The summer of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé may be over — but consumer interest in live events isn't showing signs of slowing, according to the biggest company in the space.
Live Nation (LYV), the parent company of Ticketmaster, said Thursday that concert attendance hit a record in the third quarter, boosting revenue by 32% to $8.2 billion in the period.
"While we have benefitted from tailwinds for many years, it has accelerated due to the globalization of our business along with a fundamental shift in consumer spending habits toward experiences," Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation, said in the company's third quarter earnings release.
Concerts made up the bulk of revenue at $7 billion as the company revealed it has sold a record 140 million tickets so far this year. That's up 17% year over year and already surpasses 2022 ticket sales of 121 million.
The strong performance coincided with Taylor Swift's Eras tour and Beyoncé's Renaissance tour. But Rapino said the momentum is not expected to slow down.
When asked on the post-earnings conference call if he's concerned with future year-over-year comparisons given the record-breaking success of Swift's and Beyoncé's respective tours, the executive doubled down on the strength of the business, coupled with positive consumer trends.
"No one tour will ever hurt us year over year. It's about our macro portfolio of artists and tours, and we have a very good [pipeline] for next year," he said, adding that "we're looking at double-digit growth over this year and next year on ticket sales."
The US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the third quarter, buoyed by a resilient consumer who spent big money on attending live event concerts and even the "Barbenheimer" double feature.
According to a recent estimate from Morgan Stanley, the summer's concerts and blockbuster films added an estimated $8.5 billion to US growth in Q3.
"Live entertainment is currently the brightest star in the broader media and entertainment universe," Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote in a previous note to clients.
"Not surprisingly, we believe talent, especially artists that command huge fan bases, will be able to increasingly extract incremental value out of the ecosystem (largely driven by increasing supply and ticket pricing), while venues, which have several independent revenue streams, accrue the most value," the analyst said.
She laid out five catalysts that will lead to sustained long-term growth in the industry: continued spending shifts towards services and experiences; healthy pricing power amid increased demand; positive supply and demand trends as social media apps like TikTok boost global awareness and fan growth; the relatively "disruption-proof" nature of live events as virtual methods remain incomparable; and the advent of experiential marketing.
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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