Key Takeaways from Live Nation Investor Report Q3 2024

Live Nation stock hit an all time high on Tuesday after the concert and tickering giant’s latest report to investors.

Despite record summer ticket sales, Live Nation revenue came in at $7.7 billion just below the $7.8 billion analysts had expected. Revenue was also down from Q3 last year. But investors found plenty to be happy about.

Key Takeaways from Live Nation Investor Report Q3 2024

The financial report and earnings call that followed included 6 key takeaways that point to where the company is headed.

1. Trump is a win for Live Nation – “We are hopeful that we’ll see a return to the more traditional antitrust approach where the agencies have generally tried to find ways to solve problems they see with targeted remedies that minimize government intervention in the marketplace,” said Joe Berchtold, Live Nation President and CFO.
2. Ticket sales growth continues – 144 million tickets were sold for 2024 Live Nation concerts through October, a 3% gain. 20 million tickets have already been sold for Live Nation concerts in 2025 up more than 10%.
3. More growth is predicted for 2025 – “As we look toward an even bigger 2025, we have a larger lineup of stadium (Coldplay, Rüfüs Du Sol, Shakira), arena and amphitheater shows for fans to enjoy,” ” said Michael Rapino, Live Nation President and CEO. “Momentum continues to build, as we expand the industry’s infrastructure with music-focused venues to support artists and reach untapped fan demand across the globe.”
4. More Superfans – “On the premium fan or super fan… We’ve been selling to the super fan for quite a while, we call that the premium fans that launched a VIP experience at the show …we see that pie still underserviced,” said Rapino. “We’ve used percentages in the past 2%, 4%, 6% of the show is premium. We think it can grow up to 20% and more…”
5. High Ticket Prices – “We are always a little amused that sports is kind of a badge of honor how expensive those tickets go for,” said Rapino, “but music which is priced much lower than sports seems to get more of the emotional reaction.”
6. Secondary Ticketing, Bots & Legislation – “America seems to be a market where secondary is free-to-run. We hope there’s always been this hope between different legislators would get better regulation around secondary, hasn’t really come to life yet around that minimum at least bots and spec selling and some of the other practices around secondary that we’d like to clean up,” said Rapino. “So, we hope over time (there) seems to be more and more attention around the secondary market… we hope over time, better regulations get put in place to help the consumer.”

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.