From Paris With Love: France Is Firing On All Cylinders (France Focus 2025)

” Business is very good.” That’s AEG Presents France managing director Arnaud Meersseman’s assessment of the live biz in the country after the major promoter carried its momentum from a record 2024 into an even stronger 2025, and there’s room for growth next year.

The reason Meersseman can already make a prediction like that is due to a “shift in temporality” since COVID, he says. “The bigger acts book way in advance be it on festivals like Rock En Seine, for instance, where all our headlines have either been offered or already confirmed their slots, while this year’s festival hasn’t even taken place yet. This is quite unique and has never happened before. Some of the larger stadium acts are holding dates across all of next year, we’ve already had requests for 2027. We’ve entered a new world post- COVID. It gives us visibility, and allows us to map out our trajectory in the long term,” he explains.

It also creates new challenges. Matthieu Drouot, managing director of Gérard Drouot Productions, says, “If you want a slot at Stade de France in 2026 it’s very difficult. Even for avails in 2027 there’s not many options left. We have to hold dates two, three years in advance, which creates completely new logistics because you’re not going on sale three years in advance. It just doesn’t happen. So you have to be very cautious about what dates you hold, and how you budget. It’s impossible to guarantee costs and income for ’27: The venue may change its rent, the economy may change, fans may have less money to spend.”

Live Nation France president Angelo Gopee confirms, “2025 is shaping up to be one of our busiest years to date, with 22 stadium shows across France, close to 100 arena shows in Paris alone and more than 50 Zénith dates across the country.”

In May, Live Nation promoted sold-out concerts from Dua Lipa, David Guetta and DJ Snake. In June, Beyoncé became Stade de France’s top-selling female artist with over 215,000 tickets sold for her three-night run of the “Cowboy Carter Tour.” And it’s only set to continue with nine stadium shows before the August break from artists like by Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Chris Brown, Post Malone and IAM.

The independents are doing good business, too, at least if one takes Junzi Arts as an example, where “business is thriving,” according to Clotaire Buche, co-founder and head of booking & creative. “Over the past few years,” he says, “we’ve built a diverse roster of projects that are now enjoying massive success both in France and internationally. Our work is artist-focused and long-term, and the results are tangible. Despite the current global political and economic uncertainties, 2025 is already shaping up to be our best year yet.”

Los Production is the go-to French promoter for all things family entertainment, K-pop and Latin. Its director, Francois Pinard says, “2025 has been a year of transition, marked by investments in exhibitions, such as Minecraft and Lego Jurassic World; in a Parisian theater called 13ème Art; and in a musical, ‘La Petite Charlotte fait son Cirque.’ In addition, we’ve promoted Alexandra Sibeoni to senior promoter, and she is now specifically in charge of developing the concert division. We’re maintaining a strong pace, with an increasing number of long-running productions in Paris.”

At Paris La Défense Arena, Europe’s largest indoor stadium, the most recent business year ran from July 2024 through June 2025. It has been “a unique season,” according to the building’s president, Frédéric Longuépée, who explained, “Due to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, we had around 105 fewer available days to operate the venue. Despite this constraint, we’ve maintained the same number of events as in previous years – a testament to the strength of our programming and the commitment of our teams.”

It required the optimization of schedules and turnaround times, as well as “working closely with organizers to maximize each available date,” says Longuépée. Factoring in the Olympic and Paralympic audiences, who descended upon the French capital in July and August last year, Longuépée says, “We are on track to reach approximately 1.7 million attendees, making it our most attended season ever and setting a new benchmark for indoor venues in Europe.”

It’s also a step up on the 2023-24 season when the building welcomed 1.1 million spectators, but without a major global sports event taking over the country. The Olympics, as well as Taylor Swift’s four shows in May last year, gave Paris La Défense Arena a huge publicity boost, placing it “firmly on the radar of major international promoters, artists, and digital creators,” says Longuépée.

This year’s concert lineup included Robbie Williams (July 2), Ludovico Einaudi (June 21), Dua Lipa (May 23-24), and Lenny Kravitz (March 29). Kravitz sold 36,137 tickets, grossing $3,766,463, making it the U.S. rock star’s biggest headline show of his career, as Matthieu Drouot, promoter of that show, tells Pollstar. More and more high-profile events choose Paris La Défense Arena, and “this exposure is opening the door to new types of events. We’re proud to host the Rolex Paris Masters – one of the most prestigious indoor tennis tournaments – now relocating for the first time. It’s a recognition of our technical and operational standards,” says Longuépée.

