The advent of large-scale music streaming in the early 2010s was seen as a godsend for an industry struggling with illegal downloads and problems adapting successful digital media solutions. While labels and platforms like Spotify, Amazon Prime Music or Apple Music profit to this day, medium-sized artists rarely see the returns of the streaming boom.
With live music, it’s different, with many acts and bands reportedly primarily making their money touring and selling merchandise. According to the most recent edition of PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, global live revenues almost rubberbanded back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, surpassing $20 billion and estimated to grow to $25 billion by 2027. Pollstar data suggests that last year’s tours by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen alone were responsible for ten percent of these revenues.
Apart from tours dedicated to one specific artist or band, music festivals also play a significant role in the industry’s revenue mix. As Pollstar’s year-end wrapup shows, the top 8 festivals worldwide in terms of gross revenue generated $192 million in 2023. Topping the charts are the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, one of the biggest independently-owned music festivals in the U.S. taking place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park since 2008, and the Hard Summer Music Festival, which takes place in Hollywood Park in Los Angeles and is mostly focused on electronic music. The third entry is an outlier not only in terms of tickets sold, but also in terms of artists present. Phish: Riviera Maya is dedicated solely to the eponymous jam band and was held in February 2023 in Cancun.
Another notable facet of Pollstar’s roundup: Seven out of eight best-selling festivals are located in the Americas, with Mexico and the United States taking up six of eight slots. The sole European entrant is Germany’s Hurricane Festival, which grossed $20.1 million in 2023 across 233,000 tickets sold. The first festival on the top 20 list not being held in the Americas or Germany is Austria’s FM4 Festival, which grossed $10.7 million.
