Live Nation expects “shows at scale” to take place next summer

Live Nation has expressed optimism for the future of the entertainment industry, saying it “expect[s] shows at scale next summer”.

The company’s CEO Micheal Rapino made the prediction during its G3 2020 earnings call, citing progress on COVID-19 testng and vaccines among its reasons for hopefulness.

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On the call to investors and analysts, Rapino said: “We are working on a roadmap to get back to live safely. We are encouraged by progress on testing technology treatments and vaccines which will help us build our plans.”

Although he predicted “shows at scale next summer”, he added that the “exact timeline of this return will vary by region, and so we continue to focus on remaining flexible” and that “the path to live will not be a straight line”.

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Live Nation reported a 95.1% drop in revenue from $3.77 billion in 2019’s third quarter (June to September) compared to the same period in 2020, where the same company generated $184 million. 2020’s Q3 figures accounted for an operating loss of $504 million, compared to a profit of $260 million in 2019.

Despite the financial loss, this marked an improvement upon Q2 2020 for Live Nation, with new types of concerts such as drive-in, live stream and socially distanced shows helping improve its fortunes, alongside strong sales for 2021 events. Tickets for EDC Las Vegas’ 2021 edition recently sold out within 24 hours

[Via: IQ]

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter

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