Ads are Infiltrating Concerts—Are They Attracting Consumers?

Imagine this: You’re at a concert to see one of your favorite performers. Of course, you got there early. The energy in the stadium is electric as you talk about what you’re most excited for with those around you. All of a sudden, the big screen on stage lights up. Wait, is the opening act starting? Seems a little early, you think to yourself. But it’s not the opener, the big screen is showing an advertisement. 

Welcome to the new era of concerts and festivals. Concertgoers are reportedly seeing ads before sets and festival visitors are shown ads between sets. But is this the most optimal way for advertisers to leverage live events? While the addition of ads may give advertisers new opportunities to reach consumers, they may seem more competitive with the main act rather than complementary. But this doesn’t mean your brand messages have to be absent from live events (check out our sponsored events, but we’ll get to that).

Concerts Are a Must-Have, Not Nice-to-Have 

With many Gen Zers and millennials spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on live entertainment, not including travel, concerts are a big part of budgets (and lifestyles). In 2024, highly-coveted tours like Taylor Swift’s Eras, Charli XCX’s Sweat, Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet, Chappell Roan’s Midwest Princess, and Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts dominated the headlines. Consumers have clamored over tickets for the once-in-a-lifetime, can’t-miss shows. 

Gen Z is leading the charge when it comes to concerts, spending 23% more per month on them than the average US music listener. According to a recent AAA and Bread Financial survey, 37% of this generation spends between $500 and more than $5000 on live entertainment tickets. Some are even traveling across the country or abroad for a good deal. More than 53% of Gen Zers have plans or plan to attend a live event requiring air travel. And then there are concertgoers who see their favorite musicians not once, but twice. 

No matter the costs (literally and figuratively), many consumers find concerts to be a necessity—despite concerts going up in price and increasing demand over limited availability. With fans emptying their pockets and traveling thousands of miles for live entertainment, their expectations can be sky-high, and a sudden ad experience can catch them off guard. 

Ads at Concerts—The Way of the Future? 

While concerts with commercial breaks weren’t completely foreign in the past, they seemed to be more of an occasional occurrence. But now, this trend seems to be more prevalent. Ice Spice’s Y2K! tour made waves for displaying ads—from Reebok and Lilly Lashes commercials to movie trailers. The ads weren’t reserved for early in the night either, reportedly ads played between both opening sets. 

Meanwhile, at Justin Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow tour stop in NYC, an advertisement for See’s Candies, complete with a QR code, notably played several times early in the night. And throughout the stadium, indoor, LED ribbon boards were aglow with ads for jetBlue, OIipop, and Cacti. 

Concertgoers may find ads to be random or forgettable, especially if they’ve never seen live entertainment with this addition before. With Gen Z dominating concert expenditure, the concerts they’re attending are likely some of the first of their lifetime. To make the experience more memorable, advertisers can be intentional by filling in the gaps for consumers—either with an ad featuring the artist themselves or a venue partnership. 

A Reddit user says:

Meanwhile, another Reddit user was less complimentary:

Now that you’ve heard from the fans, let’s crowd surf into a more engaging, complementary strategy for influencing audiences at live events. 

Bring Your Brand, We’ll Supply the Party and Fans 

At SiriusXM Media, we’re no stranger to hosting live events and brand activations. From partying with Maluma for the Big Game weekend, to celebrating Black Music Month with Coco Jones, to hitting play on country music in Nashville, we’ve showed up and showed out. We’ve celebrated diverse music genres, danced in cities across the US, and treated our fans to goodies from brands like CitizenM, Corona Extra, Delta, and GNC. Brand sponsors make these events possible, and they’re revealed beforehand as part of the promotion, so fans know what to expect.  

From arrival, to pre-performance, to the main event, to interactive activations throughout the venue, fans are interacting with brands in memorable ways. As if the live performances weren't enough, our sponsors provide interactive photo booths, product displays, custom hashtags, giveaways, games, and much more. Pretty sweet, right?

When fans get the chance to see, consume, or keep the product, they’re that much more likely to have brand recall. Just look at the stats, at a previous event: 73% of our attendees looked for more product information after seeing the sponsor’s onsite activations while having a 40% more positive opinion of our event sponsors post-show. Meanwhile, at another event, nearly nine in 10 fans say they plan to purchase a product from one of our brand sponsors.

When brands have a larger presence throughout a live event that allows for direct fan engagement, they stay top of mind for consumers—no QR code needed. 

Meet Fans IRL with SiriusXM Media 

Will ads at concerts become the main act or fade into the background? It’s hard to say. But now you know there are more engaging, interactive ways to show up IRL.

TL;DR: Fill in the blanks for consumers, prioritize complementing over competing, and up your dose of interactivity. And if you're not yet ready for live events, you can still get your brand message in front of target audiences across our podcast network or streaming. 

Ready to meet and engage with your target consumers in-person? You know where to find us. Let’s chat.