Paris La Défense Arena has a maximum capacity of 45,000 but can host events all the way down to 10,000-cap without looking empty, thanks to its modular setup. “This,” says Longuépée, “opens our doors to more midsized acts while preserving a premium experience.” Michael Bublé, who performed March 24, 2023, is one example: at 13,624 tickets sold, the concert was 97% sold out, grossing $1,630,183. “Our goal is to encourage promoters to think of Paris La Défense Arena not just as a large-cap venue, but as a highly adaptable, high-quality option for a wide variety of shows,” he says, adding, “The appetite for live experiences is stronger than ever. People want to reconnect and share memorable moments. Our mission is to deliver those emotions at scale.”

The audience expects a lot from live events these days, and. why wouldn’t they? They’re spoilt for choice, and they’re asked to pay good money for it. “There’s been a lot of transformation in the way music is consumed, what audiences expect in terms of representativity, the diversity of genre, visibility, engagement,” says AEG Presents’ Meersseman. That is why “the overall experience is one of the deep questions one must ask themselves. For festivals, for instance, it means that you can’t just put two stages in a field and expect people to come. There needs to be a top-notch fan experience for them to say, ‘This was an amazing show,’ be it sound, lighting, safety, hospitality, comfort. Providing all of that has become a quintessential part of our job.”

Live Nation’s Gopee confirms, adding, “Festival audiences have different expectations. For our part, we develop festivals that represent today’s music. We adapt to musical tastes and trends on a daily basis in order to be as close as possible to our fans. “Take Lola Young, for example: When we announced her participation in Lollapalooza Paris four months ago, she was still relatively unknown. Fast forward to today and everyone is talking about her. She opened for Billie Eilish’s two sold-out concerts here, and it was incredible!”

Festivals offer greater leeway when it comes to tailoring an experience compared to a stadium or concert venue. “At LollaParis, we work with top chefs whom we present as artists in their own right,” Gopee continues. “We’re also introducing new spaces like Lolla Wellness, a festival-goer-created zone designed for relaxation and self-care, and Lolla Planète, focused on social and environmental issues as well as shining a spotlight on career development and access to jobs in the live entertainment industry.”

Because there’s so much choice out there, promoters “need to build strong communities around events,” according to Longuépée. “Our social media strategy reflects that: we’re not just promoting, we’re building dialogue and loyalty. In the past year, we’ve grown our following by 71%, with a 174% jump on TikTok. We now engage with over a million fans across platforms.”

Challenges to the thriving French business remain, the biggest being ongoing inflation. “Costs keep piling up on top of each other: productions costs, artist fees, even insurance, and nobody can can pull it off without raising ticket prices. Salaries are not keeping up at the same level. Figuring that out collectively is our biggest challenge,” says Meersseman.

Los Production’s Pinard agrees, saying “Costs continue to rise, and we can’t keep increasing ticket prices endlessly – except perhaps for major artists. We’re also losing more and more control over our costs, as we increasingly rely on external providers.”

For Junzi Arts’ Buche, “One challenge remains the structural advantage of promoters who own venues and benefit from ancillary revenue, like bars, parking, etc., as well as early access to venue calendars. “However, as an independent company with strong financial footing and the ability to invest significantly – €300,000 to €400,000 projects without hesitation – we’re in a solid position. Our biggest asset is our agility – we offer tailor-made support to emerging artists, often in niche genres, and help them scale internationally with precision and care.”

A big opportunity lies in the strong French domestic scene, according to Pinard. “France has one of the largest domestic markets in Europe. We can offer local-specific content, as we did with the musical ‘Je Vais T’aimer’, which we co-produced and which attracted 300,000 spectators.”

Live Nation’s Gopee concurs. “National talent is extremely important in France,” he says. “The 10 most listened-to artists in France are all French. This is where our teams bring real added value. We know our market, and we’ve earned – and continue to earn – the trust and credibility of both artists and fans. Local and beloved artists like DJ Snake, David Guetta, IAM, Aya Nakamura, Franglish, Kalash, Vald, Joé Dwet Filé, Thomas Ngijol, La Femme, The Blaze, Dinos, Ronisia and many more are part of our roster.”

A domestic roster also helps offset the trend of international artists touring Europe less. “On a domestic act’s cycle, we’re able to play 80 to 100 shows across the country on one cycle, including 20, 30 French festivals,” says Meersseman. The international component remains very important, though. Because there’s less international touring, a lot of French festivals tend to have many of the same domestic acts on their lineups. It’s a balance of domestic and international you want.”

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