Leading music promoters worldwide 2022-2023, by number of tickets sold

The leading music promoter in the world in 2023 was Live Nation, with over 40 million tickets sold. Live Nation topped the ranking of leading promoters by ticket sales by a long way, selling nearly five times more than AEG Presents, who ranked second with 8.2 million sales. Live Nation Entertainment serves markets all over the world and dominates the music promotion and ticketing industry, and has operated under that name since the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger in 2010. 

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.