Coldplay, Shakira & Sphere Lead Midyear Boxscore Report

Most individuals wouldn’t count on to see pillows handed round a Dead & Company live performance.

However for Bernie Cahill of Activist Artists Administration — the agency that manages Bobby Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Useless and frontman of Useless & Firm (which Cahill co-manages with Irving Azoff and Steve Moir) — the ornamental pillows, handed out to followers with ground tickets through the band’s nightly efficiency of “Drums/House” at its Sphere residency, serve an vital objective. These on the ground are inspired to lie down and gaze up on the cutting-edge venue’s towering display screen, which through the instrumental section usually shows imagery of the cosmos; at different factors through the band’s Useless Without end exhibits, audiences absorb visuals from the San Francisco Bay Space to psychedelic animations.

Due to its large video display screen, its reserving of celebrity acts and its aggressively excessive ticket costs, Las Vegas’ Sphere — the place Useless & Firm alone grossed $21.6 million from six live shows in March, when it resumed exhibits there following a profitable run final yr — is once more the world’s top-grossing constructing, in response to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. It surpasses the highest stadium (Mexico Metropolis’s Estadio GNP Seguros) and two iconic New York venues (Madison Sq. Backyard and Radio Metropolis Music Corridor) with a $165.3 million haul at midyear, which spans from Oct. 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

Sphere’s financial energy isn’t in its present depend — at midyear, the venue has hosted solely 42 dates, together with different residencies by the Eagles and dance artist Anyma — however in its common ticket value, which at $238 is roughly double these of Madison Sq. Backyard ($133) or London’s O2 Enviornment ($105). Whereas a lot of the music trade debates rising ticket costs, Sphere has proven there’s a vibrant market able to pay a premium for particular experiences delivered by high expertise.

A DOWNWARD TREND: This yr’s midyear charts are down considerably in contrast with 2024: Final yr, the highest 10 excursions presently had a mixed gross of $1.4 billion, whereas in 2025, the highest 10 outings have grossed a mixed $1 billion, a drop of greater than 28%. Among the many high 50 excursions, the mixed gross disparity was much less stark however nonetheless notable, going from $3.2 billion in 2024 to $2.5 billion in 2025, a drop of about 21%.

However this shift doesn’t essentially signify weak point available in the market. The principle cause was present depend: There have been fewer live shows in 2025 on the midyear level than there have been in 2024. In 2024, the highest 10 excursions at midyear reported a mixed 442 whole exhibits for the interval, in contrast with 245 in 2025, a forty five% decline. For the highest 50, the 1,425 exhibits reported in 2024 fell to 1,159 in 2025, a drop of 18.7%. On Billboard’s Prime Promoters chart, Dwell Nation’s grosses have been all the way down to $2.2 billion in 2025 from $2.8 billion in 2024. However as a result of exhibits are booked months, or generally over a yr, upfront, adjustments within the variety of whole exhibits don’t reveal a lot about shopper spending or demand in early 2025.

The decline partially stems from timing. Throughout a latest earnings name, Dwell Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino famous that extra artists are ready till the second and third quarters to launch their excursions — and with extra acts enjoying stadiums in 2025, extra main excursions are on the highway in the summertime, when the climate is healthier. The 2025 present depend ought to improve within the subsequent six months, which traditionally covers the busiest a part of the yr, particularly in North America.

Importantly, final yr’s touring numbers at midyear have been unusually excessive due to U2’s venue-opening Sphere residency, which grossed $231.6 million from 38 exhibits throughout that point. That monitoring interval additionally included dozens of live shows from three main excursions (Madonna, P!nk and Luis Miguel) that led to a excessive present depend.

CHART STATS: Three acts within the 2025 midyear high 10 — Coldplay, P!nk and Eagles — additionally appeared in final yr’s midyear high 10. And three extra among the many high 10 — Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars and SEVENTEEN — ranked among the many high 20 at midyear in 2024. However there are some notable variations within the music genres atop the chart.

After three Latin excursions reached the highest 10 at midyear in 2024, solely Shakira has carried out so in 2025. And after Travis Scott ranked No. 9 at midyear in 2024, no hip-hop artists cracked the highest 10 in 2025. The best-ranking hip-hop tour at midyear is Tyler, The Creator, who’s No. 16 with $65.3 million grossed.

In the case of ticket costs, Eagles at Sphere had the very best common value among the many high 10 excursions of $285 per ticket, adopted by Usher, who charged a mean of $179, and P!nk, whose tickets averaged $174.

The most affordable tickets among the many high 10 excursions have been for Coldplay ($109), Mars ($118) and McCartney ($129). On common, the ticket value of the highest 50 excursions was $130, down 10% from 2024. On the Prime Excursions chart, 10 acts had a mean ticket value that was underneath $100: Aventura ($99), Sebastian Maniscalco ($98), André Rieu ($94), Deftones ($88), Iron Maiden ($85), Trans-Siberian Orchestra ($84), Nick Cave and The Dangerous Seeds ($84), Cody Johnson ($77), Feid ($77) and Strait ($49).

THE TOP 10: Maintain scrolling for particulars on the highest 10 touring artists of Billboard’s midyear Boxscore interval, monitoring all exhibits worldwide from Oct. 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.