Touring
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Just six days after unleashing his new studio album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, Bad Bunny has announced he’s hitting the road in 2024 in support of the set. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In a short clip posted on his Instagram Thursday […]
In the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history, as well as the prospect of a deadly, drawn-out war against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s fast-growing concert business has hardly been at the top of anyone’s mind.
So far, the only big show to be cancelled was the sold-out Bruno Mars concert scheduled for Oct. 7 in Tel Aviv. But concerts and festivals now face a pause as Israel mourns its dead, including the more than 250 people who died at the Supernova Sukkot festival in the Oct. 7 attack. For however long the war in Gaza takes, it is unlikely that many major international acts will play Tel Aviv out of security concerns, worries about the optics of taking a side on a controversial issue, and the fact that so many potential concertgoers will be fighting or working in the military. However, the country’s entertainment market is expected to make a quick recovery once hostilities end thanks to companies like Bluestone Entertainment, which has made considerable progress modernizing Israel’s concert industry over the past six years.
Up until the Oct. 7 attack, security issues didn’t even make the top five challenges facing the Israeli concert business, sources tell Billboard. Bigger issues include a lack of touring infrastructure, geographic isolation, routing difficulties, limits on potential artist earnings and the Boycott Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement that pushes artists not to play in the Jewish state.
Until 2017, the only modern ticketing platform in Israel was the German company CTS Eventim, which dominates Europe but isn’t as well known to U.S. touring artists and managers. Israel also lacks a major venue for large acts, meaning most touring artists have to rely on 5,000-7,000 capacity amphitheaters — which can make it difficult to make money due to the high travel costs required to visit the country. Travel also complicates logistics, since it’s easy to fly into Israel but, until 2020, it was hard to fly on from there. Since then, flights have been added to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the next major concert market, as well as an international flight hub.
The 2014 formation of Bluestone Entertainment, as well as its 2017 purchase by Live Nation, modernized the country’s touring infrastructure and earned it a stamp of approval from the concert giant as one of 29 markets where Live Nation maintains offices and on-the-ground staff. Leading the company today is CEO Guy Besar, a 46-year-old native of Israel’s Rishon Lezion who got his start working at student events for the city’s College of Management Academic Studies, along with co-founders Shay Mor Yosef and Gadi Veinrib. Music manager Guy Oseary, whose clients include Madonna and, until recently, U2, is the fourth co-founder of Bluestone.
Bluestone has been successful in pushing back against BDS activist groups like the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and artists like Roger Waters, who convinced Elvis Costello, Devendra Banhart and Gorillaz to cancel planned visits to the country in 2010. Oseary has worked with artist managers to develop a communications and messaging strategy before announcing shows in the country.
Bluestone also played a key role in bringing Ticketmaster to Israel as part of its 2017 joint venture with Live Nation and has focused its efforts on modernizing and bringing shows to HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv, an urban park and summer concert destination that can host concerts for up to 70,000 attendees per night. That led to a $6.7 million gross for Guns N’ Roses‘ June 5 concert at HaYarkon, $6.6 million for Imagine Dragons on Aug. 29 and a whopping $11.7 million for two Maroon 5 concerts in May 2022.
Those seven-and-eight-figure grosses have helped offset the expenses associated with performing in Israel, while a 2020 agreement with the UAE and Bahrain known as the Abraham Accords has led to the normalization of relations between the three countries. The treaty, negotiated by the Trump administration, also allows air travel between the three countries via Saudi Arabian airspace. That means that once in the UAE, touring shows can easily fly to markets like Malaysia, Singapore and much of Southeast Asia.
Bluestone was reportedly on track to generate $75 million in 2023, a number that will likely drop following the cancellation of Mars’ Oct. 7 concert. But it will likely still be up nearly 50% percent from 2022 when the company brought in $46 million. As for the security threat that caused the cancellation, sources say that despite the surprising nature of the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel deploys significant resources to securing events and large crowds and note that concert promoters in the country feel extremely confident in their ability to secure A-list artists and visitors for concerts.
Blake Shelton‘s Back to the Honky Tonk Tour will return in 2024, when it launches in Feb. 22 at the GIANT Center in Hershey, Penn.
The 17-show trek will include stops in the United States and Canada, including shows at Moody Center in Austin, Texas; Little Caesars Arena in Detroit; and three shows in Canada, slated for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Alberta; and Calgary, Alberta, before wrapping March 29 in Wichita, Kan.
