Live Nation Entertainment revealed its full year and fourth quarter earnings for 2023, marking its “biggest year yet” and further highlighting its stranglehold of the entertainment industry.
According to the promoter, revenue was up 36% to $22.7 billion last year with an operating income up 46% to $1.07 billion. Live Nation reported all-time highs for attendance, ticket sales, and sponsorship activity, with over 145 million fans attending over 50,000 events. In terms of concerts, revenue increased by 39% to $18.8 billion.
These numbers were unequivocally achieved with the use of surge pricing, which has fueled a spree of record-shattering earnings reports for the California corporation, which has been under massive scrutiny for alleged monopolistic practices and subject to a Department of Justice investigation over those allegations for at least a year.
Over the past year, fans have been frustrated more than ever before with the inflated ticket prices. From Olivia Rodrigo and Bad Bunny to blink-182 and Sleep Token, fans of all genres felt the burn of Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s market power. Thousands of concertgoers were met with hours-long queues to purchase tickets, error codes, waitlists, and above all — unattainable ticket prices. The exorbitant price hikes amid dynamic and platinum pricing left thousands of eventgoers empty-handed, unable to see their favorite artists perform live.
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Live Nation and Ticketmaster have freely acted as venue owners, operators, ticket sellers, and promoters simultaneously since its merger — eliminating further competition — and their numbers fall in-line. Live Nation reported that fee-bearing gross transaction value was up in 2023 by 30% to nearly $36 billion. And that’s only increasing from here. The company reported the gross transaction value on Ticketmaster is up double-digits to $13 billion on fee-bearing tickets playing off in 2024.
Despite the rising fees, the demand among fans is still very prevalent. Live Nation found that social media is fueling fan interest, with approximately 90% of live music goers agreeing that seeing live music content on social media makes them want to attend shows. In 2023, over 620 million tickets were purchased on Ticketmaster — an increase of 13% — and as of mid-February 2024, over 57 million concert tickets were sold.
While Live Nation boasts that it remains the largest supporter of artists — investing in artists more than 40% to $13 billion — the company is certainly making money itself. In fact, it was reported last year that Live Nation’s CEO Michael Rapino salary was a staggering $139 million for 2022, which equates to $2.76 million every week, or $66,827 per hour – assuming he works a 40 hour week.
Additionally, while Live Nation highlighted their On The Road Again program in its full year report — which paid out $1,500 nightly bonuses and 100% merchandise profits to over 3,000 developing artists — it was called-out by NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) for being a cynical attempt to exert more control over the live entertainment industry. Rather than helping small acts and small venues, NIVA claimed the initiative was just another effort to squeeze out competition by the company that already dominates the industry.
So, what can fans expect in the new year? The same monopolistic practices, probably, unless some change is implemented. Following the “Great War” ticketing fiasco for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Swifties even sued the entertainment giant, calling out the companies for “knowingly misleading millions of fans.”
Fans are also speaking out; as a part of Fan Fairness Coalition’s “The Monopoly” campaign, live eventgoers have sent out more than 72,000 letters to Congress, calling for the merger to be broken-up. The FFC said the mission of The Monopoly is to remind fans that “the powerful are not incentivized to change on their own.” They’re not alone; a survey found that a majority of Americans want Live Nation to be broken-up.
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Legislators have also spoken-out about the alleged monopoly, with U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) calling-out the company’s market power and anti-competitive practices, causing venues to assume that if they don’t use Ticketmaster as their primary ticket seller, they will no longer be able to host Live Nation-produced shows.
“Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn’t even need to exert pressure, it doesn’t need to threaten, everyone just falls in line,” Klobuchar said at an event held by the American Economic Liberties Union examining the potential breakup of the giant last month.
