Green light for Live Nation’s Portuguese expansion
Portugal’s competition authority has greenlit Live Nation’s acquisition of Lisbon’s MEO Arena, along with promoter Ritmos e Blues (Rhythm & Blues).
It was revealed in April last year that Live Nation was purchasing a majority stake in the venue’s owner Arena Atlântico and subsidiaries including ticketing company Blueticket, in addition to an “indirect controlling stake” in Ritmos e Blues.
The deal was held up by an in-depth investigation by regulator Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), but has now been cleared, more than 18 months on, after LN proposed “adequate, sufficient, proportionate and feasible” commitments to address potential competition law concerns.
The 20,000-cap MEO Arena opened in 1998 for the Expo 98 World Trade Fair and has hosted superstar acts such as Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Adele, André Rieu and Travis Scott.
“Lisbon is one of Europe’s most exciting capitals, and we’re honoured to be part of its cultural fabric,” says John Reid, president of Live Nation EMEA. “With this investment, we’re committed to bringing more shows to Portugal, supporting the local economy and creating incredible experiences for fans.”
Ritmos e Blues, which was founded in 1990 by Nuno Braamcamp and Álvaro Ramos, has promoted concerts by the likes of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Prince, U2 and the Rolling Stones, and was part of the consortium that controlled Arena Atlântico.
“MEO Arena is known nationally and internationally for hosting Portugal’s major shows and events”
LN, whose partnership with the firm dates back to 2011, is also active in Portugal in the promotion of the Rock in Rio Lisbon festival through its Better World subsidiary, and holds a stake in the Rolling Loud festival.
AdC says the commitments put forward by LN include a guarantee of “effective freedom of choice of the ticketing company by the promoter who uses the services of MEO Arena”.
Following the deal, renovations are planned at MEO Arena to upgrade premium seating, skyboxes, dressing rooms and concessions, while Live Nation will also build on current sustainability efforts – focusing on reducing its environmental impact and increasing social benefits in line with its Green Nation pledges.
“MEO Arena is known nationally and internationally for hosting Portugal’s major shows and events,” adds MEO Arena CEO Jorge Vinha da Silva. “With this deal we want to build on the arena’s reputation as a cultural destination, and we feel that Live Nation is the right strategic partner to achieve this. I am really excited to enter this new era, not only for MEO Arena but also for Portugal.”
Daily operations at the venue will remain under its current leadership team, supported by Live Nation’s global network, with the acquisition expected to be finalised in late 2024/early 2025.
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PRS for Music sues Live Nation in UK High Court
PRS for Music is suing Live Nation, accusing the promoter of failing to correctly report the full price that fans have paid for VIP tickets and other ticket packages.
The High Court action has been filed by the UK collective management organisation (CMO) and public performance licensing joint venture PPL PRS Limited, against Live Nation (Music) UK Limited, Festival Republic, DF Concerts, Isle Of Wight Festival and Parklife.
PRS says that its songwriter and customer members could be missing out on royalties due to LN’s “disregard” of its core requirements.
“PRS for Music is committed to ensuring songwriters and composers are paid fairly whenever their works are performed,” says a spokesperson for the body.
“Live music venues and promoters are required to pay music creators, based on a percentage of the price paid by the consumer, and to adhere to the reporting standards set out in PRS’s applicable tariff. This includes full and accurate reporting of all ticket types, including VIP tickets and other ticket bundles and packages. The vast majority of promoters and venues comply with the terms of their licence.”
It continues: “We have commenced legal action to address Live Nation’s continual failure to correctly report the full price consumers have paid for VIP tickets and other ticket packages. Disregard of these core requirements by a company of Live Nation’s size is entirely unacceptable and means songwriters and composers are not paid all the royalties they are due.
“PRS for Music stands firm in its mission to protect its members’ rights and create a level playing field for all event promoters and venues that honour their licensing obligations. We urge the whole live music sector to embrace the need for greater transparency, ensuring that music creators and the live industry can thrive together. ”
Live Nation declined to comment.
“This false narrative has clearly been constructed with the purpose of creating division within the industry”
News of the lawsuit comes two weeks after a separate legal dispute involving PRS intensified.