Joining Shelton on the 17-show trek in the United States and Canada are Dustin Lynch and Emily Ann Roberts. Lynch recently issued his latest album, Killed the Cowboy, and his current radio single, “Stars Like Confetti,” is currently in the top 10 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. Roberts, known for her time competing on NBC’s The Voice, recently released the album Can’t Hide Country, which includes not only her song “Walkin’ Shoes,” but “Still Searching,” a collaboration with Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs.
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The tour’s first run began earlier this year, and featured Carly Pearce and Jackson Dean as openers.
Tickets for all markets, with the exception of Glendale, Ariz., will be available through an exclusive fan presale launching Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. local time and running through Thursday, Oct. 26, at 10 p.m. local time. General onsale will begin Friday, Oct. 27, at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets for Glendale will be available via an exclusive fan presale beginning Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 10 a.m. local time through Thursday, Nov. 2, at 10 p.m. local time. The general onsale for Glendale will start on Friday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. local time.
See the full lineup of dates for Shelton’s Back to the Honky Tonk Tour, presented by Kubota, below:
Feb. 22: Hershey, PA @ GIANT Center
Feb. 23: Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
Feb. 24: Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
Feb. 29: Lafayette, LA @ CAJUNDOME
March 1: Austin, TX @ Moody Center
March 2: Bossier City, LA @ Brookshire Grocery Arena
March 7: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CAN @ SaskTel Centre
March 8: Edmonton, Alberta, CAN @ Rogers Place
March 9: Calgary, Alberta, CAN @ Scotiabank Saddledome
March 14: Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
March 15: Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
March 16: Portland, OR @ Moda Center
March 21: Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
March 22: Palm Springs, CA @ Acrisure Arena
March 23: Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena
March 27: Moline, IL @ Vibrant Arena at The MARK
March 29: Wichita, KS @ INTRUST Bank Arena
P!nk has postponed two shows on her just-launched Trustfall Tour due to “family medical issues,” the singer announced Monday (Oct. 16). The two shows affected are Tuesday and Wednesday’s concerts in Tacoma, Washington. “I am so sorry to inform the Tacoma ticket holders that the two shows October 17 and October 18 (tomorrow and Wednesday) […]
At opening night of her Celebration Tour on Saturday night in London, Madonna proved that she still has all her life to live and all her love to give by covering Gloria Gaynor‘s disco classic “I Will Survive.” Madonna took a moment during her first show to talk about the serious health scare that postponed […]
The concert business is set to close out another record year fueled by pent-up pandemic demand, higher priced tickets and intense fan commitment to their favorite artists.
Hoping to capture a snapshot of the concert business when cumulative grosses for the top 100 tours and attendance are higher than ever, Variety VIP+ and talent agency UTA have released a new report titled “Peak Performance” combining data from Billboard and Pollstar with insights from PwC and an online survey of more than 1,500 concert goers.
“Our desire to do this study was spurred by the anecdotal evidence we were seeing from our own music representation and music brand partnerships business,” said Joe Kessler, UTA partner and global head of UTA IQ.
The report paints a bullish and optimistic picture of the concert business with more fans willing to spend money and travel farther to see their favorite artists live, as well as an increased urgency for consumers to find time for more live music and festivals in the post-pandemic period. But the rapidly increasing price of tickets and the increased use of credit cards and debit to pay for experiences continues to represent a potential liability for both music fans and the industry writ large, the report finds.
For the first time ever, the concert business is expected to cross the $30 billion revenue mark in 2023, with the top 100 tours accounting for nearly 20 percent of total sales. Survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that some of their favorite memories took place at concerts and 79 percent of respondents agreed that attending a concert or festival is more important to them following the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 43% of consumers said live music events were more meaningful to them than other types of live events or experiences.
Driving the enthusiasm for concerts, Kessler explains, are millennials, now in their mid 20s to early 40s, who have “consistently and substantially shown a desire to want to engage in collaborative and communal experiences as a group.”
“Music has always been a big part of that,” Kessler says, noting that it was millennials who fueled the growth of the festival business over the last two decades.
“As the economy improve and they have more disposable spending, I think we’re going to see a continued rise in the desire to want to see live shows,” Kessler says,” a trend he expect to grow “as our lives become increasingly virtual and we spend more and more time behind screens.”
While Taylor Swift and Beyonce have dominated the headlines in 2023, the report found that men still significantly outnumber women in terms of concert attendance, with men more likely to have gone to a concert in 2023, with 42 percent saying they’ve attended a live music show in the past 12 months, compared with 31 percent of women.
The survey also found that more fans are traveling for events than ever before, with half of respondents traveling four hours or more to attend a concert, 39 percent have flown within the U.S. to attend a show, and 30 percent have traveled to another country for a live music event.
