UK Live Music Industry – Trends and Insights
- The live music industry in the UK continues to achieve record-breaking revenues, with significant potential for organic growth. While major stadium tours and festivals drive record revenues, grassroots venues and mid-tier artists face existential threats.
- Live music attendance has grown in the 12 months to May 2025, but UK concert goers are attending slightly fewer gigs on average.
- Ticket price inflation is starting to bite, leading to an overall cooling of demand, as consumers are prioritising fewer, more-expensive gigs.
- Affordable entry-level tickets for grassroots venues, an emphasis on supporting local music, and integrating music into diverse experiences, such as events combining music and food, can help attract new audiences beyond traditional live music fans.
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- How the ongoing cost-of-living crisis is reshaping consumer behaviour and influencing demand for live music experiences
- An in-depth analysis of the UK live music market, including revenue forecasts, and a detailed exploration of the long-term trends, including grassroots challenges and ticket price inflation
- Identifying strategic opportunities for brands to connect and deepen their engagement with audiences in the dynamic live music industry
- Exploring consumer attitudes towards live music in the UK, including dynamic pricing and the ticket buying process
- Identifying the premium features that consumers value most and are willing to pay extra for at concerts or festivals
| Report Attributes | Details |
|---|---|
| Published Date | July 2025 |
| Report Author | Joe Birch, Senior Technology and Leisure Analyst |
| Market Data Range | 2018-2030 |
| Measurement Metrics | Revenue in £ |
| Country Focus | United Kingdom (UK) |
| Consumer Data | 2,000 internet users aged 16+, May 2025 |
| Number of Pages | 81 |
| Key Players in the UK Live Music Industry | LN-Gaiety Holdings, Live Nation (Music) Ltd, S.J.M. Concerts, AEG Presents, Kilimanjaro Holdings, Festival Republic, DHP Family |
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Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report was written by Joe Birch. Joe is a consumer technology analyst with Mintel. He has over a decade’s experience in the market research industry as a research analyst and report writer. He joined Mintel in 2019 after a number of years as a research manager at a boutique consultancy, servicing B2B, Financial services and public sector clients.
Support for grassroots and diversification of the live music experience will help sustain the market’s long-term future.
Joe Birch
Senior Technology and Leisure Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for live music concerts and festivals
- Drive music into new frontiers with a focus on localism, safety and tailored experiences
- Tap in grassroots’ ability to provide priceless, once in a lifetime moments
- Promote venues as multipurpose spaces
- Technology can take the pain out of the ticketing and create fairer distribution
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market size and forecast
- Revenue is projected to remain steady over the next two years
- Graph 1: [no title]
- Market predictions for music concerts and festivals
- Ticketing becomes the focus of regulators
- Live music appetite undimmed despite soaring ticket prices
- Graph 2: participation in music concerts and festivals, 2016-25
- Rising costs impact the grassroots ecosystem for artists and venues
- Wave of cancellations in UK festival scene gathers pace in 2025
- What consumers want and why
- Overall concert attendance is up, but consumers are prioritising fewer, more-expensive gigs
- Graph 3: paid attendance at in-person music concerts in the past 12 months, 2022-25
- Small to medium size venues are key ways to experience concerts
- Graph 4: types of music venue visited, last 12 months, 2025
- Overall festival attendance increases, but more can be done to target the drop off of older audiences
- Graph 5: paid attendance at in-person music festivals in the past 12 months, 2023-25
- Use technology to create valuable shortcuts and reduce frustration
- Graph 6: attitudes towards music concerts and festivals, 2025
- Deliver VIP experiences that let consumers feel like insiders
- Graph 7: premium features consumers would be willing to pay more for at nusci festivals and concerts, 2025
- Expand your audience by offering diverse live music formats
- Graph 8: interest in live music concepts, 2025
- Tap into young people’s music and gaming interest
- Innovation and marketing
- Sustainability, localism and diversity shape festival experience
- New initiatives strive to create a safer, more-inclusive experience for solo gig-goers
- Hybrid programmes, novel spaces and technology push live music experience
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market size
- Market value climbed in 2024
- Graph 9: estimated total market value of music concerts and festivals, 2018-24
- Mega shows boost market value
- Established festivals make hay while the sun shines
- Market forecast
- Revenues are expected to remain stable in the next two years
- Graph 10: [no title]
- Mega tours account for a huge proportion of revenue and will sustain the market’s value
- Ticket price increases, and music tourism will drive revenues
- UK festival sector is experiencing its most challenging period since the pandemic
- Significant threats at grassroots levels
- For grassroots to mid-size, the next two years is critical but it can pave the way for a bright future
- Key players
- Live Nation dominates live music promotion
- Live Nation exerts significant influence over the UK’s live music landscape
- Regulatory background
