← External Forces: Industry Specific (all topics)
Concert economy
What it is
Live performance as a revenue stream in its own right - ticketing, sponsorship, merchandise and festival appearances - rather than as promotion for recorded music
The shift is from film-playback dominance toward artists building direct fan relationships and touring on their own name, supported by the arrival of large international tours and purpose-built venues
Impact on industries
- Owned revenue rather than platform-dependent revenue - the artist sets the price, keeps the relationship and is not splitting a pro-rata pool
- Monetises superfans, who spend far more per head than any streaming listener, and pulls through to hotels, travel, venues and ticketing
- Capital and execution intensive, with venue guarantees, crew, logistics and insurance costs rising faster than ticket yields for developing artists
- Highly concentrated - a few headline acts capture most value, so the segment does not lift the long tail of artists in the way streaming reach suggests