The global concerts business is booming, and live music companies are publishing the balance sheets to prove it.
US-headquartered live music giant Live Nation recently reported Q2 revenues of $5.6 billion for its global operations , up 27% YoY.
Over in Europe, Germany-headquartered live entertainment company and ticket seller CTS Eventim just announced that it generated H1 revenues of EUR €1.021 billion, a 39% increase compared with the prior-year period.
This revenue haul marked the first time the company generated in excess of EUR €1 billion within a six-month period.
Live Entertainment
Digging deeper into CTS EVENTIM’s results reveals that the company’s H1 revenues from its Live Entertainment segment reached EUR €751 million, up by 39% YoY (see below).
In Q2 (the three months to end of June), the company’s Live Entertainment business generated €527.2 million, up 11% YoY.
The company also reports that it generated €50 million in the US in the first half of 2023, with revenue from the market for the year forecast to reach more than €100 million.
CTS expanded into the North American market in September 2021.
Ticketing
In the six months from January 1 to June 31, 2023, revenue from the company’s Ticketing segment climbed by 41% YoY to €284.6 million.
Highlights in the first half of the year included tours of artists such as Herbert Grönemeyer, Hans Zimmer and P!nk, as well as international sporting events such as the World Athletics Championships that are currently taking place in Budapest.
CTS reports that it sold 34.3 million tickets in the first half of the year, up by 6.4 million units compared with the prior-year period, up by 22.8% YoY.
For comparison, as of the end of June, Live Nation owned Ticketmaster had sold 151 million ‘reported fee-bearing tickets’ year-to-date, which was up 22% YoY.
CTS Eventim’s company’s headcount also grew, from 3,190 employees in H1 2022 to 3,469 employees at the end of H1 2023 (see below).
Meanwhile, the comapny’s normalised EBITDA reached €170.8 million for the first half of 2023 (up by 39% year on year) and €94.8 million for Q2 2023 (down by 5% YoY).
“The breadth and depth of our portfolio and the successful internationalisation of our business are the key drivers of our strong and stable growth.”
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, said: “The breadth and depth of our portfolio and the successful internationalisation of our business are the key drivers of our strong and stable growth.
“After the market distortions caused by pandemic-related catch-up effects, we are now back to ‘business as usual’ at CTS EVENTIM. And ‘as usual’ for us means healthy organic growth and the development and expansion of new and existing business segments.
‘In the first half of this year, CTS EVENTIM has demonstrated great flexibility and entrepreneurial ingenuity on all fronts, enabling us to successfully navigate current macroeconomic challenges and stay on track for healthy growth. All relevant key figures confirm that both the wider market and our Group continue to perform at higher levels than before the pandemic.”Music Business Worldwide