A group of UK songwriters and composers, including King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Jim and William Reid from The Jesus And Mary Chain, initiated court action against the organisation in June. They are bidding to “overhaul the implementation of procedures and policies” they claim are “prejudicial to their interests and to the interests of PRS members more broadly”, and have been joined in the action by direct licensing specialist PACE Rights Management.
In its latest statement, the plaintiffs again hit out at PRS’ Major Live Concerts Service (MLCS), alleging it offers “preferential conditions to writer-performers who headline live shows in 5,000+ capacity”.
Referring to a PRS defence document filed in September, the group claims the CMO attempted to justify the scheme by inferring that smaller shows were administered less efficiently, and should not benefit from preferential rates
PRS dismissed the statements as “false” and deliberately divisive”, adding: “This false narrative has clearly been constructed with the purpose of creating division within the industry which ought to be working together for the benefit of music creators.”
In a further allegation, the claimants say they have learned that “PRS has decided to appropriate significant sums of live black box income into MLCS distributions”.
A PRS for Music spokesperson set out its process in response.
“Each year we openly publish the live events we do not hold a setlist for and ask members to check for unclaimed live performance royalties,” a spokesperson tells IQ. “Following this, if there are still residual live royalties, this is reconciled by being paid proportionately across known live performances in the relevant period. This is in accordance with the Distribution Policy, as agreed by the representatives of the elected Members’ Council.”
Earlier this year, PRS announced it had become a billion-pound collection society after collecting £1.08 billion in revenues for 2023. The organisation paid out a record £943.6 million of royalties for songwriters, composers and music publishers last year, with total royalty distributions increasing by £107.4m (12.8%) on 2022.
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Justin Timberlake to headline new UK festival
Justin Timberlake and Olly Murs are the first headline acts announced for a new UK concert series called Chelmsford City Live.
Promoted by Live Nation and Cuffe and Taylor, the 30,000-capacity series will take place at Chelmsford City Racecourse, a horseracing track in Essex, in July 2025.
Chelmsford City Live comprises four standalone concerts, including Timberlake (4 July) and Murs (6 July), with the final two headliners yet to be announced.
The 6 July concert will be Murs’s biggest-ever hometown show and will feature support sets from Blue, Lemar and DJ Mark Wright.
Since its inception in 2015, Chelmsford City Racecourse has held race-day open-air concerts with Madness, Simply Red, UB40, Rick Astley, Boyzone, Roger Sanchez, Beverley Knight, Armand Van Helden and more.
“The venue essentially provides us with a blank canvas that will enable us to attract some of the biggest names in the world of live music today and that means our options are endless,” says Cuffe and Taylor promoter Ben Hatton.
“The venue essentially provides us with a blank canvas that will enable us to attract some of the biggest names in the world”
“We hope this is the start of a very long relationship with the team at Chelmsford City Racecourse and we look forward to welcoming global artists to this most beautiful part of the world.
“It is also particularly special to me as I’m Essex born and bred so to be presenting huge scale concerts on my home turf is something I’m very excited about.”
The announcement comes a month after Live Nation-backed Cuffe and Taylor announced a new 35,000-capacity concert series in Cardiff, Wales.
Meanwhile, the UK is set to gain a new dancehall festival, organised by one of the genre’s most successful artists, Alkaline.
The Jamaican artist and New Era Productions will launch the New Rules festival at OVO Arena Wembley in London on 17 April 2025.
The event, which has previously taken place in Kingston (JM) and New York (US), will mark Alkaline’s return to the UK after eight years.
“Alkaline’s brand and the demand for the New Rules Festival are undeniable. When we analyse the fan base, which is expanding globally, there is a clear appetite for culturally significant and wholesome entertainment experiences. New Rules Festival provides the market with that,” said Kereena Beckford, Alkaline’s manager.
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Saudi Arabia cashes out on Live Nation stake
The sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sold its entire shareholding in Live Nation after more than tripling the value of its investment in less than five years.
The move was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday (14 November).
