Festivals & live shows are starting to make a comeback, and we couldn’t be happier. In 2020, we saw the live music scene go dormant. 2021 on the other hand, is said to be the reawakening. It now seems that 2022 will be a resurgence. I say this, as the world-leading event promotions company, Live Nation has booked twice the amount of shows for 2022, than it did in 2019.
Live Nation Entertainment’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rapino, recently shared the company’s first-quarter 2021 financial results. He did so on a web call. During the call, Rapino took the time to discuss the company’s financial performance, operational outlook, and other forward-looking matters. In doing so, Rapino touched on three particular subjects. These include:
If you’re in the live music space, this is huge. Speaking on the matter, Rapino had the following to say:
“Around the world, people are showing the need to get out and socialize once again which reinforces our expectation that a return to concerts will be the logical progression as vaccines are readily available to everyone who wants to get one.
This is generally already the case in the U.S. where we are confidently planning our reopenings, particularly for outdoor shows, and we expect many of our other major markets will follow this summer.”
He continues:
“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 US, Europe and often either Asia or Latin America, setting us up for a strong multi-year growth run.”
If you were waiting on a sign to go out and buy a ticket to see your favorite artist, this is it. The same could be said if you were looking to book a trip to your favorite festival. While the past year & a half or so has been dismal in respect to live shows, the future, is anything but. To listen back to the official Quarter 1 Earnings Webcast, be sure to have a listen, here. For more information, check out Live Nation‘s official website, here.
