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Live nation

Taylor Swift’s orbit is so powerful, it even draws in CEOs.

That’s what’s brought Tim Leiweke, chairman/CEO of Oak View Group (OVG), to Toronto in November. Joining us in a boardroom at OVG’s Toronto office in Liberty Village while an Eras Tour pre-party raffles off tickets to the excited sounds of “oohs” and “aahs” in the next room, Leiweke says Taylor Swift Mania represents a pivotal moment for the city and its big and growing live music industry.

“I’m always amazed not just by her talent, but that she’s just a genuinely very nice human being,” Leiweke said. “But to me, I love Toronto. I’m happy the city gets this moment and this platform. It’s a nice spotlight, and the city always does well in the spotlight.”

OVG played a minor role in the Eras Tour coming to Toronto, arranging the sponsorship of the Canadian leg and helping out with venues behind the scenes. But her presence is a perfect chance for Leiweke to survey the company’s operations in Canada, entertain clients and make ambitious plans.

“Canada is a place where we’re going to plant the flag of this organization and watch it grow,” says Leiweke. “Our entrepreneurial spirit is high in Canada.”

OVG has broken ground on a major renovation of an as-yet-unnamed 18,000-seat arena in Hamilton, Ontario (a large metropolis not quite two hours from Toronto) set to open in 2025. A partnership with Live Nation and the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG), it’s a nearly $300-million private-public investment in the former FirstOntario Centre/Copps Coliseum building.

“You’re not gonna recognize the building when we’re through with it,” says Francesca Bodie, OVG’s Chief Operating Officer (Leiweke’s daughter), who also joins the interview with Billboard Canada. She’s excited for the different kinds of entertainment they can bring to Hamilton, from K-pop to South Asian music to boxing. “Hamilton is very diverse, and they’ve got a tremendous appetite for a variety of content. They just don’t have the venue yet.”

As it readies the new arena, which is poised to operate on a scale you’d more often see in Toronto, OVG has been increasing its presence north of the border. It’s hiring new staffers and investing in new ventures, like Departure conference and festival (formerly Canadian Music Week), and partnering with venues like Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as part of its Canadian Alliance.

Leiweke is no stranger to Canada. He spent four years as the President and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, from 2013-2015. He even personally cut the ribbon on BMO Field, home of the Toronto FC Major League Soccer Team. He has fond memories of the city, telling stories about buying beers for fans and personally ensuring hot dog buns were toasted.

Leiweke, who is also a former CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), broke away to partner with music industry titan Irving Azoff to form OVG in 2015, initially starting with four employees and funding it with their own money. Now, Leiweke says the company has 62,000 employees and did “half a billion in sales this year.” The company manages approximately 500 facilities, and built a number of them during the pandemic, anticipating the post-restrictions boom in concerts.

The exec compares the Hamilton Arena Project to Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle when it comes to sustainability (reusing 30,000 pounds of steel by renovating instead of building from scratch) and to CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore for how the company built a splashy project in a city that many didn’t then see as a top-tier market. He also compares it to the big-budget Co-op Live Arena in Manchester for its focus on music and special acoustic treatments to get the best possible sound.

The live music industry is hot right now, especially when it comes to stadiums and arenas. That’s good news for OVG, but it’s also increased scrutiny around the most successful companies. In the United States, the Department of Justice is investigating Live Nation in an antitrust complaint that ties back to the company’s 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. Correspondence from Leiweke and OVG was used as evidence in the case, which alleges that the two companies colluded to undercut competitors. Live Nation has countered to say OVG, which is focused on venue operations and services, is not a competitor in the realm of concert promotion, and that the company’s use of Ticketmaster is above board.

In this wide-ranging interview, the first in Billboard Canada‘s new Executive Spotlight series, Leiweke gives his opinion on the legal challenge from the DOJ. He also shares why OVG is investing in Hamilton, and talks about his big dream for a national stadium of Canada.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is arguably the biggest tour of all time, but it seems like there are more mega-tours than ever before. Do you see it as a healthy market for arena and stadium concerts?

