Global Report LIVING FOR LIVE
FANS HAVE MADE
LIVE MUSIC
THE MAIN STAGE OF GLOBAL CULTURE
The gravitational force pulling billions of memories, miles, and dollars into its orbit.
Based on insights from 40,000 people across 15 markets, Live Nation’s Living for Live report captures how fans are fueling the biggest tours in history, the fastest festival sell-outs, and a movement that crosses oceans. They line up for days, travel across continents, and build their lives around the calendar of live music.
This isn’t a passing trend. It’s a cultural reset shifting how people spend their time, shape their identities, connect, and share their stories.
FANS CHOOSE CONCERTS AS THE WORLD’S #1 ENTERTAINMENT
Fans globally have named concerts the world’s top form of entertainment, outranking sports, movies, and even sex.
In 2025 alone, more than 130 million fans have already bought tickets. Stadium attendance has tripled year-over-year, festivals sell out faster than ever, and with 10+ new large-scale venues opening worldwide in 2026, the movement is only accelerating.
If limited to one type of entertainment for the rest of their lives, live music is the #1 global consumer choice – Live music (39%), Movies in theatres (17%), Professional sports events (14%).
People are over 2x more likely to choose a concert for their favorite artist over sex (70% would pick to a concert vs. 30% would pick sex).
FANS GO TO SHOWS TO SHOW WHO THEY ARE
From bucket hats at Oasis to cowboy boots in the Beyhive to tie-dye Deadheads, identity shows up in every fandom. 77% say the crowd makes them feel part of something bigger, and 79% say what they wear is part of that, with fans in Japan, Spain, and France leading the way.
Every show becomes both a celebration and a declaration — in person and online.
for 84%, live is what gives them the most life.
CONCERT DATES ARE THE NEW LIFE MILESTONES
Concerts aren’t just nights out anymore. They’re life markers. Fans save, plan, and even ink them into memory, putting concerts on par with birthdays, graduations, weddings, and anniversaries.
70% plan travel and half plan outfits weeks in advance, and three out of four say a trip makes the show more meaningful.
For fans, it’s never just about the setlist. It’s about connection and marking the moments they’ll never forget.
NEARLY 80% say live music brings their family closer together.
GLOBAL STAGES
GLOBAL FANS
Fans globally move across cultures, continents, and languages for live music.
In 2024, they traveled more than 40 billion miles — the same as 83,000 trips to the moon — with fans in Sweden, Brazil, and Ireland nearly twice as likely to go 500+ miles for a single show.
In the last year, attendance spiked 30%+ across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. 71% of fans globally listen to artists outside their native tongue, with 84% saying live music unites across borders.
Concerts are where culture speaks one language and everyone belongs.
Adjacent statistic based on first-party ticketing data; modeled estimate from US, UK, Australia, and Mexico.
GLOBAL STAGES GLOBAL FANS
Move With TheM
When fans travel for shows, they don’t just fill venues — they fuel economies.
Nearly 6 in 10 fans travel each year, turning every ticket into a ripple effect of flights, hotels, restaurants, and retail.
From Oasis’s £1B impact with their Live ’25 reunion across the U.K. and Ireland, to Beyoncé’s $4.5B impact in the U.S., to Bad Bunny’s residency that generated $200M in Puerto Rico, live music is moving culture — and entire economies — forward.
Fans Crave REAL Experiences and Feel the Most Connected at Concerts
In an age of AI and algorithms, concerts are the antidote — the most emotionally intense shared experience on earth. 85% of fans leave euphoric, with Millennials rating that intensity highest.
93% crave real experiences over digital ones, and 80% would rather spend on experiences than things.
Concerts aren’t just entertainment — they’re the ultimate reminder of what it means to be alive, together.
and Feel the Most Connected at Concerts
Women Are Defining Live’s Biggest Moments
Women are rewriting live music’s record books.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter World Tour is the top-grossing country tour ever. Olivia Rodrigo drew Lollapalooza’s biggest crowd, and Karol G set Spain’s all-time ticket record. Lady Gaga just made history in Brazil with the largest concert ever by a female artist.
With 76% of fans interested in live events headlined by women, female artists aren’t just part of the story — they’re defining culture’s biggest moments.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter World Tour is the top-grossing country tour ever
FANS ARE
The FEED
Every show is a broadcast. 94% of fans post, turning live into the world’s fastest-growing media channel.
For half of Gen Z, posting is part of why they go. 86% rewatch their own videos, and 68% stream clips when they can’t attend.
What happens onstage and in the crowd becomes what the world scrolls — live is the spark and the engine of today’s attention economy.
FANS ARE The FEED
Where Brands
Take The Stage
In live music, brands don’t interrupt — they become part of the show.
Fans skip ads everywhere else, but here they’ll wait over an hour for access, upgrades, or moments that pull them closer to the music.
97% want brands to play a bigger role. And the payoff is real: 75% have a lift in brand consideration, 70% see higher purchase intent, and 80% leave liking the brand more. That’s loyalty you can’t buy, it’s earned live and remembered for life.
THE ENGINE
OF CULTURE
This is more than music. It’s the operating system of culture, where identity, technology, commerce, and creativity collide in real time.
Concerts are now the world’s most powerful engine of attention, loyalty, and influence. Fans vote with their fandom, wallets, miles, outfits, tattoos, and social feeds — all for live music.
What was once simply entertainment is now the foundation of modern culture. The next decade of culture will be built live.
Live Nation Living for Live Global Study 2025. Findings based on a sample of 40,000 respondents 18–54 across 15 countries.
Live Nation Custom Global Study, 2025. Findings based on a sample of 1,000+ heavy social media users 18+ across 8 countries.
Billboard. Oasis reunion tour to make swift impact on UK economy, livesector.
CNN. How Puerto Rico’s biggest star is boosting the island’s tourism economy.
The New York Times Magazine. Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour.
Pollstar. Beyoncé’s historic “Cowboy Carter Tour” concludes a stop-grossing country tour with more than $400 M.