The PIF took a 5.7% stake in the promoter in April 2020 – just weeks after the start of the Covid live music shutdown – when LN’s share price was below $40.
It bought 12,337,569 shares, valued at just shy of US$500 million, becoming the fourth-largest shareholder in the world’s largest live entertainment firm behind Liberty Media, Vanguard Group and BlackRock.
Live Nation stock has continued to rise to record highs, surpassing $131 for the first time ever today (18 November) for a market capitalisation of $30.2 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s investment in the company formed part of its push to grow its domestic events market in order to reduce its reliance on oil revenues. However, the FT reported last month that the PIF, which has around $930bn worth of assets, was pivoting from international investments to focus on domestic projects.
MDLBeast’s Soundstorm festival returns from 12-14 December, headlined by Eminem, Muse and Tyler, The Creator
This summer, it was announced that Live Nation Arabia had secured a deal to manage operations at Maraya, a multi-purpose venue in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, under a three-year partnership with AlUla Development Company, a Public Investment Fund company.
New venues are also being built, such as the 20,000-seat Jeddah Arena, due for completion in December 2025, and a brand-new, 45,000-capacity stadium in Qiddiya.
In addition, the region’s biggest festival Soundstorm returns from 12-14 December. Organised by MDLBeast, it will feature headliners Eminem, Muse and Tyler, The Creator. The promoter also launched a weekly series of music shows in August in partnership with Jeddah Season 2024.
IQ‘s 2024 Global Promoters Report explores the current state of play in the fast-growing sector.
“There are still artists that don’t want to go, for obvious reasons,” says Thomas Ovesen, CEO of UAE-based All Things Live. “But the Saudis have successfully chipped away at it and have attracted more and more, including female artists. So there’s definitely a market.”
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Liberty Media announces live spin-off, CEO to exit
Live Nation’s largest shareholder Liberty Media is to spin off its live interests into a new public company as part of a restructure, as president and CEO Greg Maffei prepares to exit the firm.
The proposed move will see Liberty Media and Liberty Live become separate publicly traded companies.
Liberty Media will house the US media, communications and entertainment giant’s Formula 1 and MotoGP subsidiaries, together with other assets, while Liberty Live will hold approximately 69.6 million shares of Live Nation, plus sports premium experience provider Quint.
“The split-off of Liberty Live Group into a separate public entity will simplify Liberty Media’s capital structure, should reduce the discount to net asset value of our Liberty Live stock and enhance trading liquidity at both entities,” says Maffei. “Following the split-off, Liberty Media will be an independent, asset-backed company holding our motorsport businesses and related sports investment.
“Since acquiring Quint in January 2024, we have bolstered its partnership with Formula 1 and gained insights into our fans and ticket demand trends, but Quint is also complementary to our interest in Live Nation, especially as Live Nation works to grow its hospitality operations.
“Quint can continue to enhance its partnership with F1 and MotoGP in this new ownership structure while having the opportunity to expand its offering to additional partners.”
“While it’s never easy to leave an organisation as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time”
Maffei, who has served as Live Nation chair since 2013, will step down from his role at Liberty when his contract expires at the end of 2024, with Liberty Media chair John Malone set to assume the role of interim CEO. Maffei will serve as a senior advisor from 1 January 2205 to support the management transition.
“On behalf of the Liberty Media board, I’d like to thank Greg for his leadership, creativity and dedication,” says Malone. “Since joining in 2005, Greg has been at the forefront of the exciting evolution in the lifecycle of Liberty. He has grown our asset base and made the company better and more valuable for shareholders, along the way overseeing as many as five separate public companies simultaneously.
“Especially following today’s transaction announcements, our company is simpler and more focused than ever before, which is a perfect capstone for Greg’s accomplished career at Liberty. I wish Greg continued success as he embarks on his next chapter and appreciate his continued support as an advisor.”
During Maffei’s 19-year tenure, Liberty has completed the acquisition and investment in businesses including Live Nation, the Atlanta Braves, DirecTV, SiriusXM, Charter Communications and Formula 1.
