Written submission from The Musicians’ Union (LMI0039)

• The Musicians’ Union represents almost 37,000 musicians across the UK, working across every part of the music industry. More than 20,000 of our members work in the live sector, which is a critical area of employment and income for professional musicians.

• The Musicians’ Census, undertaken in 2023, revealed that the average annual income for UK musicians is £20,700, but nearly half earn under £14,000. Musicians working in the live sector are often required to take financial risks, and are currently facing additional pressures due to the cost-of-touring crisis and the imbalance of stagnant performance fees against rising costs.

• We’ve considered recent analysis by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), covering more than 23 million tickets for UK arena, stadium, and outdoor concerts in 2025. This highlights an alarming level of market concentration. The findings were discussed at a Business and Trade Committee inquiry into pricing, competition and consumer protection last year and show:

Total tickets on sale in 2025: 23,136,243

Tickets directly controlled by Live Nation: 58.36% (13.5 million)

Tickets controlled by Live Nation including affiliates: 66.4% (15.36 million)

• Under UK competition law, a “working monopoly” is defined as a single firm controlling 25% or more of a market.

• Live Nation is not only a dominant live music promoter but a vertically integrated entity, also controlling the world’s largest ticket platform Ticketmaster alongside a substantial portfolio of venues, festivals and artist management companies. 

• We are concerned that this scale and market power enable Live Nation to shape the live sector in ways that restrict competition, inflate ticket prices and limit cultural access. This is ultimately detrimental to audiences, the wider industry, and critically, musicians.

• One example is the growing use of exclusivity clauses, which require artists to avoid performing at competing events for extended periods or within certain regions. These clauses are now appearing at lower and lower levels of the market.

• Live Nation owns and operates many of the UK’s major festivals. These include Reading, Leeds, Download, Latitude, Wireless, Creamfields, Wilderness, TRNSMT, and Camp Bestival. Festival Republic is Live Nation’s UK festival division, and their Managing Director Melvin Benn is also a Director of Glastonbury. Artists naturally want to perform at these flagship events, but doing so often requires them to accept exclusivity for the entire summer season or longer.

• This restricts artists’ ability to work, affecting both their earning opportunity and their relationship with fans. It also impacts diversity, reduces choice, and entrenches the dominance of a single company. Furthermore, it limits opportunities for independent promoters, who cannot compete on equal terms when artists are contractually prevented from performing elsewhere.

• These issues point to a structural problem in the live music sector.  We believe that the scale of Live Nation’s influence, combined with its vertical integration, warrants further scrutiny. We would therefore welcome and support a full Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into these matters to ensure that the live music sector remains fair, competitive, and sustainable for musicians and audiences alike.