ILMC 37: The Venue’s Venue – Anchor Topics report
The International Live Music Conference’s annual deep dive into the venue sector delved into new markets, capital city residencies and the impact of 2025’s huge stadium summer on arenas.
Oak View Group (OVG) International’s Rebecca Kane Burton, Marie Lindqvist of ASM Global Europe, Live Nation EMEA’s Tom Lynch and Ignacio Taier of Argentina-based Grupo Quality convened for ILMC 37’s The Venue’s Venue: Anchor Topics session at London’s Royal Lancaster, chaired by James Drury.
Kane Burton brought up OVG’s investment alongside Live Nation in Lagos, Nigeria, while Lynch discussed LN’s new live entertainment space, The Dome, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“It’s a huge market with a massive population,” said Lynch. “It’s an emerging market, not without its challenges to build new venues, to open venues, etc, but we’re seeing international artists starting to play there. We’ve got Tems in a few weeks and Central Cee’s going down there, but then a huge domestic talent pool as well. So Johannesburg’s somewhere we see a huge future.”
Lindqvist spoke of ASM’s projects in Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as the UK.
“Italy is a very interesting market for us,” she said. “We’re involved in two new builds outside Milan: one in Bergamo, which will have its first show in a couple of weeks, and another project in Cantù, also in the Milan district. Here in the UK, it’s such a big market if you compare it to the rest of Europe, so we’re opening up in Derby in just a few weeks.”
“There’s been an increase in the amount of tickets that we’re selling and the amount of shows that we’re promoting, so there’s definitely an audience”
Taier, meanwhile, referenced Live Nation and subsidiary DF Entertainment recent 40-year agreement to operate Buenos Aires’ Luna Park.
“There’s a need for more venues everywhere, and Latin America in general,” he says. “We have seen more venues in Colombia, Brazil and other places, so I think that’s a constant.”
He added: “There’s been an increase in the amount of tickets that we’re selling and the amount of shows that we’re promoting, so there’s definitely an audience. The thing is, all costs have gone up, ticket pricing has come down, so there’s a problem there. But in general, tickets are selling, so there’s an opportunity.”
However, Lynch suggested the market was still currently under-served in terms of mid-size venues.
“I sat on [the ILMC] stage on the old hotel five years ago and talked about that gap in 4,000-5,000 cap rooms, and we’ve not really moved on a huge amount,” he observed. “And when we look across Europe, actually, there’s that huge gap still. We’ve got plenty of large scale clubs here in the UK, the US is coast to coast and France is okay. But in every other country, you tend to have 2,000-cap theatres and then an arena, so artists are trying to do two, three, four, night runs to fulfil the needs of their fans and that’s not necessarily very efficient.
“We’ve got a venue in Amsterdam, AFAS Live, and if I could pick AFAS Live up and put it in every major city in Europe, I would do. It’s intimate enough that you’re playing to maybe 2,000-3,000 fans, but you’ve got a big production, you’ve got high ceilings, you’ve got a good PA and it feels like an arena show.”
“A capital city without an arena just doesn’t make sense”
Taier agreed that being able to offer a level of versatility was ever-more important.
“That’s really key nowadays, because we can configure it venue for the amount of people that we expect,” he said. “Therefore we can make sure the fan experience is at its best, and the artist also is performing to a full venue, even if that venue is not really full. We can host general admission ticket shows like parties or [club events to] fully seated shows.”
Lynch also revealed his excitement at Live Nation’s mission to restore Finland’s Helsinki Halli to the arena international touring map. Live Nation has taken on a 20-year long-term lease to operate the venue, which is scheduled to reopen this spring after being mothballed for the past three years due to sanctions on its previous Russian ownership.
“A capital city without an arena just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Wherever the touring goes, artists want to play in capital cities.”
Be that as it may, the panel raised concerns that certain regional markets were being neglected as major tours increasingly focused on the capitals. Taier said the trend was particularly noticeable in Argentina.
“Many shows go to Buenos Aires, the capital, and they just stay there,” he said. “They don’t come to B-markets or C-markets and that is something that really affects us, but we can understand it. There are a lot of artists that prefer to travel less and do more nights at the same place.”
“You’re creating a barrier between those that can afford and those that cannot – and many young fans cannot”
Lindqvist admitted to fears that some younger fans from outside the capital cities could be priced out of attending as a result.
“You have to buy an expensive ticket, and then on top of that, possibly buy airfare and hotels, so I think you’re just creating a barrier between those that can afford and those that cannot – and many young fans cannot,” she said.
“We all know that you don’t start to go to gig when you’re 30 or 40. You start when you’re a teenager. Building that kind of passion and love for music starts at an early age, and we’re providing a barrier to that. I think we’re going in the completely wrong direction, and we’re also diluting the cultural life in cities that are not the A-markets.”
She added: “Why would a city or a private developer invest in new venues or infrastructure and so forth, if the shows aren’t coming to the city? So I think it’s a worrying development that we need to take seriously.”
Nevertheless, Lindqvist dismissed suggestions the rise of stadium shows could have a negative effect on ticket sales for arena productions.
“I think it’s two separate businesses,” she argued. “Maybe, on the other hand, it’s just creating more buzz around live music and people that get to experience a big stadium show will hopefully go to more arena gigs. We’re having a strong stadium year, but we’re also having an extremely strong arena year in most markets, so I think it’s just good for the industry.”
Summing up, Kane Burton stressed that the industry had a collective responsibility to make sure the right artist was playing the right space.
“Thinking about our buildings and thinking about real estate, there’s a massive opportunity,” she concluded. “There’s some huge spaces, right across the world, that just don’t get used in three quarters of a year. What’s good for one city in one space is good for the entire city. So from an ecosystem point of view, I think we should embrace it.”
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