2023 Pollstar Top Tours up 46%, but other Artists & Venues struggle

Revenue from the Top 100 grossing Tours jumped 46% in 2023 to reach a record high of $9.17 billion, according to an analysis by live event industry trade Pollstar.

Taylor Swift’s record-breaking “Eras Tour” led the charge, with a gross of more than $1 billion selling 4.35 million tickets over 60 shows, and is on track to pass $2 billion by the end of 2024.

Top Tours of 2023 Worldwide

1. Taylor Swift

2. Beyoncé

3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

4. Coldplay

5. Harry Styles

6. Morgan Wallen

7. Ed Sheeran

8. P!nk

9. The Weeknd

10. Drake

In North American: #1 Swift, #2 Beyoncé, #3 Morgan Wallen. #4 Drake, #5 P!nk, #6 Bruce #Springsteen & The E Street Band, #7 Ed Sheeran, #8 George Strait, #9 Karol G, and #10 RBD, according to Pollstar.

“There’s a fire down below”

Alongside all this great news for superstars, Live Nation, and AEG there is increasing evidence that small and mid-level artists are struggling under the weight of increased competition and rapidly rising costs

Independent venues and promoters say that they, too, are battling those same pressures.

While there are no firm stats for the US yet, anecdotally, most observers see trouble ahead. In the UK more than 130 grassroots music venues close in 2023, and dozens more are in crisis. Australia has lost 1,300 small and mid-sized live music venues, one-third of the entire sector, since the start of the COVID pandemic.

These same headwinds are expected to continue or increase in 2024.

Read Pollstar’s full report here.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.