Live Nation is devouring live music, says Wall Street Journal
Live Nation is devouring live music and the live music industry, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company’s “flywheel” approach fueled its rise and could lead to its breakup as the Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit continues.
Live Nation‘s flywheel approach to business involves controlling and profiting from the many elements that make up a live concert. That can include promoting the concert, owning or managing the venue and selling tickets via its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The flywheel can also include managing the artists performing to investing in the show’s exclusive bottled water provider Liquid Death.
Live Nation Entertainment grossed $23 billion in 2024.
In its current antitrust suit, the U.S. Department of Justice included this graphic. It illustrates how Live Nation reinvests profits from its high margin businesses into its lower margin businesses.
“If you go to the Securities and Exchange Commission website and you look up Live Nation,” says Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA),”there’s an 11-page document that lists more than 425 subsidiary companies or organizations.”
Parker spoke to the WSJ as part of its investigation into “How Live Nation Is Devouring the Live Music Industry.“
“The flywheel is something that executives at Live Nation have talked about publicly on investor calls for years.” said WSJ Music Industry reporter Anne Steele. “This has been something that investors have very much cheered on. And, you know, we’ve seen their stock go up and up over the years. But now it’s something that the DOJ has identified specifically as problematic.”
Live Nation also increases profit margins on concerts by selling VIP packages, parking, food and beverages, phone chargers, and more.
“It really shows Live Nation’s versatility in creating deals that not only work for the artist, but really benefit Live Nation and squeeze the maximum benefit from any corner of the industry,” says Steele.
“There is more competition in the industry today than there ever has been,” counters Kaitlyn Henrich, Live Nation Head of Global Corporate Affairs.
“What we have done is really built the best touring team in the industry,” says Henrich. “None of this would happen without all the folks that grind it out behind the scenes and on tour.”
Bruce Houghton
‘Live Nation is devouring live music’ first appeared on Hypebot.com.
H/T to Jay Gilbert and Your Morning Coffee for the transcript.
