Live Music Industry News

East London icon Troxy has begun its most ambitious transformation in decades, designed to revive hidden heritage, boost fan experience and comfort, increase accessibility and capacity from just over 3,000 standing to 3,600, improve operational flow, and set the building up to welcome “high-impact production”, as a press release

At the heart of the works is the revival of Troxy’s long-sealed basement, which is being completely reimagined to include a permanent cloakroom, a new high-capacity toilet block, and structural upgrades to fire escapes that unlock more standing room in the main auditorium.

Electronic music app Dancefloor has launched the Nightlife Dividend Programme which has been designed to help sustain the UK’s nightlife community.

The initiative features a profit-sharing system built on collective success which will see a quarter of Dancefloor’s booking fees redistributed back to venues and promoters every month.

“Our night-time ecosystem is at breaking point, we’ve all seen incredible local venues and promoters struggle or disappear,” said founder and chief executive of Dancefloor, Ben King.

Taking place from 6-10 March on the Grampian Plains, Pitch Music & Arts has announced the line up for its ninth edition. Acts including Charlotte de Witte, Eris Drew & Octo Octa lead the charge, while Amsterdam favourite MARRØN, and UK trio Girls Don’t Sync, are both set to make their Pitch Music & Arts debut.

International artists set to join the lineup include Ewan McVicar, alongside UK-born, Berlin-based selector Palms Trax, and Palestinian techno force Sama’ Abdulhadi.

Live music discovery platform Bandsintown has reached 100 million registered fan users across 196 countries despite what the company describes as persistent challenges with event awareness.

The company, which connects concertgoers with touring artists, says it now has a network of over 700,000 registered artists and 65,000 venues and promoters. The platform runs a catalog of 2.3 million events and employs AI to generate 450 million personalized recommendations each month, directing users to shows based on their listening history and location data.

Bandsintown says those recommendations appear to be translating into ticket sales. The platform logs nearly 20 million monthly click-throughs to ticketing pages, with the company reporting that more than half of its users have attended concerts because of platform suggestions.

AXS and Lawson Entertainment form a ticketing joint venture in Japan, AXS Tickets, establishing a major expansion of AXS’ business in Japan. AXS and Lawson Entertainment, one of Japan’s major entertainment and ticketing companies, have formed a new joint venture named AXS Tickets. This move establishes a major expansion of AXS’ business operations in Japan.

Marathon Live, the independent concert promotion and venue company, announced the launch of a dedicated facilities management division, servicing live entertainment venues across the U.S.

The newly launched division will offer a range of services, including general operations, talent buying, food & beverage management, sponsorship, marketing and social media, customer relationship management, ticketing, production operations and design, as well as facility design and development. The division is specifically geared toward venues seeking to increase their reach and reduce overhead through a strategic partnership with a larger independent network.

The new division will be overseen by Marathon Live CEO Mark Dinerstein, Casey Osburn, SVP of Operations, and Josh Billue, Chief Development Officer.

Ticketmaster will bar users from having multiple accounts on the platform, the company said in a letter to lawmakers last week after Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment were sued by the Federal Trade Commission last month over allegations of colluding with scalpers and violating the BOTS Act.

The policy change — disclosed in a letter dated Oct. 17 to senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján after the two lawmakers wrote to the company last month demanding answers over that lawsuit — marks a significant change for Ticketmaster, which also said in the letter that it would be closing TradeDesk, its ticket inventory platform that allows ticket brokers list their tickets on multiple ticketing sites.

Geese and CashorTrade announced a partnership ahead of the band’s upcoming tour dates, which include shows in Madison, Wisconsin; Denver’s Gothic Theatre; The Fillmore in San Francisco; Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre and more. The North American run wraps up on Nov. 21 at the Brooklyn Paramount in Brooklyn, New York.

With each date sold out, the band’s website offers links to join the ticket waitlist, or find tickets selling at face value via CashorTrade.

“Geese are doing what every artist should – standing up for their fans and taking back control of the resale market,” CashorTrade CEO Brando Rich said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with a band that shares our mission of fairness and transparency in live music.”

Legendary rockers Foghat are still receiving high honors and praise from their loyal fans, and there is no sign of them “slowing” down anytime soon!

Hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed 50th Anniversary Edition of FOOL FOR THE CITY (released September 12 by Rhino Records), the band behind the timeless anthem “Slow Ride” reached yet another new landmark in their illustrious career with an astonishing 25 million plays of the signature song on Apple Music. They were surprised on stage during their show October 3rd at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA, where they were presented with a stunning commemorative plaque marking the milestone.

Live Nation Asia has collaborated with Trip.com Group to curate and sell concert travel packages across Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and mainland China.

Concertgoers will now be able to access bundled packages through Trip(.com), combining ticket presales with flights, hotels and local experiences.

Environmental charity onboard:earth has launched a Green Travel Toolkit for Events in Wales which aims at educate event organisers in measuring and reducing their carbon footprint.

onboard:earth’ says the new set of guidelines is designed to “help organisations measure and reduce travel impacts,” and is formed of two main guides: The Green Travel Guide for Welsh Events, and A Quick Guide to Collecting Quality Travel Data.

Ticketmaster is undergoing a significant leadership change as regulatory investigations intensify on both sides of the Atlantic.
Effective November 1, Saumil Mehta will assume the role of Global President, reporting directly to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino.

This marks a major generational transition for Ticketmaster, following a period of mounting scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.

Legendary manager and Oak View Group co-founder Irving Azoff said that while the live entertainment industry is “thriving,” he remains concerned about the impact of the secondary ticketing market on prices.

