Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour helped boost consumer spend on live music in the U.K. to a record high in 2024, according to LIVE’s newly published annual report released Tuesday (Sept. 2).
The report reveals that consumer spend soared to 6.68 billion pounds ($8.95 billion) in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%. The number is up 28.2% from 2022’s figures (5.2 billion pounds), and up 48% from the last non-COVID-affected year in 2019 (4.5 billion pounds).
LIVE, which represents 15 live music organizations including the Music Venue Trust, the Music Managers Forum and Featured Artists Coalition, analyzed 55,000 “gigs, concerts, festivals and events” for the report.
Estimates show that Swift’s Eras Tour — which made 15 stops in the U.K. last year, including shows in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Liverpool and London — provided a 1 billion pound boost to the U.K. economy. The BBC reports that 1.2 million people attended the concerts last summer.
Several huge tours hit the U.K. in 2024, including stadium shows by Swift and Bruce Springsteen, and arena dates for Charli xcx, The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo and Liam Gallagher. Speaking of Gallagher, Oasis’ controversial on-sale for the band’s reunion concert tour also took place in August 2024 ahead of its commencement in Wales in July 2025.
The report adds that mainstream pop acts accounted for 32.1% of consumer spend among the top 2,000 concerts of the year, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. A record 23.5 million music tourists — 1.6 million of whom were from abroad — attended concerts and festivals in the U.K. throughout the year.
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Standalone concerts and tours outperformed the struggling U.K. festival sector. Consumer spend on the latter rose just 1.9%, while spend on standalone concerts rose by 12.2% and made up 75.3% of total spending on live music in 2024. On the subject of festivals, the report highlights the need for tax relief for the sector, which saw 78 festivals close last year due to rising costs and changing consumer patterns. John Rostron, chief executive of the AIF (Association of Independent Festivals), says the tax relief proposal came from meetings with stakeholders and “hope[s] to see this adopted by the Government.”
Support for grassroots music venues is also a concern, though in 2024, the LIVE Trust was established to manage distribution of a voluntary 1 pound levy on tickets for large concerts (5,000 capacity and up). Several acts, including Sam Fender and Katy Perry, have contributed to the fund, while 10% of the revenue from Coldplay’s ongoing 10-night stand at Wembley Stadium will be donated to the grassroots scene.
Jon Collins, chief executive of LIVE, writes, “Live music is a joyous experience and the desire to attend gigs remains strong for both Brits and international visitors. Venues and festivals of all shapes and sizes, operated by world-class teams and showcasing world-class established and emerging talent, will continue to delight audiences for decades to come as long as industry and Government protects and nurtures the ecosystem.”