I’m also a huge fan of Coldplay, and they kind of sometimes get lost in the Swifties. They opened our building at Climate Pledge Arena in 2021, and they’ve been touring ever since. These guys have been on the road for like four years! We have Sir Paul McCartney at our building in Manchester next month, and to me that’s just another incredible story. Here’s this 80-year-old guy and he’s still in phenomenal shape. We have Springsteen doing three nights. He’s 70-something years old. I mean music is an interesting industry right now. We’ve got a bunch of young turks and a bunch of us old jerks.

It’s a healthy industry. This is still pent up demand from COVID. It’s what people have been talking about forever in our industry, which the transfer of power from recording to touring – because that’s where the money is.

Oak View Group is making a big push here in Canada with the new Hamilton arena that’s coming and then Canadian Music Week, which is now Departure. Is it an intentional push in this country?

Yes. I spent roughly four years with Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment. I very much enjoyed my time here. I was just blown away by Toronto in particular. There’s a lot of great cities in North America, but in my mind there’s not a cleaner, bigger, better city than Toronto. So when we started the new company, I told Francesca I want to focus on opportunities in Canada and I want our company to grow. There were two people when we started this Toronto office. Now, we have at least 40 or 50.

I think the largest single private investment in the history of arenas is what we’re doing in Hamilton. And part of it is just because I was from here [Toronto] for four years. This metro area has to move south. It does. [Toronto’s] metro area is not gonna go backwards. It’s gonna continue to grow. It’s gonna continue to thrive. But if you look cost of living, you look at the campuses and the colleges down there, you look at companies that are moving there, I think Hamilton is an interesting alternative. I mean, just look at the number of condos being built in downtown Hamilton.

Toronto is one of the biggest global touring markets and Hamilton is relatively close by. Is that proximity part of the appeal to build there?

I’ll tell you a story. When I first got here, one of the first things I did is I went to meet every partner. And so I went to the Ford plant [in Oakville, Ontario] to meet the people there, and I realized that plant is almost as close to Hamilton as it is to downtown Toronto. And that was the first time that I understood Hamilton, essentially. It’s like a suburb of Toronto. It’s not that far away. Where I come from, it would be like as Anaheim is to L.A.

If you look at that old building, everyone looks past it. We saw a jewel. We did this in Baltimore where we took an old arena and no one got what we were doing there [at first]. There, we invested about a quarter of a billion. Here, we’re putting in about $300 million. But what we saw was the economy, the energy level, the kids and youth, they’re in Hamilton.

Why build in Hamilton though, and not Toronto directly?

Well, I didn’t want to take on Maple Leafs Sports, because that’s my home. I still have a very good relationship with everybody over there. We’re gonna grow our company with those people, so I’m not coming into their marketplace and competing with them. But what I knew running Air Canada Centre, now Scotiabank Arena, is they’ve got a calendar issue. They’ve got too much going on. There has to be another play. What I love about Hamilton is if there are conflicts [in Toronto], we can have the dates available at that building. But it’s also the ability to go play two nights in Scotiabank and two nights in Hamilton.

There’s lot of opportunity in Canada in general, including a national stadium. You need a national stadium.

What does a national stadium look like? What would that look like? Can you make a comparison?

Wembley Stadium in London. That’s really the inspiration and the concept. Everyone always talks about the NFL coming to Toronto. I say, you don’t understand. They are never coming here until you have a stadium first. You’ve got to find a stadium solution.

Also, I think this is actually one of the greatest soccer markets in the world. You could do 10 international games every year here during the summertime with all the big teams. The national team is also getting good and they need a place that ultimately becomes their home for the qualifications. I think Toronto FC is going to have some big games as well. They have the ability of putting some games into a big stadium. You’ve also got Live Nation building a temporary stadium in order to do concerts [in Toronto] because they’re going to do 20 a year.

So now, combine all of that into a national stadium and then add the opportunity to do NFL football. That’s a huge opportunity.

Are you talking about this theoretically, or is this something that you’re planning to do?

It’s a dream. It’s a really expensive dream. But it is a dream.

Is your strategy different from what you’re doing in the United States and in the rest of the world?

