Pollstar

Casino Entertainment: Transitioning to the Next Era With many of the legacy artists that have traditionally been the backbone of casino entertainment now well into their 70s, casino bookers are faced with a drastically different talent pool over the next 10 years. Among the questions to be answered: Have talent agencies changed their thinking about booking casinos? What’s in the comedy pipeline to play gaming resorts? How will sellers approach pricing for gaming buyers given these evolving artist rosters? What data do casino buyers use to evaluate talent? Register today! https://www.pollstar.live/

The year for the live entertainment industry may not have been as record-breaking as 2023, but it was one filled with milestones for many artists, especially those in the Latin music space, sparking hope for growth in 2025.   Twenty-five tours from Latin artists cracked Pollstar’s Year End Worldwide Top 200, which is seven fewer than the number of acts that made the cut in 2023. Though that figure may seem discouraging, the achievements of high-ranking artists and a growing interest in subgenres under the Latin music umbrella are enough to look ahead with some optimism.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/ek_tXM-Z #Pollstar

More speakers have been confirmed for Pollstar Live! including Bryan Benson of C3 Presents, Rachael Bronstein of Life’s Jam, Kiely Mosiman of Wasserman and Rich Schaefer of AEG Presents.   Benson serves as the Lead Booker for Live Nation Nashville / Talent Buyer for C3 Presents and handles booking for Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, among other duties. He was nominated for a Pollstar Award for Talent Buyer of the Year in 2023.   Bronstein is the founder of Life’s Jam, described as “a resource of tools and solutions to make road life a little easier.”   Mosiman is a vice president at Wasserman, with a roster that includes break-out star Chappell Roan along with Evan Honer and Cigarettes After Sex. In September Mosiman was named to Pollstar‘s Impact: NextGen list, honoring up-and-coming executives in the live business.   Schaefer was promoted to the role of president of global touring at AEG Presents a little over a year ago. He was celebrated in June as part of Pollstar‘s Impact 50, featuring the 50 most impactful executives in the industry.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/eSuBHNP6 #Pollstar #PSL25

The earth-shattering, culturally unifying spectacle known as Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” came to an end Dec. 8 at Vancouver, British Columbia’s B.C. Place stadium. It was the 149th performance of a tour that spanned 51 cities, 19 countries and five continents.   Its sheer breadth and length — it ran nearly 21 months after its March 2023 start in Glendale, Arizona — would be reason enough for it to enter the annals of all-time cultural undertakings.   Then there’s the box-office returns, which were both expected and gobsmacking.    Pollstar estimated the tour’s gross at $2.2 billion on 10.055 million tickets. The per-show average of 67,487 broke the 13-year-old record set by U2 on the in-the-round “360 Tour.” Those estimates are based on extensive research including ticket price in each market, venue capacities, premium seating and comparable tour data.   Although, in fairness to our crack research team, there is no comparable tour. Not really.   “Eras” was, by some margin, the highest grossing tour of all time.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/e9HMPYey #Pollstar #TaylorSwift #ErasTour

Coldplay had been on the road for more than two and a half years with its record-setting “Music of the Spheres World Tour” when the British pop-rock band encountered the biggest challenge of the trek yet. It was the opening night of the Australian leg, the first of four nights at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, and bassist Guy Berryman was struggling with a last-minute bout of gastroenteritis. “We assumed he’d be OK for the show – as we’ve all played shows when we’ve been unwell. But two hours before stage time, he was completely incapacitated – too weak to lift his head, let alone his bass,” drummer Will Champion tells Pollstar. “Luckily, we have a phenomenally talented producer called Bill Rahko who comes on tour with us. He was able to fill in for Guy, despite never having performed the songs before. Poor Bill had to wear a heavy alien head for the entire two-hour performance. He did an incredible job and we got through the show – just about – but the incident definitely reinforced that the four of us are an inseparable unit… with a unique chemistry that can’t be substituted or replaced.”   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/eyZRnA_z #Pollstar #Coldplay

