Concert Promotion

Market Analysis

By: Felix Jacobsen

February 21st, 2023

MUSC 3587

Professor Pignato

SUNY Oneonta
An Introduction to the Live Music and its Importance to Society

Music is consumed by listeners all around the world, whether that be through the

radio, a streaming platform, or a turntable. Everyone has a tune in their head that they

find themselves listening to, and crave to see it in the most pure and raw form it can

ever take: live. Live concerts provide an entirely new way to experience music, a way

that cannot be replicated by any studio recording. Buying CDs, cassette tapes, and

vinyls may become history, but live music will always be around. According to The

Future of the Music Business, the live concert scene is “the only sector of the music

business that is making more money than before 1999” (Gordon). The reason why live

music is so important to humanity as a whole is due to its need for socialization and its

longing for togetherness. In a digital setting, people may be virtually together, but they

are physically apart, leaving them to experience music by themselves. In a live music

setting, people get to hear music that they love in its own unique way due to the people

they are surrounded by and get to interact with.

The necessity to share social musical experiences with one another was proven

to be vital to the wellbeing and happiness of many people all over the world due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. In a world where people were stuck in their homes with nowhere

else to be, many were left greatly missing the live concert scene. The music industry,

desperate to make money, worked on providing virtual concerts, and music enjoyers,

desperate to hear live music, paid for these digital events. They were decent

considering the times, but they are not a form of performance that I think will last once

the world can properly move on from the pandemic due to how it still leaves the viewer
to have an isolated music experience, which is the exact opposite of what a concert is

supposed to be.

The Current Market

COVID-19 greatly affected the live music scene and the music industry as a

whole. According to Variety, prior to the pandemic, the live music industry was

projected to “generate $12.2 billion in box office this year [but] was flattened by the

pandemic in a matter of days” (Lang, Aswald, Ravindran). The live industry suffered

greatly during quarantine, and no matter how many digital concerts were held, it was not

the same experience and it became obvious that this mode of music would not last very

long. Luckily, due to the world finally being able to start moving past the pandemic, live

concerts are springing up constantly, especially since people have been missing them

for so long. When something is taken from people and they finally get it back, they have

a newfound appreciation for it, which led to a huge

uptick in revenue for the live music industry. According

to Pollstar, the average gross for the top 100 North

American Tours in 2019 was $688,535, but in 2022, the

industry saw a soar in sales, the average gross for the

top 100 tour in the continent being $856,206 (Allen).

This means that since a time before the global

pandemic, the live music industry is showing signs of

immense growth.
Concert Promoter Job Requirements

A concert promoter’s job is to put together and show live music performances.

This is a rather broad description, and that is because there are many facets to the job

that must be taken care of, which includes but are not limited to: booking bands/artists,

booking venues, setting the costs of tickets, and advertising for the event (Academic

Invest). There are also many important financial, social, and organizational skills that a

person should have if they want to be a concert promoter, a few being budgeting,

negotiation, multitasking, an understanding of spreadsheets, and general knowledge

about performers and venues (Berklee).

To find success as a concert promoter, one must establish themselves as a

reliable figure within the industry, someone that can get work done efficiently and can

get along with other people in the field. Concert promoters that work hard to establish

connections with others are more likely to be able to book large and exciting events, as

they are trusted by those around them to make the show happen all according to plan

(Berklee).

Salary

Whether working as part of a promotion company or independently, a concert

promoter has something called a promoter profit, which is the amount of money they

make, generally 15%-20% of the concert costs, before the ticket revenue is split

between the artist and the promoter according to a deal they work out in their contracts.

According to Careers in Music, the average yearly salary of a concert promoter is

$78,600, however, one can make more or less money than that depending on the level

of success they achieve over time. In the next eight or so years, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics predicts that the employment of event planners will increase by 18%,

meaning that concert promoters will likely see an increase in employment as well (BLS).

Location

As long as there is a venue in a town or city, a concert promoter can work there.

Most places have their own venues to varying sizes, but one would find the best

employment as a concert promoter in big cities, as that is where most concerts in the

United States will be held due to population density and the amount of venues in those

locations. According to Gotham Magazine, the U.S. cities with the most concerts

announced last year were New York City, NY, then Nashville,TN, then Austin, TX, then

Los Angeles, CA, and then Chicago, IN. To show the correlation in regards to the

amount of venues in cities, Gotham Magazine has also determined that the U.S. cities

with the most venues are New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, and Nashville.

Big cities with the most venues will likely have the greatest number of concerts per year,

which is best when working as a concert promoter. However, it is important to consider

how much it costs to live in these large cities. Since big cities are often desired places

to live, the cost to actually live in them is significantly higher than it is to live elsewhere.

Education and Experience

One does not need a college education to work as a concert promoter, however,

it is extremely helpful. It is suggested that someone at least takes some

communications classes so they can effectively write and form important business

relationships with others if they cannot do this already. Besides this, most of what is
learned about being a concert promoter is through hands-on experience and trial and

error, hence why getting internships and networking with others in the industry is so

important for one’s success. Getting prior experience is extremely helpful because it

helps to raise someone’s confidence in themselves performing tasks and raises other

people’s confidence in that person. This is a job where people’s money, jobs, and

reputations are in the hands of the concert promoter, so it’s important for them to trust

their gut and be confident in their decisions (Kowal).

Being a concert promoter is an extremely stressful job that requires someone to

have both the confidence and drive to stick with their instincts and make logical

decisions. Concert promoting requires those who work in that field to be good with

money, good with people, and good with organization. This job is vital to the music

industry because without someone managing the booking and marketing of events, live

shows would never take off. There needs to be someone always making sure that

things run smoothly behind the scenes so that music enjoyers can have the time of their

lives at a concert, immersing themselves in the music and atmosphere.

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