Here’s one thing I learned in Canada. I came up here thinking about open competition. We don’t want to be controlled by U.S. media and U.S. banks. And I came here thinking, well, they’re very open to entrepreneurial spirits. And then I remember the first time I walked down Lawrence Street, I think it was, and the banks were all right next to each other. I think they all talk to each other every day. And then I realized, well, wait a minute. There’s only three media companies here and they own everything. It was a learning lesson.

Michael Bloomberg always used to tell me if you want to see economic development, go out and ultimately be the first one in with a vision and then watch how many people will follow you. So, we privatized all 300 million dollars in Hamilton. That’s an amazing commitment on behalf of our partners and the company. And Live Nation, which is interesting that now they’re jumping into the facility business.

You’re partnering with Live Nation on the Hamilton arena. How does that relationship work?

Carefully. As you may know, we got dragged into the lawsuit [with Live Nation and Ticketmaster].

I get the debate on Ticketmaster and Live Nation. But guess what? They approved that merger. So now to sit there and say, you’re a monopoly. You should have dealt with it then. But you approved it. So you can’t now go back and say, we made a mistake.

When we started our company, AEG wasn’t going to do anything with us. There was still some tension [after Leiweke left the company]. They wouldn’t do our conferences. They wouldn’t do our publication [Pollstar or VenuesNow, which OVG owns]. They didn’t want to book our buildings. They wouldn’t talk to us. So if you looked at where we were as a company, it was like, hey, I don’t have a choice if I am going to survive and make a go of this company. Me and Irving Azoff, we personally put our own money into growing this damn thing. Now, I have to find somebody [to book shows] because I need content. My buildings can’t work if I don’t have content.

And so then [the authorities] come back and say, well, why didn’t you be a promoter? I barely had enough money to meet payroll. Me and Irving put $10-15 million into the company and started it up. We were doing the dog paddle.

Now you come along and you want to whack me? And the question I have is, shouldn’t we be like the gold statue winners for entrepreneurial spirit? All I’ve done is given people choices now on food and beverage companies, or facility management companies, or facility development companies. And I’m competing with all these other people. You let AEG and SMG merge. And I’m the dumb schmuck that took them on. I’m the one that went and competed with them. And by the way, I kicked their butt.

Now you penalize me? I didn’t go buy other companies out and try to eliminate competition. If you look at everything we’ve done – privatize the building in New York, privatize the building in Seattle, privatize the building in Austin – isn’t that what we’re supposed to be, entrepreneurial spirit? Shouldn’t we encourage that instead of condemning that?

But it’s like, well, anyone that’s partners with Live Nation, we’re going to get. Why? If you’ve got a problem with them, go talk to them. But at the end of the day, you’re going to penalize me, because I’m working with the only company that would return my phone calls? That’s the mindset now. And I just think it’s wrong.

Now, everybody has an opinion, and theirs counts. And so we will fight through that. But I think we’ve had a four-year stint, at least in our country, where there has been almost ruthlessness towards companies. And to me, this private-public partnership in Hamilton, where we’re putting up all the money and taking all the risk and the city ultimately gives us a long-term lease, I think that’s a good thing. But you’ve got to have entrepreneurs who are willing to take risk.

And so I think we’ve got to get back – in the U.S., but I’d say this applies to Canada, too – to encouraging competition, but celebrating entrepreneurs, and trying to encourage privatization of certain aspects of risk. I think governments should be focused on security, and education, and health, and wellness, and services. That means the private sector has to go figure out a way to build arenas. I don’t think the taxpayers should have to pay for arenas. But it means you better then find people who want to take the risk to develop them. We’ve spent $5 billion as a company. $5 billion. I think that’s a good thing. And by the way, we’re not a monopoly. We have lots of competitors.

Coming back to the arena in Hamilton, what are your hopes for the future of concerts and entertainment in the city?

If you think about arenas, they’re a point of destination that brings the entire community together. And as we’re proving again with Taylor, music moves people. It’s the one thing that unites us and always brings us together. If the arena can be a symbol of rejuvenation and renovation in Hamilton and we can get people pumped up, other developers are going to jump in and other projects are going to get built. There’s a chain effect, and that’s fantastic.

