It’s no secret that the summer 2010 season has been a difficult one for touring artists. Reports of cancelled concerts and axed tours have dampened what is traditionally one of the live entertainment industry’s biggest quarters.
Live Nation Entertainment shrugged off earlier reports that a spree of well publicized cancellations this summer was indicative of a deeper trend. However, during an investor and analyst meeting held in New York City on July 15, Live Nation acknowledged a decline in ticket sales during the first half of the year, and told investors to expect additional declines in the second half.
In the presentation, Live Nation said that ticket sales in the first half of the year dropped 12 percent for the top 100 touring acts, compared to 2009. The report echoed the downward trend first reported by Pollstar early last week.
But the “Investor and Analyst Day” report, available on Live Nation’s investor relations Web site, also indicated that sales would likely fall another 15 percent in the year’s second half.
Live Nation also estimated its adjusted operating income for the year would be around $405 million, down from last year’s $445 million. However, in a worst-case scenario projection within the report, earnings could fall as low as $365 million.
The presentation led to an afternoon sell-off of Live Nation Entertainment shares, publicly traded under the symbol LYV. Shares dropped approximately 16 percent to $9.59 at one point during the afternoon, according to the Associated Press, before closing the day at $10.19.
But that regained ground gave way again on July 16, as LYV stock opened at $9.75 and continued its landslide through the afternoon. At one point during the afternoon, stock was down as much as 13.54 percent to $8.81, based on real-time data from the NYSE.
As stocks began slipping during the July 15 presentation, Chief Executive Michael Rapino acknowledged the dip and was quoted by the AP as saying, “We had a real buzz kill at about Slide 9 when I saw the e-mails go out.”
Executive Chairman Irving Azoff also commented on the sell-off, appearing via video conference. He said, “I’m hoping that what I’m seeing as all you guys e-mail back to your offices to dump the stock isn’t indicative of the fact that we have a group of investors that are so shortsighted.”
Live Nation listed U2, Christina Aguilera, the Eagles and Rihanna among its key summer 2010 touring acts in a May 10 supplement to the company’s Q1 report. However, each of those artists has experienced setbacks on the road this summer.
U2 recently rescheduled its North American tour for spring and summer 2011. Its national tour plans for summer 2010 were postponed so Bono could undergo and recover from back surgery.
Other artists like Aguilera have not been as quick to put dates back on the books. The singer cancelled her 2010 tour due to “prior commitments” in favor of a later, yet-to-be-announced tour itinerary. Additionally, the Eagles and Rihanna both have experienced scattered concert cancellations on their summer calendars.
Last Updated on December 10, 2015
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Eagles 250 with a small amount for 50, 125 for Christina, 150 for Lilith Fair, Limp Bizkit who hasn’t been/done anything significant in years are exactly why this summer season has failed. Its nothing more then the battle against the resale market that has starting to ruin the primary. B/c if tickets were reasonably priced brokers could buy them up, help sell out the shows, and create an environment for these bands to make some money. Gotta love it!
I don’t see it. The brokers need to make money too. They can’t just “buy them up” and not resell for a decent profit. Why would the general public pay a broker a premium price when they’re not buying directly?
Ticket prices of these acts are too high that consumers decided to stay home and not spend their hard earned money. In this economy, ticket prices should be really low to make people go to these shows.
but the point you are missing is the brokers usually own a small percentage of the available tickets. in order for a show to have demand some tickets need to sell at a premium. there is no way a venue can scale every row and every seat. with that being said, if there are some bargains within a price category, some brokers will inevitably own tickets. its good to see brokers have them because it means there is demand for the show
Sorry, but I think you’re the one missing the point. Just because brokers buy tickets for something, it doesn’t mean there is demand. It just means brokers are speculating on demand that they perceive for that show. Ask any broker who bought some Lilith Fair tickets in their local market, or Rihanna tickets. I’m sure most brokers who had those tickets lost money on them, and that is because there was minimal to no demand for those tickets.
Sorry, but I think you’re the one missing the point. Just because brokers buy tickets for something, it doesn’t mean there is demand. It just means brokers are speculating on demand that they perceive for that show. Ask any broker who bought some Lilith Fair tickets in their local market, or Rihanna tickets. I’m sure most brokers who had those tickets lost money on them, and that is because there was minimal to no demand for those tickets.
Live Nation and Ticketbastard have long been a pox on the concert going public. Excessive fees, multiple presales of prime seats that the general public never has a shot at, out of control parking and concessions, not to mention the nightmare of navigating their websites. I have personally began to boycott and remove any song or product by musician who are investing and dealing exclusively with Live Nation. (u2, madonna, jay z, nickleback). The concert going public have finally had enough of being bled dry. Theres a lot of amazing talent at the local level that you can enjoy without a cent of your hard earned dollars going into the pockets of the greedy corporate b******s and for the price of 1 U2 ticket (with fees and service charges naturally) you can see 5 great local shows and get free parking and reasonable drinks. They can use your support. If there ever was a time to send a message and demand change, now is it.