“The almost 20 years I have spent at the helm of Liberty Media have been incredibly rewarding, stimulating and endlessly eventful,” adds Maffei. “While it’s never easy to leave an organisation as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time. I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside and learning from John, our board, the management teams at Liberty and across the family of companies and our shareholders.”
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2025 stadium tours mount: Coldplay, Olivia Rodrigo, MCR
Coldplay, Olivia Rodrigo and My Chemical Romance are among the latest acts to announce stadium tours for 2025.
Coldplay have announced their biggest-ever show in the Indian city of Ahmedabad next year as part of their blockbuster Music Of The Spheres World Tour.
The band will perform at the 100,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, the largest stadium in the world, on 25 January.
The Ahmedabad show, promoted by Live Nation and Book My Show, is one of several Asia shows Coldplay will be playing next year on the biggest rock tour of all time, having previously announced gigs in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mumbai.
It will mark Coldplay’s first full-length headline touring performance in India after their 2016 appearance at Global Citizen Festival. The new dates will also see the band return to Hong Kong for the first time since 2009, Abu Dhabi for the first since 2016, and Seoul since 2017.
Later in 2025, Coldplay will head over to North America for 10 new gigs between May and July before returning to the UK for the next leg of the tour in August and September.
Coldplay have announced their biggest-ever show in the Indian city of Ahmedabad next year
“The only way to better serve the record-breaking demand for Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour in India has been to secure the country’s largest venue,” says Anil Makhija, COO, live entertainment and venues, BookMyShow.
“We’re thrilled to bring Coldplay’s monumental show to Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium as we raise the bar for live events and put India on the global entertainment map.”
Jared Braverman, SVP of Global Touring, Live Nation Entertainment, adds: “Over 20 years into their touring career, Coldplay continues to push boundaries in both scale and reach.”
Meanwhile, three-time Grammy Award-winning artist Olivia Rodrigo has announced her first-ever headline stadium shows in Brazil and Mexico.
Produced by Live Nation, the additional headline dates expand her 2024 GUTS world tour, which included 95 sold-out shows in over 60 cities across more than 20 countries, attracting over 1.4 million fans and grossing over $184.6 million, making it the highest-grossing tour by an artist born this century.
Olivia Rodrigo has announced her first-ever headline stadium shows in Brazil and Mexico
The 2025 GUTS world tour: spilled will feature major headline stadium shows at Estadio Couto Pereira in Curitiba (Brazil) on 26 March, and at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City on 2 April. St. Vincent will open the show in both cities.
The added dates surround Rodrigo’s recently announced 2025 festival performances across Latin America at Lollapalooza Chile, Lollapalooza Argentina, Festival Estereo Picnic, Lollapalooza Brasil, and Tecate Pa’l Norte next year.
The news comes days after Rodrigo was announced for the 2025 editions of London’s BST Hyde Park, Belgium’s Rock Werchter, Portugal’s NOS Alive and Italy’s I-Days.
Elsewhere, My Chemical Romance has unveiled a North American stadium tour for next summer, in celebration of their seminal album The Black Parade.
The band will perform the full album in only 10 cities across North America, with each Live Nation-produced show featuring a different hand-selected artist as the opening act.
Between 11 July and 13 September, the outing will visit Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Arlington, East Rutherford, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Boston and Tampa.
Violent Femmes, 100 Gecs, Wallows, Garbage, Death Cab for Cutie and Thursday, Alice Cooper, Pixies, Devo, IDLES and Evanescence are slated to support the US emo band.
Other acts that have previously announced 2025 stadium tours include Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Imagine Dragons, Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Williams and Oasis.
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Michael Rapino: Live is a ‘very scarce commodity’
Live Nation boss Michael Rapino has praised the resilience of the company’s business model, describing live entertainment as “a very scarce commodity” in a new interview.
Appearing on CNBC’s Mad Money, Rapino discussed how the company was able to continue to thrive in a year that had fewer A-list artists out on the road.
“We’ve had a lot of questions over the last months about consumer demand, and we always put ourselves in a different category,” he said. “It’s a very scarce commodity. If you want to see Ben Folds tonight… you have to come tonight, whereas you may just delay your Disney trip. There’s an urgency around that artist, so we’re not seeing the pullback.