This story was originally published by Billboard Canada.

Live Nation’s Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City will become a year-round live performance venue with the debut of a custom-designed glass structure for winter concerts starting in late 2025.
The innovative enclosure will seamlessly convert The Rooftop at Pier 17 into a climate-controlled, indoor setting, while preserving the venue’s renowned views of the iconic lower Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge backdrop through floor-to-ceiling glass sidings. The enclosed venue will be able to hold up to 3,000 fans during its winter configuration, and introduce a new VIP balcony level. Each spring, the glass structure will be removed, returning The Rooftop to its signature open-air format for summer performances with a capacity of 3,500 guests.

The announcement coincides with a five-year extension of the partnership between Seaport Entertainment Group and Live Nation to continue programming the award-winning rooftop concert venue as the exclusive booking partner.

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“We appreciate our partnership with Live Nation, which has been successful in helping us bring our vision to life,” said Anton Nikodemus, CEO of Seaport Entertainment Group. “We look forward to The Rooftop at Pier 17 transforming into a year-round concert venue. Our state-of-the-art space will deliver an unparalleled experience for both artists and guests, providing the quintessential New York City live music venue no matter the season.”

The new design allows The Rooftop at Pier 17 to expand its Seaport Concert Series, with an estimated 25 additional performances planned for the late fall and winter months. The Rooftop currently hosts over 60 concerts annually between May through October within its outdoor setup located five stories above the East River.

“With its breathtaking views of New York City and intimate atmosphere, The Rooftop at Pier 17 is truly a special place for live music,” said Stacie George, senior vice president of booking, Live Nation Northeast. “We are excited to extend our partnership with Seaport Entertainment Group and continue collaborating in creating opportunities that further connect artists and their fans in this incredible setting throughout the year on The Rooftop at Pier 17.”

The Rooftop at Pier 17

Courtesy of The Rooftop at Pier 17

The Rooftop at Pier 17 is currently planning its seventh annual concert series in 2025, including Elderbrook (May 1-2); heavy metal bands Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine (May 7); Australian punk band Amyl and The Sniffers (May 15); Peach Pit & Briston Maroney (May 22-23); Reggae Fest Blaze (June 14); country music singers/songwriters Riley Green (July 24) and Cody Jinks (August 13). Tickets for general admission and the venue’s premium Heineken Silver Zone located near the front of the stage, are on sale now at AXS.com, with many more shows to be announced over the coming months.

For more information on upcoming announcements for The Rooftop at Pier 17 visit RooftopatPier17.com and follow @RooftopatPier17 across Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok. The Rooftop at Pier 17 is located at the Seaportat 89 South Street, in New York, NY.

Courtesy of The Rooftop at Pier 17

Between the DOJ’s Live Nation antitrust suit, Sphere’s first year, new leadership at CAA and a slew of acquisitions, it’s been another big year for the concert business.

Universal Music Group’s Virgin Music Group struck a global distribution and marketing partnership with Brooklyn-born independent label Partisan Records, which is home to IDLES, PJ Harvey, Blondshell, Cigarettes After Sex, Laura Marling, Ezra Collective and more. Partisan also includes the imprints Desert Daze Sound and section1. The deal follows Universal’s acquisition of Partisan’s longtime partners [PIAS] and [Integral] last month. “The combination of the Virgin and [Integral] teams allows for Partisan to marry the best of the [PIAS] and [Integral] teams that helped get us here with the extra resources of Virgin required to meet our ambition to be the most trusted music company for artists of all genres, worldwide, said Partisan COO Zena White in a statement.
SoundExchange and the South African Music Performance Rights Association (SAMPRA) reached a reciprocal agreement that will see U.S. and South African performers paid royalties for the use of their recordings in the U.S. and South Africa, respectively. This will be the first time U.S. performers are paid neighboring rights when their music is used in South Africa. “This agreement is a result of SoundExchange’s efforts to ensure American creators are treated the same as their South African counterparts in the country,” states a press release on the deal. The multi-lateral agreement, which also includes the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, is retroactive to the 2022 distribution period and will also benefit non-featured artists including studio musicians and backup singers. Those non-featured artists will also see South African royalties deposited into the fund, which is administered by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and SAG-AFTRA. “This is similar to how, in its U.S. collections, SoundExchange distributes 5% of collected royalties to non-featured artists through the Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, 45% to featured artists, and 50% to rights owners,” the release adds.

