Market Report: Norway
When it comes to ticketing, Norway is often lumped together with its fellow Nordic countries, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
The national markets typically operate hand-in-hand with one another, as multinational firms typically cover all Northern Europe/Scandinavia markets.
Primary ticketing
Multinational entities Ticketmaster and CTS Eventim are the frontrunners of the Norwegian marketplace.
Eventim has been focusing on its EVENTIM.Pass and fanSALE technology in recent years, “to ensure ticket-buyers a fair and safe experience to reduce secondary ticketing,” says Jens B. Arnesen, CEO of Eventim Scandinavia.
The EVENTIM. Pass, which found good traction with Ed Sheeran’s ongoing +–=÷× Tour, is a digital ticketing solution designed to provide security to promoters and ticket-buyers alike. Tickets purchased with this option are delivered straight to the app, closing the loop for fans to provide a seamless buying experience. “This gives peace of mind to both the promoters and the genuine fans,” Arnesen says.
“This gives peace of mind to both the promoters and the genuine fans”
Other important players are Tixly, primarily operating in B2B performing arts sales, and TicketCo, which is more sports focused.
Distribution of sales
Similarly to its Nordic neighbours, Norway is a near- exclusive digital market, with physical tickets almost extinct. Digital tickets stored on company-exclusive apps are commonplace with ticketing firms offering secure solutions to keep tickets in fans’ (digital) hands.
Value of market
Following the pandemic, Norway got off to a slow restart but is now in full swing. Concerts and festivals are increasingly popular, with the Live Nation-promoted Tons of Rock festival seeing a 50% increase in visitors for a record- breaking 150,000 attendees this July – making it the largest festival in Norway, organisers report.
Secondary ticketing
When discussing the secondary market, it’s important to note that Norway prohibits price markups for resold tickets.
Ticketmaster and Eventim also operate in the secondary market. Eventim’s fanSALE platform is a fan-to-fan resale option designed to give a legitimate avenue for genuine fans to turn over their tickets.
With resale options fairly limited due to national restrictions, Eventim hopes to provide its customers with a “trustworthy and transparent experience,” Arnesen says. Tickets purchased with the EVENTIM.Pass delivery option can only be transferred and resold through official channels, dependent on the organiser’s allowance.
Eventim hopes to provide its customers with a “trustworthy and transparent experience”
TicketSwap launched its Norwegian operations in 2022, and Viagogo and StubHub also exist here.
International/domestic splits & genres
Beyond traditional pop and rock, Norwegians love metal, traditional folk music, Schlager, and electronic music. Country music has also blossomed post-pandemic, with Live Nation Norway’s Vegard Storaas telling IQ the genre is reaching new heights.
“After Covid, the willingness of American artists to invest in coming to Norway really changed…”
“After Covid, the willingness of American artists to invest in coming to Norway really changed. It’s gone from two or three per year to 20-30, including neighbouring genres like bluegrass and Americana,” he explained.
Genre superstar Luke Combs made a stop in Norway last year, and Morgan Wallen will play the 10,300-capacity Spektrum arena in late August.
Cultural analysis
National leadership lifted the country’s pandemic restrictions after 561 days in September 2021. Though inflation lingered through late 2022, all seems well in the current Norwegian market. While other music markets around the world are reporting stagnation after two years of non-stop activity, the country is seemingly still on an upward trajectory.
Ed Sheeran will return to the country on the same tour, playing two nights at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion, signifying fans are hungry for A-list talent.
Taxes & charges
In a country with a national VAT rate of 25%, cultural services, including theatre, opera, ballet, circus, and dance performances with live music are exempt from VAT.
Country Profile: Norway
Economically, Norway may be thriving, but its position outside the eurozone remains problematic.
“The Norwegian currency is at a historical low – or rather, we’ve gotten used to it being abnormally strong – so now’s the time to get creative, as our ability to pay isn’t what it used to be,” says Agnes Steen Eckersberg, promoter at All Things Live. “We have to be mindful when pricing tickets, as we can’t place the burden of higher costs on fans. Being smart with tiered pricing and scaling while ensuring we don’t make concerts an experience limited to elite ticket-buyers is important.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by the territory’s other leading promoters, Live Nation and FKP Scorpio, as well as smaller operators such as Bergen Live, a regional promoter now majority owned by Live Nation, and specialist operators such as A Comic Soul (Jimmy Carr, Trevor Noah, and Anthony Jeselnik are a few of their upcoming bookings). In addition, there are several independent promoters who book significant acts and events, such as Sky Agency and Nordic Beats.
A further challenge is a lack of suitable stadiums and venues for the largest touring productions – Trondheim’s Lerkendal Stadion holds around 20,000, while Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion can take around 31,000 – and the need for more regional indoor arenas to enable year-round shows. “We have a great open-air arena of up to 23,000-cap at Bergenhus Fortress in the city centre (we are the licence holder) but the need for bigger capacities, and a modern indoor arena, is definitely a major factor if we are to be able to compete with other cities,” says Bergen Live’s managing director Frank Nes.
“While musicians have a wide variety to choose from, there is a definite lack of smaller seated rooms and comedy clubs”
There are issues with smaller venues, too. “While musicians have a wide variety to choose from, there is a definite lack of smaller seated rooms and comedy clubs,” says A Comic Soul’s general manager Erik Andreas Uppstrøm. In Oslo, Latter [comedy club] has a 200-cap, and that’s about it. The situation is similar or worse in the other cities.”
That being said, Bergen Live was the local promoter for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band this summer at a new 45,000-capacity site at Bergen harbour, and Ed Sheeran will perform at Ullevaal next year, promoted by FKP Scorpio.
