Written by Geoff Robins, VP of Product & Marketing at Tradable Bits, and former Sr.VP of Marketing at Live Nation Canada.

By the end of 2025, six artists —Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Coldplay, Oasis, The Weeknd and Morgan Wallen — will have played 512 stadium shows in just 104 cities — forever changing touring.

For decades, artists followed a well-worn playbook: city-to-city tours, 30+ stops, months on the road. That’s changing. Instead of artists going to fans, fans are now travelling to artists — and that’s rewriting the rules for artists, promoters and venues alike.

Liberace, Elvis, Sinatra: The Birth of the Residency Model

Residencies aren’t new — Las Vegas gave birth to the model in the 1940s when the Last Frontier Hotel booked Liberace as a strategic move to create a consistent, long-term draw for tourists. He was flashy, theatrical, and extravagant — fitting the Vegas aesthetic perfectly. For Vegas, the move was lucrative. Liberace kept people in town longer, increasing gambling, dining and hotel revenue. In fact, Liberace’s successful residency paved the way for future long-term contracts with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

A Pivot: AEG and Live Nation

In the 2000s AEG modernized the residency model with Celine Dion, who played more than 1,100 shows between 2003 and 2018 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace — a venue built specifically for her.  Her first residency, “A New Day,” premiered in March 2003 and ran for 717 shows. It was originally planned to run for three years but continued for an additional two due to its success. “A New Day” grossed over $385 million, making it the highest-grossing residency in Vegas history. Today, top-tier residencies are a weekly standard in Vegas.

From Liberace and Sinatra to Celine Dion, the residency model worked because it reduced costs, simplified logistics and maximized revenue. But residencies used to be a retirement plan, a cushy gig for artists like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and other artists in their twilight years to slow down, play a few shows a week and get big paydays from luxurious hotels and casinos. 

That’s changing. Starting with Garth Brooks, a new model of residency has emerged — the modern stadium residency.  And this model of touring isn’t a fallback, it’s a power move.

While Celine Dion crushed her Vegas residency, Garth Brooks tested the waters with “stadium residencies” where he’d play back-to-back dates in a single city, playing as many shows as his fans wanted — as long as they were still buying tickets. His method was a surer way to manage supply and demand while ensuring his fans had access to his live performances without dependence on the resale market. 

Adele then validated this model with her multi-night arena tours, where she played 58 nights across 25 cities. And while Adele still ran on an “arena tour,” her 6-night stop in New York and 8-night stop in LA validated the residency model, paving the way for even larger venues to take part. 

Fast forward to 2024, and today’s biggest artists have taken this model to the next level — less travel, more control and an optimized fan experience. By the end of 2025, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Coldplay, Oasis, The Weeknd and Morgan Wallen will have played 513 stadium concerts in only 104 selected cities.

Why the Modern Stadium Residency Works (For Everyone)

Touring is a massive undertaking — for artists, crews, promoters, labels and venues. Jumping from city to city, week after week, is challenging, mentally, socially and physically. The stadium residency model reduces the risk of burn-out that traditional city-to-city touring causes.

For Artists & Promoters:

• Less burnout: Staying put in one city for longer reduces the wear and tear of constant travel.
• Bigger creative opportunities: Residencies offer more controlled environments with fewer variables. Shows can be designed for specific venues rather than a one-size-fits-all production. 
• More profitable: Fewer load-in/load-out days, reduced travel costs, better-negotiated rates on the millions of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses and more efficient ad spend on promotions - it’s a business model that makes sense.

For Host Cities:

• Residencies can bring a Super Bowl-level economic boost depending on the artist — tourism, hotels, restaurants, retail and even local jobs could see an impact. Taylor Swift’s six-night Eras tour stop in LA generated $320 million dollars in local economic impact, created 3,300 jobs and raised local earnings by $160 million.
• Cities that secure top-tier residencies become global music destinations, attracting fans who make a trip out 
  of it.

For Fans:

• More choice, less chaos: Multiple dates in the same city mean more ticket availability and less likelihood to miss out on a chance to see their favourite artist.
• Travel as a part of the experience: Seeing an artist in an iconic venue — Wembley, the Rose Bowl, Camp Not - becomes an event in itself.
• A better overall concert experience: No rushed production, no unpredictable venue changes — just optimized, immersive live music.

The Data-Driven Touring Playbook

This shift in the live music experience isn’t just about logistics — now it’s even more important to use data to maximize success. Selling out 180,000 tickets in a single market isn’t the same as filling a 15,000-seat arena. Promoters will have to adjust their approach, and this is where data will become the differentiator.

Here’s where data changes the game:

1. Understanding Fans, Understanding Demand (Acquiring Data): 

• Where are the artist’s most engaged fans?
• Which markets will travel for a show?
• What pricing models maximize sell-through — especially over weeks at the same location?

To address this, promoters will need a CRM/CDP to automate their ingestion of fan data through sources like waitlist signups, purchases, email subscriptions, ticket transfers, attendance and more — and then put it into a format where they can easily segment, analyze and group like fans together. Real-time, centralized intelligence means that you can look at your addressable market more holistically, without your team being dragged down by siloed platforms or CSV files.

2. Intentional Marketing (Analyzing Data): 

Instead of blasting emails and ads across multiple cities and all fans in one’s marketable database, promoters can dig into their data to target the right fans with precision.  A centralized database unlocks more possibilities to pull learnings from your data. With a CRM/CDP that can segment by artist affinity, geographic location, propensity to buy and purchase history, promoters can be armed with the ability to build custom marketing funnels for high-value segments of fans. Today’s technology makes it easier to do this level of analysis quickly and at scale.

3. Better Fan Experiences (Activating Data):

As said by John Wanamaker, "half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don't know which half."

With the right tools (like SMS, email, Ads and more) artists, promoters and venues can connect directly with fans, offering exclusive experiences, upgrades and personalized content. In this direct-to-consumer approach, there is more immediate feedback, offering insights on what is and is not working for an audience.

In addition to regular marketing initiatives, the collection of data across all of your touchpoints with fans creates a new opportunity: real-time activation and communication with fans. For example, when a fan scans into a venue, you can send an immediate SMS offering a unique seat upgrade experience if they’ve spent more than $X with you in the past. You can reward top fans with in-the-moment surprises and delights because now you know who they are.

At Tradable Bits, we work with our partners across live music to unlock, capture and activate this data so that they’re making informed, profitable marketing decisions.

The Future of Touring is Here

The stadium residency model is not a passing trend — it’s an evolution of live music. More artists will embrace it. More cities will compete for it. And the ones who leverage fan data will win.

We’re witnessing a new blueprint for the next decade of touring. The only question is, who is ready to adapt?

Written by Geoff Robins, VP Product & Marketing at Tradable Bits, and former Sr.VP Marketing at Live Nation Canada.