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Live Nation acquired a majority stake in Lisbon, Portugal’s 20,000-capacity MEO Arena, marking a major investment for the touring giant in the country. First opened in 1998, MEO Arena will soon be renovated to upgrade premium seating, skyboxes, dressing rooms and concessions. Live Nation also plans to build on the arena’s sustainability efforts to focus on reducing its environmental impact. Daily operations at MEO Arena will remain under its current leadership team. The acquisition follows formal approval by the Portuguese competition authority and is subject to closing conditions. The agreement is expected to be finalized late this year or early next.

Warner Music Group’s merchandise and fan experience division WMX has signed on as the official merch partner for Oasis‘ upcoming comeback tour, Oasis Live 25. The merch offering for the show will include pop-up stores, fan experiences, exclusive brand collaborations and event merchandise. The band is slated to hit stadiums in the U.K., Ireland, North Americ, South America and Australia next year.

Create Music Group acquired Manchester, England-based record label and music publisher Ostereo, which has worked with artists including Joel Corry, J.Fla and Shania Yan. As part of the agreement, Ostereo founder Howard Murphy will exit the company to focus on a new venture, leaving his longtime partners, Ramin Bostan and Nick Kirby, to oversee day-to-day operations.

Dallas-based Regional Mexican label Elegante Records signed a global distribution pact with Warner Music Group’s ADA. The Elegante roster includes Conjunto Rienda Real, La Pócima Norteña and Distinto Norte.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) partnered with artist, songwriter, indie label and distributor funding platform beatBread, effectively providing A2IM members with beatBread’s data-driven funding solutions that enable artist or catalog acquisitions, new release funding and support for general operations and growth. Other benefits include free distribution via Too Lost, free OpenPlay subscriptions and discretionary A&R funds on top of any advances taken (up to 20% of the advanced amount).

Downtown-owned business-to-business distributor FUGA signed a partnership with L.A.-based independent label Mind of a Genius Records (MOAG). FUGA will provide MOAG with its suite of comprehensive services, including digital and physical distribution, synch and licensing opportunities and advanced data analytics. MOAG’s roster includes Mindchatter, Kwaye, Karnaval Blues, Peter $un, and Jordan Astra alongside its frontline releases.

Independent distributor IDOL struck a global partnership with London-based label Full Time Hobby and its alt-rock imprint Hassle Records. IDOL will handle global distribution, marketing and audience development for both labels’ frontline and catalog releases, excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Over 21 years, Full Time Hobby has developed artists including GHOSTWOMAN, Michael Nau, Squirrel Flower, The Saxophones and Casey. Under the deal, IDOL will service new Full Time Hobby releases from artists including Bananagun, Canty and Tunng and new Hassle Records releases from BRUTUS, Dead Pioneers and Jools.

With all apologies to Charli XCX, the 2024 concert season should have been dubbed “VIP summer” for the amount of upselling done by U.S. amphitheaters.
At Live Nation amphitheaters, revenue from VIP clubs was up 19% and VIP ticket premium revenue for major festivals was up more than 20% in the third quarter. Earlier this year, VIP/premium offerings represented 9% of Live Nation’s overall amphitheater business but “should be 30% to 35%,” CEO Michael Rapino told investors in February.

Amphitheaters where Live Nation controls the food and beverage experiences have the potential to deliver more fan spending. Converting an area of grass into a VIP club provides 20% to 30% returns on investment, Rapino explained. At Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, for example, Live Nation took the 15,000-seat venue from no premium offerings to three premium tiers. Of the 40 U.S. amphitheaters in its portfolio, the company could “Jonesify” half of them, Rapino said during an investor call on Wednesday (Nov. 13).

