
Leading music promoters worldwide 2020, by number of tickets sold
Company spotlight: Live Nation
Prior to 2005, Live Nation was known as SFX Entertainment. Founded in 1996 by Robert F. X. Sillerman, the company’s business model was always centered around creating a national company from multiple concert promoters. Sillerman sold SFX Entertainment in 2000 to a company then known as Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartCommunications – a subsidiary of radio broadcasting specialist iHeartMedia. Live Nation began operating under this name in 2005 until the Ticketmaster merger which saw both companies become divisions of Live Nation Entertainment.Live Nation Entertainment’s revenue has grown by more than two and a half times over the last decade, and in 2018 the company’s ticketing revenue amounted to almost 1.53 billion U.S. dollars.
As a live event specialist, Live Nation Entertainment promotes tens of thousands of events every year, and generates the majority of its revenue through its concerts.