While fans are willing to spend more money that ever on concert tickets, the survey also finds that high ticket prices are among consumers’ chief complaints. With average ticket prices north of $122, more than 62 percent of respondents said the biggest impediment to live music attendance was the price, while 38 percent of fans reported that high ticket prices have prevented them from attending at least one concert in the last 12 months.
“That should not be all that surprising,” says Andrew Wallenstein, president and chief media analyst for Variety Plus, noting that while concerns over price have long existed in the concert business, ‘more than half of the consumers surveyed are just as willing to purchase VIP tickets now as they were prior to the pandemic, while 3 in 10 have become more willing” to buy expensive tickets.
“I think there is a demographic out there that despite the cost pressures feels there is more value in spending top dollar than ever before,” Wallenstein says.
Unsurprisingly, debt is fueling a large part of consumer spending. The survey found that more than one-third of fans had used a buy-now, pay later service to buy tickets, while 34% have opened a credit card specifically for a concert or music festival presale.
“Macroeconomic circumstances have to be paid attention to,” says Wallenstein, who notes that federal student loan payments are resuming this month after a three-year pandemic pause, but notes “this demographic values the concert going experience in a way that previous demographics may not have.”
“Despite the fact that student loan forgiveness is out the window, and many are not saving for things like home ownership, [millennials] may still spend money on concerts the same way they have in the past,” he tells Billboard.
While the report doesn’t offer up any forecasts as to how much runway is left for growth in concerts, Kessler says be doesn’t expect the business to cool off any time soon.
“No one can know how long it will last, but I don’t think this is a temporary blip on the map,” Kessler says. “The data that came through the study tells us that, this is here to stay for the foreseeable future.”
Click here to access a copy of the report.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Madonna‘s highly anticipated Celebration Tour has officially kicked off with the premiere performance taking place in London on Saturday (Oct. 14). […]
After the opening night of The Celebration Tour in London on Saturday (Oct. 14) night at the O2 Arena, the verdict is in: Madonna is back. Despite a brush with death, the Queen of Pop delivered a two-hour-plus show full of smash hits, killer deep cuts and a surprise or two (or three). Candid as […]
After repeated monthly triumphs, a series of broken records and 39 cities turned to mute, Beyoncé closed out the Renaissance World Tour on Oct. 1. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $579.8 million and sold 2.8 million tickets across 56 shows in North America and Europe.
In a vacuum, those are massive numbers. And in the context of Boxscore’s nearly 40-year history, they are monumental. The Renaissance World Tour is the highest grossing tour by a woman, by a Black artist and by any American soloist.
Among women and domestic solo acts, Beyoncé passes Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour, which broke ground upon its 2009 finale with $407.7 million. Among Black acts, she replaces herself atop the heap, exceeding The Formation World Tour’s 2016 gross of $256.1 million by a margin of 2.26 to 1. In the interim, The Weeknd’s ongoing After Hours Til Dawn Tour has slid in the middle, with a gross of $305.9 million as of Sept. 30.
Doubling her previous peak – already a towering high that topped Boxscore’s 2016 year-end round-up – and digging deep into the record books, Beyoncé breaks the top 10 highest grossing tours of all time, hitting No. 7. She’s barely blocked by Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which earned $584.2 million from 2016-19, and ahead of The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour, which brought in $558 million from 2005-07.
Notably, those tours ran for four years and three years, respectively. In fact, the Renaissance World Tour is the only one among the all-time top 10 to take place within one calendar year. At 56 shows, it played for roughly half the length of all-timers by Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and U2; about one fifth of Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour; and one sixth of Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.
Post-pandemic-era ticketing practices such as dynamic pricing and primary market resale have allowed fan demand to push an artist’s market value higher than ever before. The Renaissance World Tour averaged $253 a ticket, allowing grosses to bloom quicker than her fellow all-time leaders.
The next highest one-year earner is Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, which brought in $345.7 million in 2018. Coincidentally, Beyoncé and Swift have shared a very bright spotlight this year, as their concurrent treks have dominated headlines and boosted economies. Official numbers have yet to be reported for The Eras Tour, but it’ll likely join the Renaissance World Tour in this vaulted space.
In speeding to the all-time top 10, Beyoncé maintained a breathtaking pace from May through October. The Renaissance World Tour earned $141.8 million and sold more than a million tickets from 21 shows in Europe. (Previous reports cited $154 million, but official numbers have since been adjusted.) That evens out to $6.8 million and just under 50,000 tickets (49,873) per show.
