Pollstar Live! 2026: So, 2026 Is Booked, What Does 2027 Look Like?

A panel of experienced agents, promoters and bookers discussed the business trends that will shape this industry in 2027. The session featured moderator Jarred Arfa (Independent Artist Group), Paul Davis (MGM Resorts International), Zack Borson (CAA), Lesley Olenik (Live Nation), Mike Luba (Live Nation / Forest Hills Stadium), and Rob Markus (WME).

After several years of content overload — and demand to match — touring traffic hit its first signs of resistance in years in 2025 and stories are surfacing about similar market conditions in 2026. Arfa spoke of a “lull in the middle end”. Davis fell back on the rich pool of data coming from across MGM Resorts properties, which showed that the middle class has been squeezed since COVID, while the top-spenders now had even more disposable income – and it showed across the business.

Davis said, accommodating that segment of the market would become even more important in 2027 as it was a good revenue driver.

Olenik said a lot of artists she works with were “a little bit more price sensitive,” using the added income from premium tickets, for which there was a healthy demand, to keep the majority of tickets below $100 including fees.

According to Olenik, artists will also be the ones deciding, which territories emerge on the global touring map in 2027. She cited Bad Bunny selling 90,000 tickets in Australia on his first visit to the market, or Rosalía, whose album LUX includes 13 different languages, which she also sings in live on tour, building an extra special connection with her fans singing in French, Japanese or Arabic.

Markus said, “artists are definitely traveling to more places.” India was opening up, though still lacking venue infrastructure. He recalled one of his acts doing 20 cities in Brazil alone. Territories opening up like that had the added benefit of artists not having to overplay their home markets.

He also said he saw something different in China for the first time, after taking artists there for year, as a younger management was now involved in the promotion of shows, making China a promising market for the future.

Africa, Nigeria in particular, also has been seeing some big names visit, said Borson, who emphasized with regard to developing markets that it was important to wait for the buying power of the local population to improve before one could saturate the market with international talent.

To offset fuel costs lot’s of artists are deciding to play less cities, instead setting up shop for a residency. Olenik highlighted “what Adele did in Germany, or now Shakira in Spain,” and said “I do think we’re going to see more of that.”

Luba raised the point that this trend would spark conversations around sustainability, as the amount of people having to travel to the venue will be a burden on the environment in itself.

And, putting on his venue hat, Luba said the most important thing for a venue going forward would be to have “something singular about it. A little less excellence and more vibe would be good.”

According to Olenik, it would be crucial for venues going forward to “know who your audience is. You’re not going to use the same approach for Billie Eilish as you would for Eagles.” She highlighted Co-op Live in Manchester, England, who, when Billie Eilish came to town, presented a five-item vegan menu inspired by her songs.

Davis agreed, “Pro-activity on the part of the venue is going to continue to become non-optional, it’ll be expected. Understanding the customer, as well as the artist will become a minimum-requirement.”

Borson said, the stadium and arena business would continue to grow, adding that 2027 could be a banner year for local acts about to break through to arena level. And as less of the blockbuster shows take over stadiums, it would only create “breathing room” for the next generation of blockbuster acts.

Markus identified the festival sector as one part of the business especially challenged right now, citing long-standing mainstays like Bluesfest going down as proof. A lot of it, he said, had to do with the availability of talent at the top level, either because it was being booked elsewhere, or because it was doing its own shows, from residencies to stadium tours, etc.

“Lot’s of niche festivals are doing well,” he said, “genre specific, smaller, better services, more interesting experiences. And we’re also finding that a lot of artists are enjoying playing in non-traditional venues,” from Europe’s historic amphitheaters, to even prisons.

The importance of support slots were touched on next. Olenik referenced Taylor Swift taking Gracie Abrams and Sabrina Carpenter out. “Then Sabrina takes Olivia Dean out, and Gracie takes Role Model out. It’s really cool to see these artists hand picking who they want to take on the road with them, and their fans buy into these new artists and help develop them.

With so many tours out at any given time, and so much music available to everyone, Arfa asked about strategies to help talent break through the noise going forward.

The panel agreed on two things: open communication, including with competitors, to make sure not to have too many similar acts out on the road at the same time, which includes their promo plans, to give the talent the space they need.

Borson said it was never more important “to really be coordinated across all parts of the music business, not just artist, agent, promoter.”

Markus emphasized that the artist’s own involvement in the promotion of shows went a long way in cutting through the noise.

With regards to full calendars and limited avails, he added that coordinating internally, communicating with competitors about whether they could release holds that may have been held for speculative reasons was one strategy, “just be good partners” and “try to do what’s best for the business.”

Using non-traditional venues – like prisons – also helped with avails.

Borson urged that it was important not to fill every available slot immediately all the time, and to leave space, not just for headline acts, but across the board. A lot can happen in 12 to 18 months, especially for up-and-coming acts, and locking them in too early could prove disadvantageous down the line.

Davis added that tightening up onsale windows could also help with the content overload. 2027 will require more hustle, he said, and because everybody was pinched, everybody had to work as partners, proactively as a team, across the business.

Luba summed it up, “if from the top down not everybody is busting their ass, it’s not going to happen. If you f*ck around, you’ll get lost in the mess.”

A lot of business is also going to continue to be driven by female artists. Olenik referenced Florence + The Machine, Lady Gaga, RAYE, Jade, Reneé Rap, all recently, currently or soon out on the road.

To highlight the ongoing trend of nostalgia shows, Markus referenced Toto, who “had the biggest year in the history of the act last year. I was at ten shows and shocked at the number of kids there. It’s great news for live and recorded music.”

Luba said he recently overheard his 7-year old daughter singing deep cut Billy Joel songs, while also being a Billie Eilish fanatic at her core. He said, “Not to be reductive about it, but TikTok is a real thing for a large amount of kids.”

And he had some great closing words, too: “It’s a strange time on the planet, gathering as humans remain critically important. The crazier things get the more hopeful I am that our business will continue to grow and thrive and raise the human experience. I’m super hopeful: from little kids loving pop music to listening to old Neil Young records at the same time – there this incredible body of work that now exists, and each generation is additive through to the technology that’s developed. The younger artists respecting the older artists, the older artists tapping into what the younger artists are doing has created this upward and outward demand all over, which is super encouraging.”

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