- DCMS launches consultation on the resale of live tickets
- CMA launches ticketmaster investigation
- Culture Media and Sport Select Committee aims to protect small venues
- Market drivers
- Despite improvement in consumer finances, consumers are still cautious
- Graph 11: index of financial sentiment in the next year, 2016-25
- Appetite for live music remains strong
- Graph 12: participation in music concerts and festivals, 2016-25
- Demand for major stadium shows from the 90s showcases nostalgia’s bankable appeal…
- …however, ticket price spiking is becoming headline news
- There are signs demand may be peaking, with cost pressures starting to bite
- Grassroots network has suffered considerable losses in the past 10 years
- Cost pressures for touring acts further impacting the small to medium size sector
- Wave of cancellations in UK festival scene gathers pace in 2025
- Music tourism and VIP packages drive live music market
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Music concert participation
- Concert attendance continues to grow
- Graph 13: paid attendance at in-person music concerts in the past 12 months, 2022-25
- Gig-going driven by younger age groups
- Average concert frequency shows a decline
- Graph 14: number of in-person music concerts attended in the past 12 months, 2023-25
- Attending concerts frequently remains a relatively niche activity for most generations
- Graph 15: number of in-person music concerts attended in the past 12 months, by generation 2025
- Music venue visiting
- Small to medium size venues are key ways to experience concerts
- Graph 16: types of music venue visited, last 12 months, 2025
- The heart of musical experience continues to beat strongest in smaller, more intimate venues
- Frequent attendees embrace all venue types with the highest engagement across the board
- Concert going is spread across the ecosystem regardless of how often consumers attend
- Those with financial struggles are most likely priced out of live music
- Smaller venues need to tap into their legend creating capabilities
- Music festival participation
- Festival attendance goes from strength to strength
- Graph 17: paid attendance at in-person music festivals in the past 12 months, 2023-25
- Encourage older women to ‘do it in style’
- Graph 18: paid attendance at in-person music festivals in the past 12 months, by age and gender, 2025
- Encourage older generations to trade up their formative festival experiences
- Threads users most likely have been to a music festival in the past 12 months
- Could ‘Heavy Metal Live Aid’ usher in a new era of hyper scarce festival bills and concerts
- Attitudes towards music festivals and concerts
- Reduce friction points in the ticket buying process
- Graph 19: attitudes towards the ticket buying process for music concerts and festivals, 2025
- Make dynamic pricing more appealing by showing it can work both ways
- Use automation to simplify the ticket buying process
- Increase participation through localism
- Graph 20: attitudes towards attending music concerts and festivals, 2025
- Smaller satellite festivals can be a testing ground for new concepts
- The majority think solo gig going is acceptable, now focus on making it the norm
- Consumers approve of grassroots support
- Graph 21: attitudes towards music concerts and festivals, 2025
- Nourishing the roots: strategies for supporting the ecosystem
- Hologram festivals could help preserve legacy and provide novel live experiences
- Graph 22: attitudes towards technology in music concerts and festivals, 2025
- Premiumisation opportunities for music concerts and festivals
- Unlock experiences to give consumers a slice of the VIP action
- Graph 23: premium features consumers would be willing to pay more for at nusci festivals and concerts, 2025
- Younger women show greater interest in premium concert and festival experiences
- VVIP can further push the wow factor of major shows
- Cheers to that
- Be tasteful in your presentation of VIP options
- Value drivers for live music and festivals
- Tap into diverse programmes to bring more consumers into the live music fold
- Graph 24: features consumers would like to see at music festivals and concerts, by concerts been to in previous 12 months (NET), 2025
- Increase habitual concert going with loyalty discounts at venues
- Younger generations are most open to a diverse range of events
- Novel spaces can provide an antidote to high-end live music experiences
- Promote safe inclusive spaces to appeal to younger women in music settings
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- Established festivals go from strength to strength
- Sustainability and localism in festivals
- Resilient festivals continue to appeal to niche musical tastes
- Live music is one point of tightly integrated, multi-platform content strategy for artists
- Major cities get in on the arena action
- New arts festivals blend genres with diverse programmes
- Polygon pushes the boundaries of immersive festival experience
- Initiatives aim to make the solo gig going experience more inclusive and safer
- Music pushes into new and novel spaces
- Food, racing and gaming offer hybrid events to broaden live music’s appeal
- Metal titans convene for Black Sabbath’s final gig
- Blockchain-verified tickets can deter scalpers
- Elvis has entered the building
- Music streaming services will play a greater role in live music curation and integration
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APPENDIX
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Market forecast and prediction intervals (value)
- Forecast methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research
- Snoop SpendMapper methodology
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