The concert boom: summer 2026 is already a record-breaking season, with takings of 815 million

Il cantante Ultimo durante il concerto «La Favola Per Sempre di Ultimo» a Tor Vergata, Roma, il 4 luglio 2026. ANSA/ANGELO CARCONI

Still on the Eventim front, D’Alessandro & Galli have wrapped up a summer in which 155,000 tickets were sold. As ever, the flagship events were the concept festival “La Prima Estate” in Lido di Camaiore, featuring Gorillaz and Nick Cave to an audience of 60,000 paying guests, and the “Lucca Summer Festival”, which brought together acts ranging from David Byrne to Katy Perry for 95,000 spectators spread across the programme. “Demand continues to grow,” emphasises the owner Mimmo D’Alessandro. “But those of us in this line of work have to contend with artists’ fees that have literally skyrocketed, sometimes without any rational basis. Meanwhile, bureaucracy remains the enemy as ever.”

The live pop-rock music sector is currently enjoying a particularly positive period. “Live music is an occasion for socialising, coming together and recognition for a vast, cross-generational audience,” explains Bruno Sconocchia, president of Assoconcerti. Concerts are no longer, as was perhaps the case in the 1960s, a ritual reserved almost exclusively for young people. Today, the generations who grew up with those artists and the young people who discovered them later come together under the same stage. “People of different ages find common ground in music as a shared language,” observes Sconocchia.

Damon Albarn, frontman dei Gorillaz, protagonisti dell’edizione 2026 de «La Prima Estate»

Of course, there’s no getting round it: the entertainment industry has changed. Productions have become more sophisticated, stages larger, and audio and video technology increasingly advanced. ‘The contrast with the concerts of the 1960s and 1970s – often held in broad daylight at open-air venues with rudimentary sound systems,’ adds the president of Assoconcerti, ‘highlights the leap the industry has made. Today’s shows are technologically advanced productions.’

This growth has also reignited the debate over the ever-increasing scale of events and the pursuit of ‘superfans’ – the high-spending segment of the audience willing to make any sacrifice to see their idols in exclusive settings. And then there’s the ‘social’ aspect of the experience: according to TicketOne, Gold and Pit seats – which can cost up to 500 euros – accounted for 5 per cent of tickets sold until last year, but this year that figure has risen to 7 per cent. In 2025, only 368 out of the 39,195 recorded pop, rock and light music concerts will have attracted more than 10,000 spectators. There were 19,428 events with fewer than 1,000 paying attendees, whilst free events totalled 16,611. “Pitting large and small events against each other, however, is a mistake,” warns Sconocchia. Large concerts generate revenue, employment and visibility, but they also fuel the circuit of venues and festivals where artists destined, one day, for arenas and stadiums are born and develop.

Bad Bunny alla prima delle due date all’Ippodromo La Maura di Milano

Festivals also form part of this ecosystem. “According to a study by La Sapienza University in Rome,” explains Carlo Parodi, president of Assomusica, “their number has risen from 90 last year to 121 in 2026.” This increase reflects the growing interest from local councils and regional authorities, who are increasingly convinced that a music festival can become a cultural, tourist and media asset for the local area.

The figures reflect the growth in supply. “Turnover stood at 80 million euros in 2025, whilst this year it is expected to exceed 100 million, driven not only by a slight price increase, but above all by rising demand and attendance”, although, as Parodi notes, “there is no strategic plan at national level”. Because the main driver of growth in the concert sector is the audience