Live Nation revenues rose 15% in 2016 to $8.4bn

Live Nation revenues rose 15% in 2016 to $8.4bn

Live Nation published its latest quarterly (and annual) financial results; according to the figures, its annual revenues rose by 15% to $8.4bn in 2016. The financials included an update on its Ticketmaster business, which saw its overall gross transaction volume (GTV) rise 11% to $28bn, based on 480m ticket sales.

Ticketmaster also put a positive spin on its controversial secondary-ticketing business, explaining:

Our secondary ticketing GTV growth of 26% in 2016, at constant currency, was driven by the premise that we should safely and transparently provide all options to fans at Ticketmaster, which has been embraced by ticket buyers.

In 2016, Ticketmaster's number of mobile tickets sold rose by 36%, to more than 45m. In a panel session at the FastForward conference, Ticketmaster UK’s Sarah Slater said that competition from startups like Dice played a role in this growth:

Dice has made us step up our mobile game completely, I think. Our mobile game was not up to scratch at all... So being able to present Dice to the powers-that-be above has helped us massively up our game.