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Country Profile: Belgium

The world’s leading promoters & the 55 top markets they operate in.
Click the interactive map below to explore the top 55 global markets.

Live Nation’s Belgian power, bolstered by huge festivals and a busy carousel of international arena and stadium tours, is long established. CEO Herman Schueremans all but founded the Belgian business when he launched his first festival in 1973, followed by the first Rock Werchter with Hedwig De Meyer the following year.

“Our mission was to put Belgium on the map and to see acts playing in Belgium and not only passing through from London to play Paris or Hamburg or Berlin,” Schueremans told IQ on the occasion of his 50th year in the business in March.

“Our mission was to put Belgium on the map and to see acts playing in Belgium and not only passing through from London to play Paris or Hamburg or Berlin.”

That is, of course, exactly how the market now stands. “We are served by every single tour on the planet,” is how Greenhouse Talent’s Pascal Van De Velde puts it. “If you want to go from the UK to mainland Europe, you come via Belgium; if you want to go from Scandinavia to southern Europe, you go through Belgium. Coming from northern France, the Netherlands – to get to the continent, you have to come through here.”

So Schueremans is entitled to regard the healthy Belgian market as something of a personal achievement, and in IQ’s June market report of the country, he reported his satisfaction.

“The Belgian market is healthy again, as per pre-Covid times, and it is even growing, as more and more people get into the magic of live shows and festivals,” he said.

Live Nation’s 2023 has been another post-Covid victory lap. There have been stadium shows for Beyoncé and The Weeknd; Harry Styles at Werchter along with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse and Arctic Monkeys; TW Classic with Bruce Springsteen and Werchter Boutique with Pink; and further festivals in the shape of Graspop Metal Meeting with Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, and Mötley Crüe, and the alternative events Dour and Pukkelpop.

“The Belgian market is healthy again, as per pre-Covid times, and it is even growing, as more and more people get into the magic of live shows and festivals.”

And these days, the demand for live music in Belgium supports not only a bullish Live Nation but a substantial cohort of rivals, including longstanding indies Greenhouse Talent and Gracia Live and relatively newly launched offices from FKP Scorpio and All Things Live.

FKP Scorpio Belgium arrived in the country shortly before the first lockdown, under managing director Jan Digneffe, and since the March 2022 restart has made its presence felt, with two Ed Sheeran shows at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels last year and an opening edition of the Live is Live festival in Antwerp in June, to add to many other shows.

Digneffe confirms that the market, while competitive, has space for all. “I think we have a very healthy small market, and we’re all trying our best, and I think that there is not really anyone who is not doing well at the moment.”

All Things Live Belgium was built on the acquisition of artist agency Busker in 2021, management organisation Musickness in July 2022, and the Ostend Beach Festival in March.

The aim of Belgium’s challengers is not necessarily to challenge the biggest operators on their own turf, suggests CEO Marcus Deblaere.

“We’re looking into how we can fill the gaps. We don’t have to compete with the big ones. We work with everybody, we keep the door open, and we have always done that.”

“I think we have a very healthy small market, and we’re all trying our best, and I think that there is not really anyone who is not doing well at the moment.”

Busy across Benelux, Greenhouse Talent operates at all levels, from Hans Zimmer at the Brussels’ ING Arena and Taylor Swift in Amsterdam ArenA next summer to numerous club and theatre shows. The Ghent-based concert promoter and agency also acquired its local Gent Jazz festival in January.

Antwerp’s Gracia Live makes its living in international tours but has also worked hard to find niches and spread its bets in recent years.

“One thing we were working on during the pandemic was doing more with domestic artists,” said Gracia Live promoter Sam Perl, citing 120,000 tickets sold for local star Camille’s Belgian tour. “We are still doing 80% of our business with international tours, but for indies, the domestic roster is becoming more and more important.”

Active since 2011, and specialising in the touring entertainment sector, MB Presents recently promoted two weeks of Cirque du Soleil’s Crystal at Sportpaleis and the ING Arena, selling 72,000 tickets.

“The Belgian ‘family entertainment’ market has been exceptionally strong this year.”

“The Belgian ‘family entertainment’ market has been exceptionally strong this year,’ says chief entertainment officer Manu Braff. ‘2023 is probably the best year I’ve had since I started MB Presents. We had the best years for shows like Riverdance and Hot Wheels Monster Trucks in Antwerp Sportpaleis (35k tickets for that one alone).

On the exhibition front it has been very strong with The Friends Experience in Paris and Brussels and now Tim Burton’s Labyrinth – together with Lets Go from Spain, in Brussels. Our sand sculptures festival sold over 100k tickets in the summer and despite bad weather we are having a great success with our forest trail Lanterna Magica.”

Other Belgian independents include Antwerp-based indie MCLX, which has promoted shows for acts including Idles, Turnstile, Zeal & Ardor, and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes in recent years; and Brussels-based boutique promoter and management agency Shadow To Live, whose activities range from a DJ set by Henri PFR atop the iconic Atomium in Brussels, to Arabic stand-up, to Coldplay bookings for private clients.

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