Music industry heavyweights star at Pollstar Live!

Nearly 2,000 music industry professionals descended upon Los Angeles for the 2023 edition of Pollstar Live!

The three-day conference, which climaxes today at the Beverly Hilton, was hailed as the biggest in the event’s history by Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Pollstar‘s parent company Oak View Group (OVG).

In his opening address, Leiweke spoke of his pride at OVG’s multi-billion dollar investment in new venues, and noted it is opening its seventh building in the middle of a pandemic.

“Music is the future of our company, music is the future of this industry,” he said.

Ahead of the gathering’s standout Ticketing Real Talk panel, Leiweke also alluded to the US Senate’s investigation into the market, sparked by the controversy around the onsale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

“I think it is amazing to me that the politicians can take an issue like this and jump on it with such a lack of understanding about our business,” he said. “What they truly don’t get is that if you look at what the major issue we’re facing today with these big tours is demand, which is a wonderful thing that this many people want to go to your concerts, want to go to your venues, want to come join our industry to be a part of it.”

“The biggest issue now is that demand exceeds supply for many artists”

The subsequent panel was moderated by another business titan, Irving Azoff, and featured Madison Square Garden’s James Dolan, former attorney general for the US DoJ’s antitrust division Makan Delrahim, and best-selling artist Garth Brooks.

“The biggest issue now is that demand exceeds supply for many artists,” said Azoff. “Simple economics. More people want to see Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Adele, than there are tickets for sale. Unfortunately, that means they satisfy every fan that wants to see them.

“For instance, when Adele played Madison Square Garden, four million Adele fans logged on to buy 100,000 or so tickets. With some pretty simple math there, you arrive at over three million disappointed people. There’s not a congressional hearing in the world that fixes that reality. Demand exceeds supply. There is nothing that Ticketmaster, the building or the promoter can do to fix that.”

Meanwhile, winners at last night’s Pollstar Awards included Harry Styles (Major Tour of the Year), Austin City Limits (Festival of the Year: over 30k), Glastonbury (International Music Festival of the Year), Bridgestone Arena, Nashville (Arena of the Year), The O2, London (International Venue of the Year) and Josephine Vaccarello, Madison Square Garden (Venue Executive of the Year).

The victors also included Amy Corbin, C3 Presents (Talent Buyer of the Year), Louis Messina, Messina Touring Group (Bill Graham Award — Promoter of the Year), Arthur Fogel, Live Nation (International Promoter of the Year), Adam Kornfeld, Artist Group International (Bobby Brooks Award — Agent of the Year), Emma Banks, CAA (International Booking Agent of the Year) and CAA (Booking Agency of the Year).

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