“We’re just seeing as more artists are on the road, bigger artists are on the road, those consumers still put going to that show top of their list.”
Moreover, the Live Nation president and CEO suggested the trend towards experiential experiences was “100%” holding up, post-pandemic.
“The amount of music available to the consumer today has just propelled this idea that they want to see the live show”
“We’ve been saying for the last seven, eight years, this experience economy was on the move,” he said. “Post-Covid, it absolutely skyrocketed, and we see now consumers spending more experiences versus products. We happen to be at the top of the poll with sports and experience spend, so we’re getting the great gain from that shift.”
More than 20 million tickets have already been sold for Live Nation shows next year, and Rapino credited streaming platforms such as Spotify for aiding that demand by boosting discovery.
“This consumer is a new consumer,” he added. “The amount of music available to the consumer today has just propelled this idea that they want to see the live show.”
Rapino was speaking in the wake of LN’s Q3 2024 financial results, which saw it post revenue of $7.7bn for the quarter – a 6% decrease year-on-year – alongside record adjusted operating income (AOI) of $909.8m (up 4%). The company’s share price responded favourably, rising 5% to $129.67 by the time the markets closed yesterday.
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Live Nation ‘hopeful’ on Trump antitrust impact
Live Nation has said it is “hopeful” the imminent administration change in the US will have a positive impact on its antitrust battle with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ has accused the promoter and Ticketmaster, who merged in 2010, of using their “power and influence” to “insert themselves at the centre and the edges of virtually every aspect of the live music ecosystem” in the suit, filed in New York in May.
The defendants vigorously contest the claims, with the case set to go to trial in 2026.
Speaking during Live Nation’s Q3 2024 earnings call yesterday (11 November), the company’s president and CFO Joe Berchtold responded to a shareholder query regarding American president-elect Donald Trump‘s approach to “antitrust and the associated remedies”.
“It’s still very early in the transition process, so we’re hesitant to say too much, but absolutely, we are hopeful that we’ll see a return to the more traditional antitrust approach where the agencies have generally tried to find ways to solve problems they see with targeted remedies that minimise government intervention in the marketplace,” said Berchtold. “And without getting into the specifics, at least some parts of the case, we think believe reflect a much more interventionist philosophy today than you’d expect of a Republican administration.
“Obviously, the request to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster would be an example of that highly interventionist approach. So, we’ll obviously be ready to engage as soon as they are. They need to get through the appointments and get things settled on their end, but we’d certainly be hopeful that we could start engaging with them early in next year.”
“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating”
Berchtold’s comments marked the firm’s first public statement on the matter since Trump’s stunning re-election last week.
Live Nation’s share price has continued to soar in the wake of its Q3 financial results, reaching a new all-time high of $130.76 in after hours trading. It stood at $129.40 at press time, giving the firm a $29.6 billion market cap.
The company posted a record adjusted operating income (AOI) for the period, up 4% from $871.2m to $909.8m, despite revenue being down 6% for the quarter, year-on-year, from $8.1bn to $7.7bn, with takings from its concerts and ticketing segments dipping 6% and 17% respectively. Sponsorship and advertising was up 6%.
“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating,” said president and CEO Michael Rapino. “While operating income will be impacted by one-time accruals, we are pacing toward double-digit AOI growth this year.
“As we look toward an even bigger 2025, we have a larger lineup of stadium, arena and amphitheatre shows for fans to enjoy. Momentum continues to build, as we expand the industry’s infrastructure with music-focused venues to support artists and reach untapped fan demand across the globe.”
Live Nation attracted 112m fans globally to its events, as double-digit boost in arena and amphitheatre attendance more than offest a 30%+ decline in stadium attendance.
Growth was projected for 2025, with the concerts pipeline in stadiums, arenas, and amphitheatres up double-digits compared to the same point last year. More than 20 million tickets have already been sold for Live Nation concerts next year, also pacing up double-digits, with recent 2025 stadium onsales including Coldplay, Rüfüs Du Sol and Shakira delivering double-digit average growth in show grosses relative to past tours.
