2022 Looks Promising for Live Music Industry; Brands Ready for Artist Collaborations

2020 turned out to be a difficult year for the live music industry as it was one of the earliest sectors to be forced to shut down. Catching its breath in 2021, now we demand a gala in 2022. The live music industry took a $30 billion blow in 2020 – a disheartening number of tours were called off and twenty-seven percent of musicians faced unemployment.

“With more artists than ever wanting to tour and fans eager to make up for a lost time, all signs point to even more concerts ahead,” – Michael Rapino, CEO, Live Nation

According to Pollstar, the global concert industry was looking at a record year at the beginning of 2020 and was hit by an unforeseen loss of $9.7 billion in ticket sales alone, while another loss of $30 billion was estimated in concessions, merchandise, sponsorships, and other ancillary domains.

But worry not! Live music is booting up considering the amount of stadium activity for 2022, with more than a dozen star players actively gripping real estate for the coming year.

Google search analysis is finally showing positive results for the grief-stricken agenda of live concerts in 2021. With the sun shining brightly over the industry again, the live music revenue, including the ticket sales and sponsorship, is expected to surge by 3.3% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) moving forward in 2022 as per the Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2018-22 report.

As Covid-19 vaccinations roll out, live music is expected to enliven our lives yet again. Concerts at different scales are surfacing around the world and though the dynamics of these events will differ for fans and artists, the upturn is surely welcome by melomaniacs.

No one really thought back in April that we’d still be in such a dire situation by the end of the year,” Dr. Dean Winslow, infectious diseases expert at Stanford, shared with Rolling Stone. “A vaccine is a huge proponent of getting us through this. When a large number of Americans have this vaccine — we’re talking late spring, summer, maybe even early fall… It’s very optimistic we’d be back to full-venue outdoor concerts perhaps by next fall with social distancing and mask-wearing, but the indoor environments are high threats. I don’t see us filling concert halls or theaters until maybe even early 2022 before people can feel safe indoors.”

International stars like Eric Church, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, and Luke Bryan will walk the trail in late summer and fall this year.  The unfortunate fallout of the Proud to Be Right Here tour has had Luke Bryan announcing a redemption tour in early July, starting from Syracuse in New York.

With the music industry buckling up for full-scale festivals again, the brands must oil their hunt engines to book talent. Artists have room to pick up from multiple deals offered by brands as the demand is fired up for international tours with the colossal homecoming of the industry.

As exciting as it sounds, brand partnerships have to ride the changing pace and scale of the pandemic. With all of that being said, it is known that the concert industry cannot be expected to snap back to the pre-Covid era. Tour promoters, booking agents, and managers are speculating a mish-mash of outdoor events, one-offs, and concerts with half or two-thirds capacities under the changing safety guidelines.

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