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Diving headfirst into VIP pricing is sure to help Live Nation’s bottom line. The company believes premium offerings can add $200 million in adjusted operating income per year, according to its investor presentation. This year, VIP net per-fan spending will have grown at 20% annually since 2019, well ahead of overall net fan spending growth of 8% annually.

From exclusive lounges to fan meet-and-greets with artists, the concert business has been better than other music industry segments at filtering customers according to their willingness to pay. VIP status became standard practice at music festivals to separate the people who can afford a $400 ticket to camp in a grass field and those who can afford deluxe accommodations, food and beverage, and transportation. The year-old Sphere in Las Vegas takes customer segmentation to a new level: Tickets are relatively expensive for a single concert without considering travel and accommodation — which Live Nation bundles with Sphere tickets through Vibee, a destination experience company it founded in 2023.

It may be ahead of other music companies, but Live Nation is merely following practices familiar to companies such as airlines, which charge more for early boarding, and theme parks, where paying a premium allows you to spend less time standing in line for rides. Insurance companies offer multiple tiers of services that include add-ons such as “accident forgiveness.” Everywhere you look, there’s an expensive option that’s out of reach for most consumers but well worth the value to others.

The wave of upselling now extends to VIP tiers in music streaming. Last week, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) announced it has 10 million Super VIP subscribers accounting for 8.4% of its 119 million subscribers. Super VIP, launched in the first quarter of 2022, provides such perks as better sound quality, priority access to music content and live event tickets. With a cost five times the normal subscription tier, Super VIP subscriptions helped TME’s average revenue per user increase 5% from the prior-year period. That success with VIP pricing is likely a harbinger of things to come. A single tier may not deliver the kind of profitability investors now demand.

“I think Spotify and the labels, long ago, realized this ‘one price for everybody’ thing gets these companies off the ground, but ultimately it’s not sustainable,” says pricing strategy consultant Rafi Mohammed, who espouses a strategy he calls “good-better-best” and encourages companies to create more valuable tiers of products and services for subsets of customers who are willing to pay extra. “If you’re a company and you’re not doing it, you’re making a mistake,” he says. “There are always going to be higher-end people who are willing to pay more for a more enhanced experience.”

With the current music streaming model relatively unchanged for two decades, music companies are increasingly engaging in the kind of customer segmentation taught in business schools. Companies that want to deliver strong, sustained growth are looking at ways to provide more valuable — and more expensive — experiences to those customers willing to pay for them.

Record labels are itching for a high-priced streaming subscription tier that would produce greater royalties. Spotify’s VIP tier — for lack of a better term — seems all but inevitable at this point. In September, Universal Music Group (UMG) COO (then CFO) Boyd Muir said the company was in “advanced talks” with the streamer for a high-priced tier that offers a better user experience than standard subscription plans. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek lifted the veil on a pending VIP plan in July, saying it would “probably” be priced at $17 or $18 per month and provide subscribers with “a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board, and some other things that I’m not ready to talk about yet.”

UMG has said that internal market research shows 23% of subscribers would be willing to pay more for a VIP experience. But Will Page, Spotify’s former chief economist, isn’t sure Spotify is ready for a VIP tier. “It needs to walk before it can run towards a VIP platform,” he says.

Since the days of pre-Spotify subscription services such as Rhapsody, the basis $9.99 (in the U.S.) price was raised only recently but hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Spotify launched in the U.S. in 2011 and didn’t raise the individual premium price to $10.99 until 2023. Had the price kept pace with inflation, that $9.99 tier would have cost $13.50 by the time the price hike took effect. While video-on-demand streaming platforms such as Netflix have consistently raised prices over the years, music platforms like Spotify refrained, keeping their prices unchanged for fear higher prices would stunt their growth. “I would love to see the industry earn its stripes in showing pricing power before it goes to base two, which is market screening power,” says Page.

In the meantime, the music business has other ways to cater to VIPs, including a new slate of “superfan” platforms and vinyl records. Vinyl mimics a VIP strategy by upselling fans to an expensive physical item over low-value online streaming. And just as film studios use a so-called “windowing” strategy by releasing movies to theaters before streaming platforms, artists and labels are increasingly selling vinyl LPs ahead of their streaming street dates — a strategy that’s been largely absent in music since 2016. To Page, artists and labels are missing a big opportunity by not using vinyl to create a VIP release window.

