Live music is undergoing a fundamental transformation. The convergence of spatial audio, tokenized ticketing, and creator-direct platforms is shifting power back toward artists — and opening entirely new investment theses for those paying close attention. This is not a cyclical moment. It is a structural one.
From Venue to Network#
The pandemic accelerated a decade's worth of digital infrastructure for artists. What emerged wasn't a replacement for physical shows — it was a layer on top of them. The most interesting companies we're watching treat every performance as a data event, a merchandise moment, and a community touchpoint simultaneously. The venue is no longer the constraint.
The Three Forces Reshaping the Industry#
When we look at where durable value is being created, three forces stand out:
- Fan ownership models — tokenized tickets and memberships that align incentives between artists and their most dedicated audiences
- Spatial and immersive audio — transforming streaming from a passive background activity into an intentional listening environment
- Direct-to-fan distribution — platforms that allow artists to bypass traditional intermediaries entirely and capture more of the economic upside they create
The best live music companies of the next decade won't be venue operators. They'll be infrastructure providers — the rails that every performance, every fan interaction, and every moment of cultural value runs on.
What We Look For in a Deal#
We evaluate live music investments against a consistent set of criteria. The specifics vary by stage and geography, but the core questions don't change. A company must demonstrate at least three of the following before we'll get serious:
- A clear mechanism for artist monetization beyond ticket sales
- Network effects that compound with each new artist or venue on the platform
- Data assets that improve the product over time and can't be easily replicated
- A founding team with genuine roots in the creative community, not just the technology sector
What We're No Longer Excited About#
To be direct: the era of pure ticketing plays is largely over. The incumbents have entrenched distribution, and the margin profile of primary ticketing is structurally challenged. We're far more interested in the post-ticket economy — everything that happens before, during, and after the show.
A Note on Geography#
Much of the most interesting innovation is happening outside the traditional US and UK markets. Lagos, São Paulo, Seoul, and Jakarta are producing artists and fan communities of enormous scale with limited access to the financial infrastructure that Western artists take for granted. The opportunity to build the missing layer in these markets is, in our view, one of the most compelling bets available right now.
Infrastructure gaps in emerging music markets aren't a problem to be solved after scale — they're the reason the opportunity exists at all.
We're actively meeting founders building in these geographies. If that's you, we want to hear from you. The next generation of live music infrastructure won't be built from offices in Los Angeles and London. It will be built by the communities it serves.