Magna Charta 2025: The European Market & Reasons To Keep Looking Across The Pond
Welcome to Pollstar’s Magna Charta 2025
One of the questions regularly raised on Pollstar‘s editorial calls, is whether it still made sense to separate the magazine into a U.S. section and an international section. The short answer is: yes. For two reasons: One, there are international touring territories that are still developing their live events infrastructure and are far from matching the live business that can be done in North America. Yet.
Two, while an extensive run through Europe – and we include the UK in that – is part of any serious touring musician’s itinerary, there are still major cultural and economic differences, which influence how much one can charge for tickets, for instance, regular or premium – though that gap seems to be closing.
Speaking of cultural differences, the reporting of data stands out. While the entrepreneurial U.S. spirit sees the transparency of the Pollstar Boxoffice as a tool for everyone to make better decisions – a rising-tide-lifting-all-boats scenario – Europeans, for the most part, are way more cautious about giving out information, particularly pricing information, which is considered sensitive. “You don’t talk numbers,” is very much a mantra in European business culture. As a European traveling overseas, you get the feeling that it’s almost the exact opposite in the States: “Let’s talk numbers!” Exceptions on both sides of the Atlantic confirm the rule.
As this new edition of Pollstar’s annual Magna Charta proves, there are big numbers being generated across the pond. But even the smaller figures reveal some interesting things about the continent’s vibrant and diverse touring destinations. Football – sorry, soccer – is a religion for many Europeans. Thus, the continent is riddled with stadiums, which have been accommodating the many blockbuster tours of the previous two years – pulled off by the elite strata of artists capable of pulling large-enough crowds to string together entire stadium tours, and the main reason for this industry’s exceptional overall gross figures since the lockdowns lifted. The majority of the top 10 touring artists on this year’s Magna Charta have been or are still touring stadiums.
Those artists are, of course, the exception. Thankfully, the arena situation also looks more than satisfying. Tradition-rich buildings like The O2 in London or Avicii Arena in Stockholm underwent massive renovations and/or upgrades in recent years, to be able to host what can only be described as more spectacular productions than ever before – not just in terms of concerts, but also family shows and other forms of live entertainment. Plus, brand-new, state-of-the-art entertainment temples are being built as we speak, like a new arena for Milan, Italy, as well as one for Munich, Germany. The most sustainable and largest arena ever built in Europe opened not even a year ago – Co-op Live in Manchester, England – and has already entered the top 10 this year both in terms of gross, where it ranks third behind The O2 and Spain’s Movistar Arena (formerly WiZink Center), as well as tickets sold, where it ranks seventh, just behind the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, and ahead of AO Arena in Manchester.
The club charts features three of Europe’s most iconic buildings on the top rungs: the Palladium in Cologne, Germany; Barrowland in Glasgow, Scotland; and Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium. All of these buildings are rights of passages for any artist looking to build a live reputation, and they’re all doing phenomenal business.
So, for now, one may remain optimistic that the post-pandemic insanity is over, and things are returning to business as usual. Germany is about to open Open Air Park Düsseldorf, a new 80,000-capacity outdoor venue in Düsseldorf, which will be inaugurated by AC/DC, who’ll bring their “Power Up” tour in July. The venue is operated by D.Live, whose CEO Michael Brill recently told Pollstar, it “will finally fill a geographical gap for ‘super shows’ and festivals. D.Live also increased the capacity of another Düsseldorf venue, the PSD Bank Dome, from 14,300 to 15,151 to “improve the revenue opportunities for promoters, and enhance the attractiveness of arena shows in NRW.” ASM Global refurbished a bunch of its European buildings in recent months, not just the aforementioned Avicii Arena. The signs are clear: the European business is confident that it will fill seats for years to come.
See below for all of 2024’s Special Magna Charta content:
Greg Parmley On The Sparks Generated At ILMC: ‘I’m Immensely Positive About The Business In 2025’
The $100 Million Club: Three European Arenas Reach Nine-Figure Grosses
Stadium Shows Boom But Residencies Could Reshape Their Future
Clubbing Clout: Club Venues Remain Critical For Preparing Acts For The Big League
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