Though those averages were already the highest of any leg of any Beyoncé tour, (much) bigger business awaited across the pond. Her 35 Renaissance shows in the U.S. and Canada averaged $12.5 million each night. In all, the North American leg earned $438 million, alone enough to break the global touring records referenced above.
Three shows at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. (Los Angeles area), earned $45.5 million and sold 156,000 tickets. That makes it the sixth-highest grossing engagement in Boxscore history. Like the tour it was a part of, it’s the biggest reported Boxscore for a woman, Black artist and American soloist. And like its parent tour, it reaches its all-time status with brevity. The five higher-grossing engagements range from a six-night stay at London’s Wembley Stadium for Coldplay to Harry Styles’ 15-show mini-residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The tour follows Renaissance, Beyoncé’s latest solo LP. The set debuted atop the Billboard 200 last year and spawned two top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Break My Soul,” which became her seventh No. 1 hit, and “Cuff It,” which became her longest-charting song on the tally earlier this year. Renaissance and both singles won Grammy awards at this year’s ceremony, making her the most awarded singer in Grammy history.
And while the Renaissance World Tour has come to a close, its lifespan hasn’t ended just yet. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé opens in theaters on Dec. 1, distributed directly by AMC Theaters.
Across her 20-year solo career, Beyoncé has grossed more than $1.3 billion and sold 11.6 million tickets, including her portion of co-headline runs with Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott.
Gone is the typical start and stop of touring cycles. Releasing an album and going on tour every few years can make for a simple structure for a pop star career, but particularly in the post-pandemic era, artists are blurring multiple albums into one tour. Or, after postponing a tour for a couple years due to COVID, some are ending their originally scheduled treks and then jumping into a new one the following year.
But no one is doing it quite like P!nk: After wrapping 41 stadium dates on Monday, she’s hitting pause on Summer Carnival only to kick off an entirely separate arena tour on Thursday night (Oct. 12).
So far, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, P!nk’s Summer Carnival has grossed $257.6 million and sold 1.8 million tickets across 41 shows. (P!nk will play a makeup date at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 26 before the Summer Carnival resumes Feb. 9 in Sydney for a sweep of 20 shows in Australia and New Zealand.)
Summer Carnival began with 19 shows in Europe, bringing in $106.8 million from 871,000 tickets. The run was highlighted by two shows at London’s Hyde Park on June 24-25, earning $20.9 million and selling 130,000 tickets. Just behind The Rolling Stones’ $22.4 million, it’s the biggest gross by an American act or by a soloist in the venue’s storied history.
Just over the pond, P!nk flew Stateside for a $150.7 million run in the U.S. and Canada, selling 914,000 tickets. Boston and Philadelphia earned double-header status, claiming the North American leg’s tallest tallies. Two shows at Fenway Park (July 31-Aug. 1) grossed $13.6 million and sold 78,000 tickets, while two at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park topped out at $14.2 million and 93,000.
Not only were those the two biggest engagements on P!nk’s recent domestic run, they are the biggest continental engagements of her entire career. It’s not surprising, given this was her first stint in North American stadiums, after leveling up in Europe on the Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2019.
The upcoming run in Oceania will be P!nk’s first try in stadiums over there, but one needn’t worry. On past tours, she’s stuck to arenas but played several shows in each city, sticking around for 18 nights in Melbourne on 2013’s The Truth About Love Tour. That equaled 235,000 tickets in the market, leaving more than enough room for multiple stadiums per city for the February-March leg.
But before we get there, P!nk has a 20-date arena trek. Consider Summer Carnival to be her grand reintroduction after a four-year gap since the Beautiful Trauma World Tour, while the impending start of the Trustfall Tour acts as the true celebration of its namesake album, released in February. Kicking off Thursday night in Sacramento and wrapping Nov. 19 in Orlando, it’s expected to earn more than $70 million and sell more than 300,000 tickets, according to promoter Live Nation.
Within 12 months, P!nk will have played three legs of Summer Carnival, all while squeezing in an entirely separate tour with the Trustfall shows. It’s likely to be the biggest year of her touring career, exceeding the $397.3 million from the Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2018-19. When that wrapped, it was one of the 10 highest-grossing tours in Boxscore history. Edged out by recent runs by Elton John, Harry Styles and others, P!nk’s all-time stature continues to rise, as her career gross climbs to $973.6 million and total attendance just under 9 million. When it’s all said and done, Billboard projects she’ll be the newest member of two elite Boxscore clubs, blowing past $1 billion and 10 million tickets.