deals with streaming platforms. The company’s recorded music division saw its subscription revenue climb 10.6% year-over-year (up 13% at constant currency) due in part to price increases at “certain platforms,” the company said in its second quarter earnings release on […]
SYDNEY, Australia — Coachella CEO Paul Tollett, futurist Amy Webb and Slack co-founder Cal Henderson are among the guest speakers joining the inaugural SXSW Sydney, a week-long industry powwow, party, and seat of learning, set for this October.
Joining the 700-strong speakers lineup is fashion icon Tan France, alongside previously announced guests including Chris Lee, a.k.a. Sung-su Lee, chief A&R officer and former CEO of SM Entertainment, the giant K-pop agency; Per Sundin, the Swedish CEO of Pophouse Entertainment; multiple world surfing champion Layne Beachley and many more.
Tollett will participate in a “fireside chat,” says Claire Collins, head of music for SXSW. “We’re going to learn about his history, the history of the event and how it became the most influential event in the world, the challenges and the future,” Collins tells Billboard. “It’ll be an unmissable session.”
Organizers received more than 2,500 applications for those coveted performer spots, explains Collins, who pays tribute to the “enormous job” by the programming team, and singles out music festival programming director of Reginald Harris.
Meanwhile, the SXSW music team today announces 100 new artists to its lineup, a list that includes raging-hot U.S. viral hip-hop act Flyana Boss, which has accumulated more than 1 million followers on TikTok; rising homegrown acts South Summit, Chanel Loren and Gut Health; South Korea’s ADOY and Lil Cherry; Indonesia’s Isyana Sarasvati and Malaysia’s Lunadira.
The final list of performances, which continues to take shape, will number more than 400.
Just three months out from showtime, SXSW Sydney 2023 will spotlight a range of fresh music talent coming out of the Asia-Pacific region, organizers say, and offer myriad opportunities to connect with bright sparks across the region from within the music industry, and across the tech, games and screen industries.
“Never before have this many entrepreneurs, artists, futurists, innovators and titans of every industry all been in Sydney at one time,” comments Colin Daniels, managing director of SXSW Sydney, in a statement. “As we pull together over 1,000 events and experiences, our team are still searching for a poster big enough to reveal it all.”
Also, more than 300 panels and sessions will explore hot-button topics from AI fluency, “Big Tech” transparency, the future of lab-grown meat, ethical living with robots, First Nations knowledge in design, and more.
Born and bred in Austin, Texas, the South by Southwest conference and festival makes the leap from the United States for the first time with its Australia leg, set for seven days and nights from Oct. 15-22, 2023.
SXSW Sydney is a collaboration with Australian promoter TEG and the New South Wales (NSW) government along with its tourism agency, Destination NSW.
In April 2021, it was announced that SXSW had signed a “lifeline” deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC, making P-MRC a stakeholder and long-term partner with the Austin festival. P-MRC is the parent company of Billboard.
Visit sxswsydney.com for more.