Growth Isn’t Getting Younger — It’s Playing Out on Stage
For years, marketers have chased youth. But the next wave of growth won’t come from chasing younger — it’ll come from connecting wider.
You can see it every night in live music.
Oasis can return after 16 years and fill stadiums worldwide with grandparents and teenagers in the same bucket hats singing the same songs. Olivia Rodrigo can share a festival stage with Weezer or Robert Smith of the Cure and pull Gen Z through Gen X in one chorus. That’s not nostalgia, that’s reach.
Live music is one of the few spaces where culture is passed down, not pushed out. That connection doesn’t just create memories, it builds meaning that people are willing to invest in.
That idea came through clearly during a conversation I joined with Sephora’s Zena Arnold, Kraft Heinz’s Todd Kaplan, and Seth Matlins at the Forbes CMO Summit. Todd and Zena shared how their categories, beauty and food, have always connected generations. Parents pass down rituals, from recipes to skincare routines. Kids remix them and bring new inspiration back up. It’s a shared cycle of discovery that builds belonging and lasting loyalty.
Across generations, fans show up for the same reason: to feel something real. When they do, they spend more time and money making the moment last.
Four in ten fans buy VIP or better. Six in ten travel for a show each year, logging 40 billion miles for live music in 2024 alone. With every ticket, they spark spending across travel, fashion, food, beauty, and tech.
The brands that will win the next decade won’t be the ones chasing demos. They’ll build experiences around passions that transcend them. Because at a show, you’re not 18 or 48. You’re just a fan.
Authored by: Russell Wallach, Live Nation’s Global President
