The VIP Economy: Please & Thank You's analysis of nearly 1 million VIP transactions
Full findings: vipeconomy.please.co
Global live music revenue is projected to grow from $34.6 billion to $67.1 billion by 2035, and Goldman Sachs estimates $4.5 billion in addressable “superfan” monetization sits inside that growth. But according to new proprietary research from Please & Thank You (P&TY), the fan engagement company behind VIP programs for Sabrina Carpenter, the Backstreet Boys, and Shaboozey, the industry has been misreading where that value actually comes from.
P&TY analyzed nearly one million VIP ticket transactions spanning pop, rock, hip-hop, country and alternative artists to map the full behavioral lifecycle of a VIP fan - from first purchase to superfan status. The finding reframes what “loyalty” means in live music: it isn't about how much a fan spends on their first purchase. It's about whether they come back a third time.
The data: once a fan makes a third VIP purchase, everything changes. Fans who make it that far see their odds of returning nearly double - from roughly 20% to 38% - and climb past 65% by their eighth purchase. That's the inflection point most of the industry has never measured.
P&TY's data shows the full breakdown in the White Paper below.
“Artists and managers have treated VIP like a nice-to-have for years,” said Eddie Meehan, CEO of Please & Thank You. “P&TY has been doing this for two decades and our data says it's closer to the only real growth lever left in touring. There's a ceiling on what a fan will pay for a single ticket. There isn't one on what they’ll spend coming back for more. That loyalty already exists. Our job is giving it somewhere to go."
Why This Is Showing Up Now
The finding lands at a moment when traditional ticket economics are strained. On a traditional $100 ticket, an artist typically nets roughly $8 after venue, promoter, and agent fees. VIP revenue, by contrast, goes largely to the artist.
The Brand Opportunity Hiding in the Same Data
The same behavioral shift is reshaping how brands buy access to music fans. Live Nation's sponsorship and advertising division generated nearly $1.2 billion in 2024 - its second-largest revenue line - but P&TY says most brands are still buying the wrong kind of access to that growth. Inside a VIP lounge or branded pop-up, a brand gets 45 to 90 minutes of a fan's undivided attention, repeated across dozens of tour dates. That attention converts into real brand affinity - not booth traffic - and Live Nation's own data shows exactly how much, detailed in the white paper.
On the Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet Tour, a brand partner seamlessly became part of the experience itself - a custom bar and cocktail program inside a modular pre-show VIP lounge P&TY built for the run, putting the brand in front of the tour's most engaged fans for 45 to 90 minutes before the show.
The timing is generational as much as economic - according to Luminate's 2024 Year-End
Report, Gen Z outspent every other age group on live music for the first time that year, averaging $75 a month, 23% more than the average U.S. music listener. It's the same generation increasingly willing to pay for VIP access, lounges, and experiences that go beyond the ticket.
Access the Full Findings
Please & Thank You's complete White Paper - including the full retention curve, package-level purchase data, and brand engagement benchmarks - is available now at vipeconomy.please.co.
