It’s becoming increasingly clear as this decade rattles to its half-way point that those that can, tour. And those that are blessed with a backstory, history and a legion of fans that bought their records (back when they were for sale), are being doubly blessed.
It used to be that big names would reluctantly hop on the tour bandwagon every couple of albums or so. Now they’re never off them, with touring and physical appearance commitments – be they residencies or endless globe-hopping jaunts – actually getting in the way of the process of making new music to keep their fans happy.
The evidence comes courtesy of Billboard’s newly released Top Tours chart, a deep dive into who’s been working hard through 2024 and who got the social, advertising, venue choice, ticket price and new release attention blitz just right.
Notable names in Billboard's top ten tours include The Rolling Stones – now sporting a last-chance-to-see 80-year-old Mick Jagger asset (rather a liability) – who raked in a fresh $235 million in ticket sales in 2024, crowning a 62-year-old career to date. And they did so by playing just 18 gigs – testament to their choice of maxed-out venues plus laser-targeted ticket price. With an average ticket price of $277.16 that means that the Stones made an average of $13.1 million per show.
Just beating them in terms of sheer cash obtained are Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band who’s tour is in fact, ongoing, picking up again in Europe in 2025 and which has – so far – taken $235.5 million from 39 shows.
Who was charging the most for tickets? That’ll be the average $367.13 being charged per seat for U2’s 38 shows at Sphere in Las Vegas. Their hi-tech residency took in a total $231.1 million,
Top of the tree for earnings however are Coldplay, whose passion for never stopping popping fireworks and encouraging girls to climb onto shoulders seems to know no bounds. In 2024 they played 51 shows across the globe, reaping $400.9 million in the process.
The bottom line
The takeaway is that modern gigging, at the top end, is increasingly a balancing act of size of venue, number of gigs and price of tickets, but those that can get it right do so royally.
And the overarching good news is that 2024’s total number of ‘Top 100 Tours’ gig attendees was 69.8 million. That’s an increase of 10.7% over 2023. But in perhaps a bittersweet edge to this success, the combined haul from these top tours reaped $9.1 billion, a fabulous 21.6% increase in revenue 2023.
You’re probably wondering where Taylor Swift comes in at this point? Her vast Eras Tour finally ended – over a year since its start – at the end of November. Unfortunately, a show-by-show breakdown has yet to be submitted to Billboard for chart eligibility meaning that, for the second year in a row, Eras doesn't make Billboard's chart.
Had they got their numbers in, its coffers would have doubtless pushed the top 100 total revenue past $10 billion.
Festivals fizzle…
Ironically, all this single-artist success has meant falling revenue for festivals. Having got the science of gigging down to such an art, the biggest bands in the world are becoming increasingly festival-shy, preferring to own and earn from their own shows.
Also snagging points such as their position on the billing, finishing times, and festival’s ‘exclusivity windows’ (preventing bands from gigging and earning elsewhere) have become increasingly annoying for the big names.
Festivals therefore haven’t brought in the big names or the big crowds in 2024 and while only a few festivals submitted figures to Billboard, the general consensus is that ticket sales for festivals are down globally, from big hitters like Coachella, down to the smaller, grass-roots events.
What does it all mean?
The message? More people are attending gigs… But they’re paying more for tickets… Meaning that somewhere along the line we just got a new norm of more expensive gig tickets. And as long as that graph keeps heading in the right direction we can expect to pay more through 2025 and onwards.
It’s all good news for the music biz therefore, but it just cements the fact that music acts are having to work physically harder to earn the big bucks. And it’ll be interesting to see how long today’s experience-hungry, right-of-passage-seeking gig-goers will power the new gravy train before they decide to find less expensive ways to earn their stripes.
Until then, see you in the front row.