“In America alone, vinyl is going to be a billion-dollar business,” says Page, “and the people who can sell it are the types of artists who would appeal to a VIP strategy.”

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, has sold its entire stake in Live Nation, according to an SEC filing dated Thursday (Nov. 14). In April 2020, the $925-billion PIF acquired approximately 12.5 million shares that amounted to a 5.7% stake in Live Nation, making it the fourth-largest shareholder behind […]

Concert promoter Live Nation turned its busiest summer concert season ever into an all-time financial haul. With the number of shows up 13% and fan attendance up 3%, adjusted operating income (AOI) reached a record $909.8 million, up 4% from the prior-year period, the company announced Monday (Nov. 11). 
The third quarter benefitted from a heavy schedule in Live Nation’s owned and operated amphitheaters, which can generate ancillary income from food, beverage and parking. As a result, AOI increased even though revenue of $7.7 billion was 6% short of the $8.15 billion generated in the third quarter of 2023. Net income fell 13.4% to $451.8 million.

“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating,” said CEO Michael Rapino in a statement. 

Trending on Billboard

The concerts division had a record AOI of $474.1 million, up 39% year-over-year, on revenue of $6.58 billion, down 6%. Venue Nation, the venue operation division, saw a double-digit increase in on-site spending per fan at major festivals and a 9% increase in per-fan spending at amphitheaters. Live Nation hosted 112 million fans globally in the quarter, up 3%, which more than compensated for a 30% decline in stadium attendance. 

The change in venue mix — fewer high-priced stadium tickets, more lower-priced amphitheater seats — caused Ticketmaster revenue to drop 17% to $693.7 million and AOI to fall 33% to $235.7 million. Sponsorship and advertising AOI grew 10% to $275 million on revenue of $390 million, up 6%. That revenue growth came mainly from a 20% increase in the number of strategic partners that generated more than $1 million of sponsorship and advertising revenue. The division added such brands as American Apparel, Wrangler, Ultra Beauty and American Eagle in Mexico to global festivals.

“As we look toward an even bigger 2025, we have a larger lineup of stadium, arena and amphitheater shows for fans to enjoy,” said Rapino. “Momentum continues to build, as we expand the industry’s infrastructure with music-focused venues to support artists and reach untapped fan demand across the globe.” 

Ticket sales in September and October were up 20% year over year, and Live Nation has already sold more than 20 million tickets for concerts in 2025, a double-digit increase. Recent stadium ticket on-sales — including Coldplay, Rüfüs Du Sol and Shakira — saw double-digit growth in gross sales compared to past tours. 

Venue Nation expects to host about 60 million fans in 2024, up 8% from 2023; it will benefit from VIP enhancements at Northwell at Jones Beach amphitheater in New York, Estadio GNP in Mexico City and others. At Northwell at Jones Beach, for example, season seat and box suite sales are up 50%, VIP club sales are up 50%, and per-fan food and beverage spending is up double-digits. 

Following the announcement, which came after the markets closed on Monday, Live Nation shares rose 5% to $130.00 in after-hours trading.

Live Nation, which is facing a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden, saw its share price jump on Wednesday (Nov. 6) following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election a day earlier.  
Live Nation shares gained 7.1% to $125.99 and rose as high as $127.64, just shy of its all-time high of $127.75 set on Nov. 5, 2021. Investors could see Trump’s re-entrance into the White House as a good sign for Live Nation’s efforts to thwart efforts by the DOJ to break up the company.  

In a lawsuit filed in May, the DOJ alleged Live Nation abused its market power to hurt competition through exclusive ticketing contracts and threats and retaliations against venues that choose competing ticketing companies, among other actions the DOJ claims are illegal and violate the consent decree that placed competition-enhancing restrictions on the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.  

