AEG
Los Angeles venues to replace all single-use cups with reusable ones
The Crypto.com Arena and Peacock Theater will use only reusable cups beginning in the fall. Los Angeles Venues to Replace All Single-Use Cups with Reusable Ones Paolo Ragusa
Did Taylor Swift Really Have a Choice to Work With Ticketmaster?
Maybe Live Nation chairman Greg Maffei’s statement that Taylor Swift and promoter AEG “chose” to work with Ticketmaster for her calamitous onsale earlier this week should have come with an asterisk. On Thursday (Nov. 17), Maffei attempted to correct criticisms about Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation operating as a monopoly by pointing out that Swift’s 2023 Eras Tour “is not actually a Live Nation promoted concert” but rather “promoted by one of our largest competitors.” Maffei — who is also the president of Live Nation’s largest shareholder Liberty Media — continued: “AEG who is the promoter for Taylor Swift, chose to use us because, in reality, we are the largest and most effective ticket seller in the world. Even our competitors want to come on our platform.” The...
The Ledger: There’s Still Room for Consolidation in the Festival Market
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. For all the consolidation in the concert industry in the last decade, the festival business remains a diverse array of events operated by independent companies rather than the corporate behemoths. That’s one takeaway from Billboard’s new list of the top 50 music festivals of 2022 that considers the quality, size and cultural impact of the biggest and best events around the globe. The top 50 list is filled with potential mergers and acquisitions for growth-minded promoters: 35 of the top 50 festivals are owned by either independent promoters or, in a handful of cases, non-profit organizations. Some festivals are fewer th...
Battle for Los Angeles Minifest Market Heats Up Between Live Nation and AEG
As the Southern California-Las Vegas corridor develops into the largest year-round U.S. festival market, rival live-industry giants Live Nation and AEG are battling for control through competing minifestivals — genre-specific, commuter-friendly events that require little or no travel commitment, have lower ticket prices and could work nationally, spurring growth in a crowded market. AEG-owned Goldenvoice once dominated that niche sector, but industry sources say the former talent buyer who delivered them there, Jeff Shuman, may have helped Live Nation build a superior model: a minifestival with the potential to generate Coachella-size attendance numbers. On Oct. 22, 23 and 29, Live Nation will debut When We Were Young, a pop-punk/emo minifest — headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore...
One in Five Concert Ticket Holders No-Showed in 2021
About one out of every five people who held tickets for concerts in 2021 stayed home. In most years, the very biggest touring acts and venues expect less than 4% of ticket buyers to no-show, while an average Live Nation concert saw about 12% of people stay home in 2019. But according to a Wall Street Journal report, that rate rose across the board in COVID-struck 2021, with between 17% and 20% of ticket purchasers never scanning their tickets. Some of the hardest-hits acts this year have been legacy artists with aging fanbases, including The Eagles, George Strait, Billy Joel, The Flaming Lips, and Dead & Company, who have all reported no-show rates of 20%. While a no-show is much better than a never-purchased, venues are especially anxious about the loss of older, wealthier p...
Coachella No Longer Requires Vaccine at 2022 Festival
In August, officials with Goldenvoice’s parent company AEG Presents announced that starting Oct. 1, fans attending events produced by the company would need to show proof of full vaccination to gain entry to events like Coachella and the country-music-focused Stagecoach festival, which takes place in the same location the weekend after Coachella. “We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status,” said AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano at the time. “Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again. We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, ...
AEG to Require Proof of Vaccination At All U.S. Festivals, Including Coachella and Stagecoach
AEG Presents announced today that it will be requiring proof of vaccination for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theaters, and festivals. In response to the nationwide surge in coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant, the global leader in concerts and live events announced the vaccination mandate will be in effect no later than October 1st, 2021. The new policy will be implemented at the company’s venues, including Webster Hall and Brooklyn Steel in New York, The Roxy and El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, and The Theatre at Resorts World in Las Vegas. Festivals adopting the mandate include Firefly Music Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Coachella Music & Arts Festival, and Stagecoach Festival, among others. According to AEG, October 1st was...
AEG Presents Launches New Sustainability Initiative, Climate Positive Touring
Global live events giant AEG Presents announced a new sustainability effort this Thursday, called Climate Positive Touring. With team members located across the organization’s various divisions, the initiative will primarily seek to reduce tour-related carbon emissions to net zero or better. It will work alongside AEG 1Earth, the business’s corporate sustainability program, which releases the company’s annual Sustainability Report. According to a press release, Climate Positive Touring is currently working on a data-focused Venue Environmental Survey in order to identify and inform new environmentally focused priorities and solutions. Additionally, the project has released the first installment of its Green Touring Guide. Its recommendations will actively shape the ...
Coachella On Pause Until At Least Fall 2021, Says Palm Springs Mayor
As it stands, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is still scheduled for April 9th-11th and April 16th-18th, 2021, with other large gatherings—including Stagecoach Music Festival and The Dinah—following suit with spring dates. However, a recent interview with Palm Springs Mayor Christy Holstege reveals the city does not have any plans to host large-scale events until at least the fall of 2021. The interview aired January 13th on Channel Q‘s popular 103.1 FM segment, “The Morning Beat with AJ and Mikalah.” While calling into the show, Holstege discussed current pandemic conditions in Palm Springs, the state of the city’s tourism industry, and high hopes for the future. “We’ve been focused on, you know, making sure that everyone’s wearing ...
Stephanie LaFera, WME’s Head of Music, on Racial Injustice and Planning Concerts During a Pandemic [Q&A]
2020 will certainly go down in the annals of music history as not only one of the most difficult, but also among the most seminal. The music community—and the entertainment industry at large—have had to completely rethink their strategies in order to stay afloat. AEG, Live Nation, and a number of other music industry giants have struggled to remain in business. But deep within the roots of music, innovators like Stephanie LaFera, WME’s Head of Music, have used these unprecedented times to reshape the music industry. LaFera oversees a team of agents whose roster includes major dance music acts such as Calvin Harris, Kygo, Steve Aoki, TOKiMONSTA, Martin Garrix, Marshmello, Eric Prydz, Grimes, and many more. In the midst of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, LaFera has succeedi...
Top Music Execs & Their Employees Aren’t Donating to the Same Political Candidates
“I don’t love that [Phil] supports all these right wing causes, but his political beliefs are so far detached from the work we do and our company values,” explains one high ranking executive, who notes that despite being very conservative, Anschutz supports LGBT causes and has given millions to groups some describe as being left of center. Employees at Liberty Media, which owns SiriusXM, Pandora and a 35% stake in Live Nation, for the first time ever have given more money to Democratic candidates than Republican ones. In 2020, individuals at the company gave $209,374 to Democrats and $92,485 to Republicans — more than a 2-1 margin. Back in 2016, Democrats only received $134,636 while $385,700 was spent on Republican candidates, while in 2012, only $12,500 was spent on Democrats with ...
In Mexico, the World’s Third-Largest Concert Promoter Prepares For Live Music’s Return
Alejandro Soberón Kuri talks growth, global trends and the company’s near-deal with Live Nation. Alejandro Soberón Kuri founded OCESA in 1990 to establish Mexico as an obligatory tour stop for international artists. He ended up building a global concert powerhouse third only to Live Nation and AEG. “Mexico may not be the third-biggest country in the world, but it has the third-largest live event promoter,” says Soberón Kuri, 60, from his CEO office in Mexico City — though neither he nor his colleagues have been working there during the pandemic, as major venues remain closed across the country. In 2019, OCESA’s holding company, Grupo Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento, produced over 3,400 shows from the United States to Colombia and throughout Central America, ...
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