RUMOR MILL
Friday, February 26, 2016
LIVE NATION LETTER: RAPINO'S Q4 EARNINGS UPDATE
In the wake of the release of Live Nation's blockbuster 2015 numbers (read about those here), chief Michael Rapino sent this congratulatory letter to the troops, addressing growth in concerts, ticketing, sponsorship and artist management. His remarks (and more) below.
All,
Yesterday we announced our final 2015 numbers and I wanted to congratulate you on an outstanding and record year. As we enter our 10th anniversary year, we’ve achieved amazing growth that is detailed in our press release. In 2015, each division had record performance:
- Concerts: Concerts added 5 million fans globally in 2015 to a total of 63 million fans and promoted 25,000 concerts, up 12% from last year
- Ticketmaster: For the fifth year in a row, Ticketmaster grew its ticket volume and GTV by 12% and delivered 34% growth in GTV for secondary ticketing
- Sponsorship: The business grew 17% in 2015 as our global sponsor base grew by 20% to almost 900 brands
- Artist Management: Added superstar entertainers including Pitbull, Amy Schumer, Nick Jonas, A$AP Rocky, Demi Lovato, Depeche Mode and Miguel, bringing their management roster to more than 300 artists
This momentum isn’t just important for our bottom line, it’s also important for employee development. And I’m proud to share that our success in 2015 helped enable 600 promotions and 1,100 new hires.
Already in 2016, we are off to a great start and are extremely well-positioned to deliver another stellar year of growth. To date, Concert division tickets sales are up 5%, with Coldplay and Beyonce each selling more than 1 million tickets; over 60% of our budgeted advertising for the year is already sold, outpacing last year at this time by double-digits; and our secondary ticketing offerings, now available in 13 countries are continuing to show big upside at Ticketmaster.
I want to thank you for all that you do on a daily basis, and the passion and dedication you bring to work each day. I also want to thank our artists who are at the center of everything we do. We are lucky to work in an amazing business that brings their artistry to the world and makes fans’ dreams come true with those two magical hours.
Best,
Michael