Sponsorship has continually been our star for the last decade or so
“Next week alone we have over 200 stadium and arena shows going on sale,” said Berchtold. “We’re in a period of unprecedented level of activity for Ticketmaster in Q4, and then that will continue into Q1 and through next year.”
Moreover, Rapino hailed LN’s sponsorship arm, which is also on track for a double-digit increase, as “our star for the last decade or so”.
“We look at this business still very, very strong, very different than maybe some of the advertising challenges other companies have,” he said. “We see overall companies spending more money on-site experiential and moving dollars into that segment and anytime that happens, that’s good for our business. We tend to rise with that.
“We look at ’25 and onward as continual AOI growth that we’ve been able to deliver in the past in sponsorship. One of the foundational drivers of that is our globalisation. And every time we do more shows around the world, we provide ourselves more opportunity and more sponsors. As our global pipe continues to grow, so will our sponsorship and we’ll see continued growth.”
Rapino also discussed the company’s strategy with regards to superfans, suggesting the premium/VIP “pie” was “still under-serviced” and represented an opportunity for substantial growth.
“We’ve been selling to the superfan for quite a while,” he said. “We’ve used percentages in the past: 2%, 4%, 6% of the show is premium. We think it can grow up to 20% and more. So, a lot of the refurbishments we’re doing at venues is about taking regular seats and turning them into better experiences for premium experiences at night.
“Premium experiences is a big underpin to our entire growth forward because it’s using the same customer base, but we always sell out of the boxes, sell out of the premium inventory first, we never have a problem selling that… When we’re building [venues], we’re starting with this mandate that they must have a certain higher percentage of premium seats and lounges and experiences, so those venues start with a much better return.”
Furthermore, Rapino expanded on his recent comments that he would “love” to see regulation of the secondary ticketing market in the form of a 20% price cap. He noted that legislation around resale practices “we’d like to clean up” such as bots and spec-selling “hasn’t really come to life yet”.
“We hope, over time, better regulations get put in place to help the consumer,” he added.
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Live Nation & DF Entertainment in $34m arena deal
Live Nation and subsidiary DF Entertainment have secured a 40-year deal to operate Buenos Aires’ Luna Park in Argentina.
The companies won an auction to manage the 92-year-old, 8,400-capacity arena in the downtown San Nicolás neighbourhood, and will invest US$34 million (€32m) to increase the venue’s capacity to 13,000 – rivalling the city’s 15,000-cap Movistar Arena.
The agreement is for an initial 20 years, with an option to extend it for a further 20 years. According to La Politica, the firms will pay the stadium owners a $1m premium and guarantee a minimum of $1m in annual profit.
Since 2013, Luna Park has been owned by two branches of the catholic church. International acts to perform at the indoor arena in recent times include Placebo, Interpol, and 5 Seconds of Summer.
Live Nation bought a majority stake in DF Entertainment in 2018
Buenos Aires-based DF was founded in August 2015 by leading promoter Diego Finkelstein. Live Nation bought a majority stake in the company in 2018.
DF, which runs Lollapalooza Argentina, inked an exclusive multi-year deal to promote concerts at Buenos Aires’ River Plate Stadium, aka the ‘Monumental’, in 2023.
It also sold out an unprecedented 10 nights at the 65,000-cap stadium with Coldplay in 2022, staged Taylor Swift’s first ever concerts Argentina last year and is collaborating on Oasis’ upcoming reunion gigs at the venue on 15-16 November.
The next edition of Lollapalooza Argentina, meanwhile, is slated for 21-23 March 2025 at San Isidro Racecourse, also in Buenos Aires. Headliners include Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Shawn Mendes, Tool, Olivia Rodrigo, Rüfüs Du Sol and Tan Bionica.
Read our lowdown on the Argentina market from IQ‘s 2024 Global Arena Guide here.
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2025 festivals: Olivia Rodrigo tops bills across Europe
Olivia Rodrigo will headline a handful of major European festivals next year, leading the latest announcements for 2025 festival lineups.
