Issue #329
Welcome to our end-of-year issue. Since next week’s issue on November 17th (#330) is our last, we wanted to make sure we fit in one of our most loved issues of the year: our end-of-year recap. It summarizes the hottest global live music industry news, practices, and ideas from every month of 2026, so you can look back at the year before we sign off.
Credit: Sand In My Boots / Alive Coverage
January
January opened with the DOJ case heading to trial. Live Nation was also making moves in the background, and the year got messy fast.
Legends Global teamed up with Saudi Arabia’s Event Investment Fund on a venue portfolio.
A StubHub CFO admitted that delayed seller payouts earned about $41 million in extra interest.
By mid-month, Ticketmaster and Live Nation were facing eight active lawsuits.
A Canadian fiddler lost a gig after Google’s AI flagged him as a sex offender. Wrong guy, wrong algorithm.
February
February moved the ticketing fight to Capitol Hill. Kid Rock took a seat at a US Senate hearing and called Live Nation’s model an experiment that failed miserably, a line that landed well beyond the hearing room.
Live Nation posted record 2025 results while paying no US income tax.
Noah Kahan sold out his first stadium tour and raised $2 million for mental health.
March
The DOJ case went from “it’s actually happening” to settled in about a week. Live Nation agreed to a $280.4 million settlement fund, but most states refused to sign on, and the fight over whether the deal goes far enough kept rolling. The settlement left the case with a lot of loose ends and a lot of people unhappy with the outcome.
Venu raised $86.25 million.
April
The Live Nation trial went to a jury, and the verdict came in April. It opened a fresh round of arguments over what happens next, and nobody was sure how fast answers would come.
The FTC ordered StubHub to refund $10 million for hiding fees.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster were ordered to pay $9.9 million in DC restitution and penalties.
Coachella and Stagecoach were shown to bring $700 million a year into California.
May
Shakira’s free Copacabana show drew about 2 million fans, a triumph shadowed by a worker killed during load-in weeks earlier.
A judge ruled the FTC’s BOTS Act suit against a reseller could proceed, saying the law covers people, not just companies.
Live Nation’s Q1 revenue hit a record $3.8 billion, but legal fees ate into profit.
June
Vermont capped resale at 10% above face value, with a little help from Noah Kahan.
A fan fell from the 300 level at an MSG Goose show.
19 people were hurt in a South Carolina festival stampede.
Tickets.ie shut down after 22 years, leaving Irish festivals holding roughly $675,000 in unrefunded revenue.
FIFA got subpoenaed over World Cup ticket prices.
July
A white-hat hacker used Claude to find a flaw in Front Gate Tickets, a Live Nation-owned platform, and gained super-admin access.
Illinois passed three ticketing bills, and DC passed the RESALE Act.
Bad Bunny broke tour records while skipping the US entirely.
August
Live Nation posted $7.7 billion in Q2 revenue and its strongest concert-ticket quarter ever.
It then broke ground on South America’s largest indoor arena in São Paulo.
The FTC settled with Elite Events for $300,000.
September
AEG and SeatGeek urged the judge to reject the DOJ settlement, and the fight over whether Ticketmaster gets sold got louder.
Brazil signed its “Taylor Swift Law”, and California passed two ticketing bills.
A worker died at Wolf Trap before a Squeeze show.
A storm damaged Rogers Stadium in Toronto.
Stadium operators pushed Ed Sheeran to drop Macklemore after his pro-Palestinian set, a live demo of how much power venues hold.
Fever raised $250 million, the largest round ever for a live entertainment tech company.
October
A federal judge ruled the BOTS Act applies to Ticketmaster, and Live Nation called the FTC’s lawsuit misguided.
The DOJ sued broker REPS for $120 million in profit.
Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields raised $20 million for nonprofits supporting women and girls.
November
November was all about money, and who gets to keep it.
Brazil ordered five resale sites, including StubHub and Viagogo, to halt operations ahead of BTS’s São Paulo shows, with a daily fine of about $18,600 for noncompliance.
Garth Brooks canceled a newly added matinee after bots flooded his Kansas City on-sale.
Prince George’s County voted 8 to 0 to commit about $200 million toward a Sphere at National Harbor.
Turnstile drew an estimated 60,000 to a free Washington Monument show that raised more than $220,000 for humanitarian relief.
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Next week’s issue, November 17th (#330), is our last in this chapter of Back of House. After more than six years, we’ve decided to wrap up Back of House because we can no longer give it the attention you deserve. You can read the full announcement here.
Thank you for being part of this. Six years in, we’re grateful for every reader who shared, replied, and kept us honest. If you have any thoughts or questions to share, feel free to hit reply, we’d love to hear from you … cheers!