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“The change in administration typically brings a change in the climate around anti-trust efforts and could impact a case such as Live Nation,” says Bill Morrison, a partner at Haynes and Boone. “It depends on the who are in those key spots, and then what the priorities are of those offices. We’ve seen big pivots in the past.”  

Faced with the prospect of fewer regulations and an administration perceived to be pro-market, U.S. indexes posted big gains on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.6% to a record high. Similarly, the Nasdaq composite rose 3.0% and the S&P 500 improved 2.5% as both reached all-time highs. The NYSE composite gained 1.9% but fell short of its all-time high.  

Stocks associated with Trump also fared well, including Tesla, whose CEO, Elon Musk, campaigned heavily for Trump. The company’s shares rose 14.8% while its competitors Rivian and Lucid Group fell 8.3% and 5.3%, respectively. Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., owner of the Truth Social app used by Trump, rose 5.9%.  

Bitcoin rose 9.4% to an all-time high of $76,012 on Wednesday. Trump has signaled a laissez-faire approach to cryptocurrency and said he would quickly fire Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, a critic who has punished numerous crypto companies and favors tighter regulations. Trump himself is involved with a new cryptocurrency through World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance startup that sells a token called WLFI.  

In other music stocks news, music streamer LiveOne jumped 28.5% a day ahead of the company’s earnings release for the quarter ended Sept. 30 while iHeartMedia shares fell 12.6% following news that the radio broadcaster cut dozens of jobs at stations across the country this week. 

Political spending among the major players in the live music industry has largely remained flat this election cycle, while contributions by individuals working at Live Nation were up slightly over past years and money spent on lobbying members of Congress dropped in 2024, according to election data reviewed by Billboard.
At Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), owner Phil Anschutz spent $1.9 million supporting this year’s Republican reelection efforts but opted not to throw any support behind presidential candidate Donald Trump. Anschutz has never supported the brash presidential candidate, but though AEG boss is sinking millions of dollars into efforts to flip the Senate for Republicans.

Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino, on the other hand, gave $25,000 in political donations to mostly Democratic Senate candidates and causes, records show, while the usually politically active James Dolan, chairman of Madison Square Garden Entertainment, made a single $25,000 donation this election cycle to Secure NYS PAC, a shadowy political action committee created to defeat House member Tom Suozzi (NY-D).

At Live Nation, executives donated about $387,000 to mostly Democratic candidates, a drop of about 6% compared to 2020, when executives donated $410,000.

The spending cycle comes during an unusually politically active year for the concert business, with a major ticketing reform package inching forward in Congress and the Department of Justice’s investigation of Live Nation on anti-trust grounds making its way through the courts.

Neither political cause has driven major spending by Rapino or his long-time rival Anschutz, who has once again sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into an effort to flip the Senate over to the Republicans. Anschutz, a Colorado billionaire who made large parts of his fortune in energy, railroads and communications, has long supported groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee. This year, Anschutz made more than 200 donations totaling $1.9 million to right-leaning political groups, the bulk of which went to political groups supporting Senate Republicans like John Cornyn, John Thune and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Anschutz also spent $1.9 million during the 2016 cycle and $836,000 during the 2020 cycle.

Rapino spent considerably less than Anschutz this election cycle, with his biggest political contribution being the $10,000 he donated to Live Nation’s political action committee, which gave $200,000 to candidates from both political parties this cycle. As an individual donor, Rapino cut about $4,600 in donations to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jacky Rosen in Nevada and supported Adam Schiff’s campaign for Senate in California, as well as the campaigns of high-profile California House members Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell.

Meanwhile, Gregg Maffei, president/CEO of Liberty Media and the chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, spent more than $112,000 on conservative politicians and political causes, mostly supporting the presidential candidacy of Trump and Senate Republicans. That’s significantly down from the 2020 election cycle when Maffei spent $420,000 on right-wing political causes and politicians, and the 2016 cycle when he spent $324,000.

One of sustainable touring’s pioneering acts, the Dave Matthews Band, is reporting several successes in that realm following its latest tour. The band’s summer tour, which wrapped in early September at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash., unrolled the group’s “On the Road To Zero Waste” initiative, done in partnership with Live Nation. According to […]