Top agents reveal emerging markets to watch in 2025
Some of the top agents in the international live music business have revealed the emerging market they’re most excited about in 2025.
In the new year straw poll conducted by IQ, four different territories emerged, with Africa topping the list.
Africa
Africa’s potential for growth is perhaps best signalled by the number of live entertainment giants that expanded in the market in the past 12 months.
Last summer, Ticketmaster enhanced its presence in Africa by acquiring its leading ticketing platform Quicket, with the firm’s president Mark Yovich declaring “a new era of unparalleled growth for African entertainment”.
Meanwhile, parent company Live Nation announced two major venue projects in the territory including South Africa’s largest dedicated live entertainment space, The Dome (cap. 10,500), which is set to open in Johannesburg this month and a new 12,000-cap arena, opening in Lagos, Nigeria, in late 2025 with the help of Oak View Group.
These venues will fill critical gaps in their respective markets – where infrastructure has been sorely lacking – making touring a more viable prospect.
“I think the new arena in Lagos is a game changer that will result in more opportunities throughout the continent,” WME’s Tony Goldring tells IQ. “I’m most excited about the potential for artists to tour Africa.”
One Fiinix Live’s Jon Ollier is equally excited about the long-term development of Africa’s live music market.
“It is my belief that this market will really mature over the next 10 years and with such a huge population and emerging middle class the opportunities could be endless,” he tells IQ. “The influence that this market has on global recorded music and culture is already profound, so think of the impact it could have on live music!”
UTA’s Jules de Lattre echoes these thoughts, adding: “We are seeing significant recorded music growth fuelled by a rise in paid streaming subscribers. There is huge potential for growth in the region which should in turn impact the development of live infrastructures in major Sub-Saharan countries. I’m excited about all developments in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
“I think the new arena in Lagos is a game changer that will result in more opportunities throughout the continent”
India
India has successfully staked its claim as a global entertainment hub in the past 12 months, enticing a growing number of international stars and festival brands to the country.
Thanks to growing access to the internet and rapidly increasing demand for large-scale events, India’s meteoric growth looks set to continue.
“A few years ago there were hardly any international artists playing shows there…” says WME’s Josh Javor. “Within 12 months you now have Lollapalooza festival, Bandland festival, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Bryan Adams, Cigarettes After Sex and Dua Lipa all with successful shows.”
This year, Coldplay are set to play their biggest-ever shows at the 100,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad while Ed Sheeran will embark on his biggest-ever run in India – underscoring the country’s thirst for A-list artists.
“The record-breaking shows by Coldplay and the development of festival properties like Lollapalooza India, and the growth of the domestic music scene, are a few of the results of the continued investment and development of the live music infrastructure and music industry,” UTA’s Carlos Abreu tells IQ. “I feel that India is a market which we’re going to see growing tremendously in 2025 and beyond.”
“I hope Ukraine will be an emerging market again, that would excite me most if it happened”
Ukraine
“I hope Ukraine will be an emerging market again, that would excite me most if it happened,” Wasserman Music’s Alex Hardee tells IQ.
Amid curfews, bomb threats and a lack of infrastructure due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s music industry has been defiant in adapting to the unprecedented circumstances.
In August 2023, Atlas programmer Vladyslav Yaremchuk told IQ: “Concerts are happening everywhere, even in frontline cities in shelters, even in trenches.”
The following year, Atlas festival took place for the first time since the Russian invasion in Kyiv’s Blockbuster Mall, with the underground car park to be used as a shelter in the event of an air siren.
On a larger scale, local pop artist Artem Pivovarov performed three sold-out shows at Kyiv Sports Palace, drawing 10,000 attendees each night.
Music Export Ukraine’s Dartsya Tarkovska called his most recent run “a great success story to note in these wild times”.
But while Ukraine rebuilds its domestic business, execs such as YOUROPE’s Christof Huber have encouraged the international live music industry not to forget about the ongoing war.
Central Asia
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, live music executives from the former country have migrated to neighbouring countries leading to an increase in live music activities in Central Asia.
Solo’s Charly Beedell-Tuck tells IQ she’s particularly excited about the growth in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
“Music trends are changing there due to the rapidly growing younger population in these countries (unlike most of Central Europe),” says Tuck.
“Increased migration to these countries is also changing the music patterns in these territories and making it a really exciting place to look at servicing with more shows and live music.”
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