Live music has experienced an explosive post-pandemic renaissance over the past few years as “revenge-consuming” fans eager to return to concert venues pay top dollar for major stadium tours such as Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour.
But a string of recent tour cancellations and changes by high-profile artists suggest consumer interest in live music may be slowing.
Live Nation announced on Friday that Jennifer Lopez will be canceling her This Is Me . . . A week ago, the Black Keys said they would cancel an arena tour scheduled for this fall in favor of smaller venues, despite singles from their new album already topping the charts. advertising billboard Alternative Airplay rankings for March.
The announcements are the latest signs that post-pandemic “inflation,” or at least one aspect of the economy — where consumers are eager to make up for lost experiences, increasing demand for items like flights and concert tickets — isn’t as strong as As one imagines.
Jarred Arfa, global head of music for touring agency Independent Artist Group, said he sees the current concert environment less as a slowdown than a return to a pre-pandemic atmosphere. “There’s a lot of Winner, but not everything wins.”
“Traffic is slowly returning, there are still many artists on the road and people have seen them,” Alfa told us wealth. “After COVID, some of the novelty factor is gone.”
One obvious factor is consumer fatigue over rising costs. Since the world emerged from pandemic lockdowns, the price of concert tickets has soared. The average ticket price for the top 100 music tours grew far faster than inflation between 2019 and 2023, jumping from $91.18 to $122.84, according to music trade publication Pollstar.
“In the live events economy, the days are no longer when there is enough demand to sell stadiums at premium prices,” said Entertainment Industry Tracking Editor Dave Clark. Ticketing Newssaid in an interview nbc news.
“People see some of the prices they’re asking and say, ‘It’s hard to pass.'”
Alfa also says there are more artists touring now than in the past – and not just because of the downtime during lockdown. A big part of that is the age of streaming, where touring brings far greater returns to artists than they could through streaming. But since fans have limited time and limited wallets, that ultimately means some performers get a smaller share.
“Some people who might normally space out their trips . . . are now rejoining,” Alfa said. “Maybe they’ll take a few years off, but they took a few years off during COVID.”
“Traffic volumes may still be a little higher than usual,” he added.
It’s not just tour groups that are stabilizing. The first weekend of Coachella, the highest-grossing music festival in North America, hasn’t sold out for almost a month. That’s much longer than in 2023 or 2022, when both weekends sold out in about 40 minutes after a two-year pandemic hiatus. On the opening day of the 2024 Music Festival, advertising billboard According to reports, about 80% of the 250,000 tickets have been sold.
Ticketmaster is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the “revenge spending” phenomenon. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the company in May after parent company Live Nation reported its biggest year ever in 2023, alleging antitrust violations. Following last year’s major Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tours, the ticketing giant’s total revenue increased by $10 billion and concert attendance increased by 20%.
But there are early signs that growth may slow in 2024. In May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that movie and concert ticket prices increased 3.4% in April from last year, the lowest increase since 2021.
What’s more, in addition to Justice Department lawsuits, concert cancellations and popular discontent, Ticketmaster is facing data breaches affecting millions of customers.
For the biggest names on tour this summer — Olivia Rodrigo, Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan — demand remains high big. According to SeatGeek, the average resale price of Rodgrigo’s “Guts” tour is $571 Axios. But even so, it’s a far cry from the sky-high resale prices seen during last summer’s “Eras” tour, which ran into the thousands of dollars.
“On a major tour level, I think there might be a little less competition this year,” Alfa said. “Some artists automatically go out every few years and think they’re invulnerable. That’s not the case. Not everyone can be Taylor and Beyoncé.
