Lessons From Adele's Live Residency in Munich

Overview

In the ever-evolving world of the music industry, artists need direct-to-fan strategies. This guide explores Adele’s residency in Germany, which generated an estimated $589 million in revenue and attracted more than 730,000 people. While her team pulled off a direct-to-fan strategy on the largest of scales, there’s so much new teams can learn from it.

What Happened

• Between August 2nd and 31st, 2024, Adele hosted a Munich residency attended by over 730,000 people.
• The local economy received an estimated boost of $589 million.
• Support acts included Jessie Ware and Kesha.

Why it Worked

• This tapped into pent-up demand for fans who couldn’t get tickets for Adele’s exclusive 100-show Las Vegas residency.
• It capitalised on fears that Adele might take a prolonged break.
• It was a new experience similar to the popular festival format.
• By keeping fans in one place for an extended period, Adele’s team maximised opportunities for additional revenue through merchandise, food, and other offerings.

What Emerging Artists Can Learn

Few artists can put on an event of such a grand scale, but you can learn from the concept. Here’s how to adapt it to you:

1. Understand what your potential fans want. In Adele’s case, that’s a live event and festival atmosphere. Look at your data and see what’s getting the most significant reaction.
2. Find a high-value offering beyond streams. Merch, educational courses, and services are all options. The key is to find an angle where your audience pays more than it costs you to get in front of them.
3. Do something different. Everyone is releasing so much music that, at this point, it’s highly commoditised for emerging artists. Fans want value in the form of new experiences.

2025 Trends

In 2025, artists should explore new strategies focused on direct-to-fan and owned channels.

An interesting analogy is that just like anyone can get an image for free online, they can also get music for little to nothing as part of their streaming subscription. You can’t expect people to pay for something they can already get, so you must provide additional value through your brand or your offerings.