Blue Note, +3.4% revenue in 2025. And the new year starts with 71 sold out

The 2025 of the Blue Note sounds good: turnover of around 6 million, an increase of 3.4% over the previous year. And all the conditions are in place for 2026 to sound even better: in the first two months of the year, 71 sold-outs were recorded for a total of 24 thousand spectators in two months, an unprecedented performance. It is with this spirit that the Milan venue, the only licensee in Europe of the celebrated New York jazz club, is preparing to celebrate its 23rd birthday: on 17 March, drummer Steve Gadd will receive the Blue Note 2026 award, during performances by the Hemmer Gadd trio, while on 20 and 21 March it's guitarist Lee Ritenour's turn with two double shows and the honour of imprinting his own handprints on the club's Wall of Fame.

"This is an important moment in our history," commented director Daniele Genovese. "Since the post-lockdown we have recorded positive performances, thanks to a consolidation of the offer that puts music first but also includes catering." Blue Note Milano is part of Casta Diva, a group led by Andrea De Micheli that spans film production, events and communication listed on Piazza Affari on the Euronext Growth segment with revenues of EUR 134.9 million (+10.7%). Casta Diva has just produced for RAI the biopic Franco Battiato - Il lungo viaggio and on 15 March will curate the closing ceremony of the Paralympics in Milan Cortina. Since its acquisition in 2016, Blue Note has been a flagship for the Casta Diva Group.

"From the end of the lockdown onwards," commented Director Genovese, "the figure of the increase in the paying audience can be seen at a glance in the auditorium even before reading the balance sheets. In 2025 we did something like 212 soldouts out of 376 concerts, for a total of 90,000 paying audience members, up 3.4 per cent on the previous year. And steadily one third of the people who come to see our concerts also dine". To reach these numbers, work has been done on the diversification of the offer: 'Jazz remains central,' Genovese explains, 'but we also host artists who do different genres and yet belong to the same family tree. January, for example, opened as per tradition with Christmas gospel, and hosted five double dates by Incognito with eight sold-out shows. Then went Kenny Wayne twice, six Billy Cobham and four Fantastic Negrito. Blues, fusion and mash-ups between genres, in short.

There are also event evenings dedicated to a specific genre (swing, bossa nova) or to the scene of a specific city (New Orleans, Chicago). 'It is a choice,' Genovese continues, 'that has allowed us to intercept a younger audience. We are talking about concerts featuring excellent musicians, compared to which we are able to charge more affordable prices'.

Always in the spirit of diversification, the 'extra moenia' summer activities under the Blue Note Off brand are worth mentioning: from open-air concerts at the historic Don Lisander restaurant, to evenings at Villa Invernizzi in Trenzanesio where Carmen Souza performed, to the Reggia di Venaria (Ray Gelato, Emma Smith, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Fabrizio Bosso) and at Andrea Bocelli's show last August in Cernobbio, at Villa d'Este. The assumption at the end of the day is simple: 'From being the temple of jazz that we were,' Genovese concludes, 'we try to be more and more the temple of quality music.