“Ticket sales have been fantastic and setting new records at Ullevaal Stadium,” says Stian Pride, the company’s head promoter in Norway. “And it’s definitely our high-water mark, too – we’re extremely grateful to get the opportunity to present this singular artist in Norway.”
In other venue-related news, Oslo’s Spektrum Arena – a staple on the touring circuit – is closing for renovations and a 14-month rebuild next summer; shows will be shifted to 25,000-cap Unity Arena, previously the Telenor Arena.
“It’s an exciting change that will allow us to scale these types of shows differently and contribute to healthy competition between the two venues once they both open up”
“It’s a larger arena but not as centrally located, so it will be very interesting to see how this will impact arena touring in Norway,” says Pride. “It’s an exciting change that will allow us to scale these types of shows differently and contribute to healthy competition between the two venues once they both open up,” adds Eckersberg.
And, as part of the renovation, the addition of a new room/ venue at Spektrum will, says Uppstrøm, “give us an alternative between the 1,400-cap theatres and the arenas. That should enable us to bring a wider variety of acts to the market.”
Artist building here comes down to the age-old strategy of playing well, playing often, and playing outside the capital. “Don’t underestimate playing smaller shows,” says Eckersberg.
“Don’t underestimate playing smaller shows”
“Having more intimate concerts for fans who were there first will build a stronger foundation for future tours.” Targeting showcase festivals with a view to getting festival plays the following summer is another good strategy, as is targeting festivals that still prioritise presenting new international artists. “Events like Øya, Pstereo, Parken, Bergenfest, Bukta, and Malakoff all have a good track record in that regard,” adds Pride.
Overall, the outlook is positive, with growth set to continue. There remains a surprisingly high number of festivals, both independent and run by bigger companies. “We’re particularly proud of Oslo’s Tons of Rock, which is now Norway’s largest festival,” says John Reid, Live Nation’s president of concerts for Europe.
“We’ve been really happy with the outcome of the two festivals Bergen Live produces, namely Bergenfest in June and newcomer Feelings Festival in August, which we promote along
with partner Live Nation, Sky Agency, and Momentium,” says Nes.
Arena Market: Norway
Norway is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with just 39 people per square mile. This makes touring the country, and putting on large-scale events, something of a challenge away from Oslo. Nonetheless, there are several options for those willing to explore beyond the capital.
A ten-minute drive outside the capital, in Fornebu, sits the newly renamed Unity Arena (formerly Telenor Arena), Norway’s largest. With a capacity of 25,000 for concerts (for sport, 15,000), it’s the natural choice for A-list stars and their huge productions – Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish are both scheduled to play here, while previous years have welcomed Kendrick Lamar, Pink, and Ariana Grande.
The venue was renamed without a commercial partner, to “signal that we are an arena that brings people together into a community,” says Unity Arena CEO Kjetil Bell Tveit. The venue will also undergo a massive transformation, which will see it close at the end of 2026 and reopen in early 2028 as a new, “more compact” venue, created at the heart of a new urban centre featuring urban spaces; a cinema; cultural and catering facilities; hotels; and other activities. Capacity will be reduced to 20,000 for concerts. The new arena project is being delivered in partnership with Oak View Group.
“We are an arena that brings people together into a community”
Located just over 300 miles north of Oslo is the 12,000-capacity Trondheim Spektrum, a new arena (it opened in 2019) comprising several halls and a conference centre; Rammstein and Green Day are two of the acts scheduled to play there later this year. On the west coast, Bergen’s Vestlandshallen (5,000-9,000) is an indoor arena that hosts a variety of sporting events and occasional concerts, while 100 miles to the south lies Stavanger’s DNB Arena. An indoor hockey rink with a capacity of 6,000, it plays host to a variety of different events – Norwegian rockers The September When, Mamma Mia! The Musical, and the motocross X-Trial are all scheduled for the coming 12 months.
Located near the old town and Oslo’s Operahuset in the east of the city is the Oslo Spektrum Arena, a multipurpose indoor arena that’s been hosting events since December 1990. “We can scale the arena from approximately 3,500 to 11,500 for concerts and stand-up events,” says CEO Per-Ole Moen. “For other types of events, we can scale it even smaller.”
“Promising” is how Moen describes the coming 18 months, which reflects his overall impression of the health of the live entertainment market in Norway. “The second half of 2024 is looking very busy now, with a good mix of international and Norwegian acts, conferences, and other events, and the first half of 2025 is also starting to fill up.” Ne-Yo, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Jonas Brothers, Nils Frahm, and Gavin DeGraw are just a few of those booked to play.
“The second half of 2024 is looking very busy now, with a good mix of international and Norwegian acts, conferences, and other events, and the first half of 2025 is also starting to fill up.”
The one cloud on the horizon is the relative weakness of the Norwegian krone. “It’s no secret that this is challenging for the promoters,” says Moen. “It’s more expensive to bring tours to Norway, and this is reflected in ticket prices. I’m afraid that sooner or later, we’ll reach the point where ticket prices are too high, but so far, it looks like fans are adapting and accepting such price increases.”
Nevertheless, Oslo Spektrum continues to invest in improvements. It upgraded its premium lounges and areas last year, and continues to work on several sustainability issues. The biggest of all, though, is expansion. “We are planning a large extension to our existing arena,” says Moen. “If our board give their final approval in December this year, we will start construction work in June 2025. This will give us a new venue for events, concerts, and conferences for up to 3,000 people.”
“It’s something the city of Oslo really needs and will fill the gap between Sentrum Scene (1,650) and a scaled-down Oslo Spektrum (3,500),” he adds. “The downside is that we now have a ‘booking-stop’ from June 2025 to September 2026.”