Jay Chou Drove Over ¥1.1 Billion in One Night—Yet LED Displays Got Only 6%? The Truth Behind the Numbers

Staff Reporter: Ouyang Jing

Recently, the China Association of Performing Arts released its latest estimate: for every 1 yuan spent on concert tickets, an additional 4.8 yuan is generated in related spending during the same period. Using Jay Chou’s concert in Sanya in March 2025 as an example, the association noted that 82% of attendees traveled from off the island, driving total ancillary spending to more than ¥1.1 billion. Concerts have become a powerful engine of consumption—and LED displays are the core technological spark that ignites this engine. Main-stage backdrop screens, floor tiles, transparent screens, and curved screens have all become critical equipment for creating the visual impact of large-scale concerts.

According to the latest data, LED displays (rental panels) accounted for roughly 45% of the stage production budget for large concerts nationwide in 2024—about 20 percentage points higher than in 2019—making them the second-largest core expenditure after the sound reinforcement system. This means that nearly half of a concert’s total stage production budget goes toward the rental and installation of LED displays to craft immersive visuals, including transparent screens, XR scenes, and dynamically lifting screens.

As a result, LED displays and the concert economy now have a deeply symbiotic relationship. On one hand, the booming live performance market directly stimulates demand for LED displays; on the other, cutting-edge display technologies in turn upgrade the performance experience. For example, ABBA’s virtual concert created a “digital avatar” experience that increased audiences’ willingness to make secondary purchases by 27%. This virtuous cycle will only intensify over the next three years.

Industry modeling indicates that every additional ¥100 million in direct concert investment generates about ¥18 million in output for LED displays and related supporting sectors. For LED display companies, seizing this opportunity requires not only hardware innovation but also a deep understanding of the fusion of performance art and technology—because when stars appear within virtual environments constructed by LED screens, audiences are paying for more than sight and sound; they are paying for an irreplaceable emotional experience.

To meet concerts’ growing creative demands, LED display companies need to push technological boundaries and develop innovative products with interactivity and immersion. LED transparent screens can serve as a medium that merges the stage backdrop with physical set elements: they preserve the layered depth of physical scenery while enhancing narrative tension through dynamic imagery. LED floor tiles (floor panels) can virtualize the stage surface, using lifts, rotations, or dynamic light-and-shadow effects to create performances that transcend traditional physical space. Going further, combining LED displays with AR (augmented reality) and XR (extended reality) can deliver multi-dimensional immersive experiences. These technologies not only elevate the show’s sense of high tech but also align with younger audiences’ appetite for innovation, becoming a key lever for differentiation within the concert economy.

According to industry insiders, China’s music tourism market has already reached roughly ¥30 billion annually and is expected to become a ¥100 billion industry by 2030. As the most explosive segment within this space, concerts drove demand for LED rental displays to 60% of the entire rental market in 2024. Applied to the ¥30 billion music tourism total, the LED display link corresponds to an output value of about ¥1.8–2.0 billion, or roughly 6%–7%. Yet this segment contributes the highest technology premium and the fastest growth across the value chain. To truly ride this wave, LED display companies must move beyond a traditional hardware mindset and embrace a future centered on content, experience, and systems integration—transforming “the screen” from a rented piece of hardware into the core engine of the concert economy.

The new generation of concerts is evolving toward “cinematic” and “game-like.” Curved wraparound screens, elevating floor screens, ice-screen canopies, and XR virtual-real fusion backdrops run simultaneously; pixel counts have leapt from the tens of millions into the hundred-million range; and the screen is no longer just a backdrop but the primary vehicle for storytelling. Last year, Disney spent $75 million to acquire the streaming rights to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film. This shows that concerts are no longer a linear business of “sell tickets → perform → curtain call,” but an IP value chain that can be extended indefinitely: once stage visuals reach film-grade precision, they can be monetized repeatedly in theaters, on streaming platforms, in games, and in the metaverse—splitting a single live experience into global revenue streams. In this model, LED screens are no longer “background panels” but the “digital master capture system” of the entire IP value chain—whoever controls the screen controls the gateway from live box office to worldwide rights revenue sharing.

It’s worth noting that domestic music platforms are beginning to replicate this model, and LED screen companies must shift from “supplier” to “co-producer.” They should get involved in XR previsualization in the early stages of a tour, bundling screen hardware, servers, and real-time rendering into a “digital asset package,” and share in subsequent revenue from films, online livestreams, and virtual tickets with the artist’s team. When the screen becomes the capture endpoint for content rights, a 6% economic share can multiply into more than 30% of profit, because hardware may carry roughly 15% gross margin, while content can reach 50% or higher.