Standing out through sound: Why live music deserves more consideration from brands

Live music is booming. According to new research from Live Nation, concerts have overtaken both sport and film as the world’s number-one form of entertainment. In the UK, 36% of people say they would choose live music over any other form of entertainment, while 81% would rather spend on experiences than things. For brands looking to build genuine emotional engagement, it’s a powerful signal that fans aren’t just attending gigs, they’re expressing who they are.

Music as identity

Live Nation’s global Living for Live report captures a fundamental shift in behaviour. Eighty-six per cent of UK fans say music is core to their identity, and 83% say live is where they feel most themselves. For many, attending a concert isn’t just a night out, it’s a milestone moment. Eighty-one per cent call a concert one of their most memorable life experiences, and nearly seven in ten travel for shows, fuelling both cultural and economic impact.

That depth of connection is what most sponsorship marketers spend their budgets chasing: attention, loyalty, and influence all in one place. Yet for all its emotional power, live music remains under-represented in brand portfolios.

Sport is the safe bet

Part of the reason is that sport has become the default setting for sponsorship. It’s familiar, measurable, and feels safe. But it’s also saturated. From LED boards to shirt sleeves, there’s barely a square inch left unbranded. As a result, even well-intentioned campaigns risk being lost in the noise.

Tom Whiteside, Head of Group Sponsorship at Aviva, told The Sponsor: “You tend to see within sponsorship that people default to the same sorts of properties. Following competitors rarely leads to differentiation.”

A global stage of opportunity

For brands seeking that differentiation, live music offers a platform of scale, diversity, and emotion unmatched by any other passion point.

“Live music and sport are the ultimate combination in live entertainment,” says Lisa Lugo, SVP of Marketing & Creative Solutions at Live Nation UK. “Music attracts a diverse, global audience and creates an experience where everyone wins, no one leaves feeling like they’ve lost.”

That universal appeal is why many of Live Nation’s strategic partners now invest across both categories. “Sport delivers competition,” Lugo adds, “but music delivers connection.”

Beyond the stage

For Lugo, one of live music’s biggest advantages lies in the sheer length of the fan journey. “The experience begins long before the event and lives on long after,” she says. “That means brands have a wealth of opportunities to engage meaningfully across the entire live music journey.”

Live Nation maps that journey across four phases: discovery, planning, experiencing, and reliving with roughly two-thirds of fan activity happening before and after the event itself. The planning phase alone touches travel, accommodation, food and drink, fashion, beauty, and camping, categories where brands can embed themselves naturally into the experience.

“Our most successful partners recognise this,” Lugo explains. “They show up across the entire journey, not just on show day.”

Always on, always connected

Through its digital platforms and festival channels, Live Nation reaches millions of fans year-round. The company builds bespoke, multi-channel programmes for partners that combine first-party data targeting with organic integration across platforms like Meta and TikTok.

“We bring partners into the fan experience in a way that feels native,” says Lugo. “From exclusive content with artists to loyalty perks and fan rewards, the goal is to make brands part of the always-on live music ecosystem.”

From access to activation

Activation, Lugo says, is where the best partnerships truly differentiate. “The most successful sponsorships are built on collaboration, rights holder and brand working together from concept to execution.”

That collaboration can take many forms: exclusive ticket access, fan rewards, product trials, and retail launches, all extended through digital storytelling. “Partnerships now span far beyond the festival field,” Lugo notes. “They allow brands to talk directly to fans, their customers, across every touchpoint.”

A new beat for brand engagement

For brands, live music represents more than an alternative to sport,  it’s a chance to connect with fans at their most open and expressive. Those who treat it as a journey rather than a moment can transform sponsorship into an always-on relationship.

As Lugo puts it, “Live music is a unifying force ,it’s where connection happens. That’s what makes it so powerful for brands.”