Live Nation CEO says concerts are ‘selling out faster than ever before’

Pent-up demand sees tickets selling quicker and events selling out faster than before

Fans are eager to return to live in-person concerts again and that has everything to do with pent-up demand. Around the world, people are showing the need to get out and socialize once again as vaccines are readily available to everyone who wants to get one.

In the US, over 40% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose and most states are now fully or partially reopen with more restrictions being lifted daily. In the UK, over 50% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose and their reopening roadmap is tracking to plan. Although Europe remains a few months behind on vaccinations, they are progressing and recent discussions about reopening to international visitors this summer are encouraging.

More and more tours are being announced at full capacity, and that means more tickets are being sold quicker with many events selling out in record time.

“We are also seeing the effects of significant pent-up demand as fans are buying tickets and events are selling out faster than ever before,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino shares in a first quarter earnings report this week. “In the U.S., Bonnaroo, Electric Daisy and Rolling Loud festivals all sold out in record time at full capacity. In the U.K., we have 11 festivals planned for this summer, including our largest ones – Reading, Leeds and Parklife – where tickets have already sold out, and in New Zealand, the country’s largest festival, Rhythm and Vines, also quickly sold out.”

The proof is in the numbers as fans clamor to see their favorite musicians in person again. Bonnaroo officially sold out of four day tickets, less than a month of going on sale for its 20th anniversary celebration in September that had to be pushed back by a year. Travis Scott’s Astroworld Fest sold out within an hour of being on pre-sale without a full lineup attached. Garth Brooks broke Ticketmaster’s US record for the fastest stadium sell out in history after selling more than 50,000 tickets to his show this summer in Salt Lake City in under 30 minutes.

Rapino says more tours will be announced into 2022 as more reopenings continue. This will see many artists expand their tours beyond what they’re used to.

“We are already seeing confirmed major tour dates for 2022 up double digits from the same time pre-pandemic in 2019 for 2020. Many of these artists will have multi-year tours, spanning the U.S., Europe and often either Asia or Latin America, setting us up for a strong multi-year growth run.” Rapino confirms.

The Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster is seeing growth as it expands its clientele to more than five million net new fee-bearing tickets and beyond. The company also plans to enhance its offerings by adding blockchain and NFT ability.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com