The moment we’ve all been waiting for…   Pollstar’s 2024 Year-End charts highlight a historic year for live entertainment. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became the first to gross over $2 billion, while Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres broke attendance records with 10.3 million tickets sold, making it the most-attended tour ever. The Top 100 tours grossed a record $9.5 billion, marking 2024 as a landmark year. Joining Swift and Coldplay in the Top 10 were P!NK, Luis Miguel, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Bad Bunny, Zach Bryan, Metallica, and Madonna. Pollstar’s largest-ever Year-End issue explores these milestones and trends shaping the industry. Looking ahead, Pollstar Live! 2025 returns February 18-20 in Los Angeles.    “We are honored to feature them (Coldplay) on the cover of Pollstar’s Year End Special, the largest issue in Pollstar’s 42-year history. I am immensely proud of the work our team has put into creating this monumental edition.” - Andy Gensler   For full Year-End coverage, visit: https://lnkd.in/gkx6rtEs #Pollstar #PollstarLive #PollstarAwards #PollstarCharts

The Pollstar Live! Poster Contest returns for the 36th edition in 2025 and entries are now open.   The contest is open to U.S. residents who are, or are a representative of, a promoter, venue, manager, or similar position of a live event or show in the 202 calendar year.    Entries will be accepted now through Jan. 3. Contest Submissions will be judged based on the the following criteria: (i) Content; (ii) Creativity; (iii) Originality; and (iv) Public votes from the Pollstar Live! 2025 Conference and Pollstar.com website.   More information and full rules are available on our site.   #Pollstar

Sheffield, firmly put on the world map by its foundries during the Industrial Revolution, is still known colloquially as Steel City; but heavy industry in the Yorkshire city (population: 556k) went into sharp decline from the 1980s onwards. It has, however, been a major producer and exporter of music since the 1960s, although it does not get the same plaudits that other British cities like Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow do for punching above their music weights.    “There’s something in this city that’s very ancient. Like the old ‘little mesters’ that used to make the pen knives and bowie knives – they would guard their secrets very closely. And I think that’s rubbed off in the bands and the music. It’s OK to do your own thing and not be part of a scene,” singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Richard Hawley, who was born in Sheffield in 1967, previously told Mojo.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/gSGiMMSm #Pollstar

The eruption of Beatlemania in the U.S., now the focus of the new “Beatles ’64” documentary on Disney+, produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by David Tedeschi, remains the idealized career arc for British bands seeking to make it in America. The doors The Beatles kicked open saw a rush of British bands slipstream them, such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks and many others.   This British Invasion became such a cultural benchmark that the phrase was revived in the early 1980s, inevitably termed the Second British Invasion, to explain the MTV-powered success of acts like Duran Duran and Culture Club. The Third British Invasion (allegedly in the early 2000s) was a looser grouping of acts like Adele and James Blunt, had less cultural resonance as a term, but was proof of how big and wide the dream of cracking the U.S. is for UK acts.   Pollstar’s cover act, Bring Me The Horizon, from Sheffield, are the latest in a long line to make an assault on the U.S. touring market. As the biggest touring market in the world, you cannot claim to be a truly global act unless you have dominated in America. But in 2024, how to tackle the U.S. is very different than how UK acts did it before.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/efKB8Tmu #Pollstar

Concert touring mainstay Steve Miller Band has signed for agency representation with Independent Artist Group following “The Summer Stadium Tour” that saw the classic rockers joining Def Leppard and Journey.   “After seeing SMB rock massive audiences night after night during The Summer Stadium Tour with Def Leppard & Journey, we look forward to continuing that momentum in 2025 and beyond,” said IAG agent Adam Kornfeld in the announcement. Def Leppard is represented by IAG, whose music agency is run by chairman Dennis Arfa.   To read full article click link here: https://lnkd.in/e6r9QKMd #Pollstar #SteveMillerBand