Azoff’s remarks came during an on-stage interview with Lucas Shaw at Bloomberg Screentime in Los Angeles on Thursday. According to Azoff, the concert business for top-tier talent is booming, with major artists playing larger venues, in front of bigger crowds, and selling higher-priced tickets than ever before.

First held with a single stage in 2004 by founder Alex Trenchard and expanding to a two day festival in 2006, the festival was postponed in 2023 and due to make a return in 2026.

According to the BBC the organisers have said: “Due to significant financial losses sustained in 2022 and 2023, we were unable to run the festival in 2024 and 2025.

“For the last 18 months we have engaged with a number of potential investors to continue the festival, including one party for the last 13 months.

Viagogo is violating the EU’s Digital Services Act, according to Euroconsumers, which has filed a complaint with the regulator in Ireland. A Viagogo spokesperson insists the company is DSA compliant, but Euroconsumers says it violates various rules, including know your business customer requirements

MRG Live, the Canadian concert and live events company, announced the addition of Samantha (Sam) O’Connor, as Senior Talent Buyer.

Best known for leading the Toronto-based hip-hop promoter and culture platform RAPSEASON, O’Connor joins MRG with a mandate to continue growing the RAPSEASON brand and shows.

Through a partnership with MRG Live, O’Connor will expand Rap Season to new markets across MRG’s network which includes Canada coast-to-coast. In addition, RAPSEASON branded content will also be integrated with the company’s media publication, Beatroute.

Rooster Walk 2026 announced its initial lineup for the 16th annual music and arts festival taking place May 21 – 24 at Pop’s Farm in Martinsville, Virginia. The Memorial Day Weekend event will see performances by moe. and Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country, along with dozens of others.

The lineup also features Mountain Grass Unit, Eggy, John Brown’s Body, Yarn, Holy Roller, Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast, and Tan and Sober Gentlemen.

Other performers include Isaac Hadden, Kindred Valley, Paul McDonald, The Ain’t Sisters, Jacoozy, Moga Family Band, The Big Fat Gap, Mountain Walrus, Jayce Turley, Feel Free, and Gabriel Van. An additional +20 acts, including the main headliner, will be announced soon.

After weeks of deliberating, the judges have cast their votes, and we are thrilled to present the UK Festival Awards 2025 Shortlist.

We’d like to thank our judging panel, who have read all of the applications and made their choices. Now it’s your turn!

Voting is now open to the public. The public vote makes up 30% of the votes, with the judges making up the remaining 70%. Voting closes 4 November 2025

Mari, a new global events and experiences company founded by Endeavor chief executive Ariel Emanuel, has acquired TodayTix Group.

Previously owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, TodayTix Group is a mobile and digital ticketing company for live cultural experiences and performing arts. Mari’s portfolio also includes the Miami Open, Madrid Open, Frieze and Barrett-Jackson.

Inside the matchmaking service that’s pairing up volunteers to learning disabled and autistic music fans, breaking down the barriers to nightlife

Wasserman Music has entered a five-year partnership with Save The Music Foundation, committing to fund J Dilla Music Tech Grants in six high schools across L.A. and New York.

Through the new partnership, Wasserman Music and Save The Music will ensure that students not only have access to high-quality music education, but also the chance to connect with artists and industry leaders who can inspire and support their creative journeys. In the partnership’s first year, Wasserman Music will support one high school in Los Angeles and one in New York, with future years alternating between the two cities. Each launch will include special events featuring Wasserman staff and clients, including songwriting workshops, live student performances, executive-led panels, and student-produced podcast interviews.

Organizers for the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) have unveiled the first details for the 38th edition, returning to London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel from February 24–27, 2026.

The four-day event will once again bring together around 3,000 industry professionals for one of the world’s leading gatherings of the live music business.

For 2026, ILMC 38 will lean into the lighter side of rivalry, channeling the spirit of school sports days for three days of networking, education, and industry events.

Beatport, the world’s largest music store for DJs, producers, and fans, announced the launch of Beatport Tickets, a new ticketing platform designed exclusively for the dance music community. Powered by a strategic partnership with Weeztix, Europe’s fastest-growing self-service digital ticketing company, this marks the next phase of Beatport’s evolution, extending its platform from music discovery and streaming into live event access.

Launched on October 15, 2025, Beatport Tickets enables labels, promoters, and venues in the UK and EU to sell tickets directly through Beatportal, Beatport’s dedicated platform for dance music news and nightlife culture. In the coming months, the platform will expand its self-service solution to event organizers in the US and integrate event listings into the Beatport store. In 2026, upcoming events will also appear on artist and label profiles, with tickets directly linked to their Beatport pages.

Ticketmaster has appointed a new global president with the aim of accelerating an AI transformation at the ticketing giant.Saumil Mehta will take on the new role from November 1, reporting to Michael Rapino, chief executive and president of parent company Live Nation. Mehta succeeds Mark Yovich, who has served as president since 2020, and will now become chairman of Ticketmaster with a focus on the company’s long-term strategy.

Mehta has a strong background in product innovation, scaling technology businesses and global commerce. He spent over nine years at Square, a provider of point-of-sale systems and software, where he was most recently chief product officer and head of business operations. Prior to this role, Mehta founded LocBox, a marketing automation startup that helped local businesses grow through targeted, multi-channel marketing, which was acquired by Square in 2015.

Last month, US regulator the FTC and seven states sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for “engaging in illegal ticket resale tactics”. Now that lawsuit is bringing fresh heat for the companies from two senators: Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján. They have written to Live Nation’s president and CFO Joe Berchtold with some pointed questions about the issues raised by the lawsuit – harking back to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2023.