The Filipina-American singer will headline London’s BST Hyde Park on Friday, 27 June, her biggest UK show to date. The Last Dinner Party and girl in red will support, with more acts to be announced.
Rodrigo joins previously announced headliners Jeff Lynne’s ELO (13 July), Zach Bryan (28-29 June), Hugh Jackman (6 July), and Noah Kahan (4 July) for the AEG Presents-backed concert series. From London, she’s due in Manchester to make up two postponed Co-op Live dates on her Live Nation-promoted tour, the biggest of any artist born this century.
The singer-songwriter will close Belgium’s Rock Werchter on Sunday, 6 July, making history as the festival’s first headliner born in the 21st century. She joins Green Day and Sam Fender as headliners, with a fourth to be announced, for the Live Nation event’s 50th anniversary.
The 21-year-old will then close the first night of Portugal’s NOS Alive on 10 July, the first major confirmation for the Everything Is New-organised event, set for 10-12 July.
Italy’s I-Days also revealed a headlining show from Rodrigo on Tuesday, 15 July as part of its concert series. She joins Dua Lipa (7 June) and Justin Timberlake (2 June) for the Milan-based independent series, set to run next between June and July.
The pop star recently closed her record-breaking Guts World Tour, selling 1.4 million tickets across 95 shows, but is set to hit South America next spring with a string of headlining performances across Lollapalooza Argentina, Brazil, and Chile; Colombia’s Festival Estéreo Picnic; and Mexico’s Pa’l Norte Festival.
“We’re looking forward to recapturing the independent nature of the event”
Finland’s Provinssi Festival added In Flames, Bambi Thug, RODEO, BESS, Ege Zulu, Lähiöbotox, and Olavi Uusivirta to its three-day lineup, set for 26-28 June in Seinäjoki, west Finland. They join Electric Callboy, Flogging Molly, Lorna Shore, and Lähiöbotox for the Fullsteam Agency-owned festival, which set an attendance record during its 45th edition this year.
Slovakia’s Pohoda Festival added Iggy Pop to its 2025 lineup, joining previously confirmed Fontaines D.C., JPEGMafia, and Blondshell. After being curtailed by severe weather this year, the three-day independent festival will return from 10-12 July.
Greece’s Release Athens recently unveiled that Fontaines D.C. and Boy Harsher will join IDLES, Dream Theater, and Gojira for the 18-23 July festival.
Last week, the UK’s Field Day confirmed its first batch of performers, led by Peggy Gou, Jungle, Folamour, Skream, and Benga. The Superstruct-owned event recently revealed its ‘new era’ with a new London location, separating from the AEG Presents-backed All Points East series it joined in 2021.
“We’re looking forward to recapturing the independent nature of the event,” said Field Day co-founder Marcus Weedon. The 2025 date is set for Saturday, 24 May.
London jazz, funk and soul day festival Cross The Tracks will directly follow on Sunday, 25 May, with Michael Kiwanuka set to top the bill of the Brockwell Park event. The British singer-songwriter will be joined by Jordan Rakei, Nala Sinephro, Cymande, and Sinead Harnett for the event.
UK events like All Points East, Slam Dunk, and Neighbourhood Weekender have added names to their lineups
London’s All Points East series has announced Barry Can’t Swim as a headliner on Friday, 22 August, supported by Confidence Man, Shygirl, Marlon Hoffstadt, DJ HEARTSTRING, and others.
The Maccabees are set to reunite to headline the Victoria Park-based event on Sunday, 24 August, their first show in eight years. The British indie rock group will be supported by Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry Cleaning, The Cribs, Nilufer Yanya, The Murder Capital, Divorce, and Prima Queen.
Last week, the UK’s biggest independent rock festival Slam Dunk rounded out its 2025 lineup. The two-day travelling festival, set to land in Hatfield and Leeds, will be led by A Day To Remember, Neck Deep, Electric Callboy, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, and The Used.
The UK’s Neighbourhood Weekender, which went on hiatus in 2024, will return on 24-25 June next year, organisers confirmed this week. The Warrington-based event, whose lineup was topped by Pulp, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, and The Kooks in 2023, is set to make an announcement later this week.
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