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Country Profile: Italy

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

It has been said that the Italian live market these days is largely a matter for two corporate groups – Live Nation and Eventim – and it is hard to pick serious fault with that assertion. On the Eventim side are promoters Vivo Concerti, Di & Gi, Vertigo, and Friends & Partners, which between them cover a wide variety of old and new Italian talent as well as some prominent international names.

In the opposite corner is Live Nation Italy, whose high points of a summer in which it sold 2.8m tickets included two nights of Vasco Rossi at the Olympic Stadium, three of Tiziano Ferro at the San Siro, and a stadium tour for some-time X Factor winner Marco Mengoni, as well as festivals Firenze Rocks and I-Days in Milan and a steady stream of international stars.

“2023 is not finished yet, but it has been an extraordinary year for Live Nation Italy – I’d say the best year so far and even better than 2022, which was really good, too,” says Live Nation Italy president Roberto De Luca.

“2023 is not finished yet, but it has been an extraordinary year for Live Nation Italy – I’d say the best year so far and even better than 2022, which was really good, too.”

On this, there is agreement on both sides.

“It’s been the best year in the last seven years, even better than 2019, which was a record year,” says Vertigo CEO Andrea Pieroni. “We had so many sold-out shows at stadium- and open-air level, with Rammstein, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and Slipknot, and sold-out arenas with Bring Me The Horizon, Porcupine Tree, and many more. Also, we produced a very successful worldwide tour with Eros Ramazzotti, with over 80 sold-out arena shows. I have to say I’m happy – after Covid, now it’s business as usual, and I would say even better than usual.”

Undoubtedly relevant to the broader Italian concert boom is the remarkable popularity of Italian repertoire in its own land. Once again, in the first half of this year, all of the top 10 best-selling albums were by Italian acts, including hip-hop stars such as Geolier, Lazza & Guè, and singer-songwriter Mengoni – and the singles charts told a similar story.

Of the Eventim companies, Vivo Concerti finds itself in a strong position as the booking agent and promoter for many of Italy’s most successful new acts, including Lazza, Guè, international breakout stars Måneskin, and serial chart-topper Ultimo.

Of the Eventim companies, Vivo Concerti finds itself in a strong position as the booking agent and promoter for many of Italy’s most successful new acts, including Lazza, Guè, international breakout stars Måneskin, and serial chart-topper Ultimo. Friends & Partners has strength in old-school Italian stars, while Di & Gi is big on international names and, increasingly, destination festivals.

Di & Gi sold out seven arenas with Roger Waters this year, brought fellow former Floyd man Nick Mason and his Saucerful of Secrets group back to Pompeii, and put on Blur at its Lucca Summer Festival in front of more than 30,000 people. Its other festival, La Prima Estate, also in Lucca, returned for its second day with a total attendance of 60,000.

“We are amazed at how fast La Prima Estate is growing,” says Di & Gi CEO Mimmo D’Alessandro. “People seem to love the location right in front of the beach and the format of the festival. This year, we had an unbelievable lineup with Jamiroquai, Bon Iver, Alt-J, and a special show with Lana Del Rey, which we announced only a few days in advance.”

The market, of course, isn’t equally hot at all levels. As D’Alessandro points out, “it struggles more on small-venue events and that makes it difficult to develop new artists.”

“It struggles more on small-venue events and that makes it difficult to develop new artists.”

It is also an increasingly costly business. De Luca estimates that production costs have increased by between 30% and 50% due to inflation and energy price rises, and he reports having to set up a three-strong office simply to recruit specialist workers from countries such as Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia.

“Costs have risen dramatically,” agrees Pieroni. “Which means ticket prices have risen dramatically, too. We will have to be careful about that. People are buying tickets at the moment, but we don’t know if it will be forever.”

Among Italy’s independents are Trident Music – which handles Italian stars including Sethu, Jovanotti, Sfera Ebbasta and Tiromancino – and Claudio Trotta’s Barley Arts, which maintains its longstanding connection with Bruce Springsteen, closing his European tour in July at the Autodromo di Monza.

In 2022, Milan-based independent Radar Live became the latest member of the Nordic All Things Live collective. “Being part of a bigger company means having a different strategy– bigger shows, maybe festivals,” All Things Live Italy’s Fabrizio Pompeo told IQ last year. “Already, I think people are treating us differently.”

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