Livenation CEO Michael Rapino says concert tickets are 'underpriced

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Speaking last week at CNBC and Boardroom’s Game Plan conference, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino took a rosier outlook, insisting that the demand for live entertainment has never been higher, and tickets are “underpriced.”

“Music has been underappreciated,” Rapino said, especially compared with sports. “In sports, I joke it’s like a badge of honor to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside [seat]. They beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé.”

He added, “We have a lot of runway left. So when you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time.”

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Artists aiming to put on a great, elaborate show, while also making a living and paying a fair wage to their crews, certainly contribute to the cost of rising ticket prices. But those factors also exist alongside others, like sky-high fees, dynamic pricing (where prices fluctuate based on demand), and ongoing issues with scalpers. The significant power Live Nation and Ticketmaster have accumulated since their 2010 merger has ultimately left artists and fans with few other options but to accept the terms they set for the live-entertainment industry.

It’s possible that the landscape could shift soon. Last year, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation, accusing the company of operating as a monopoly. (Live Nation has denied the allegations, and the suit remains ongoing.)

And just last week — one day after Rapino spoke at the Game Plan conference — the Federal Trade Commission filed its own suit, accusing Ticketmaster of hiding fees from customers until checkout; allowing scalpers to “exceed” ticket-purchase limits; and then letting those same scalpers resell those tickets at significant markups on Ticketmaster’s own resale platform. (Live Nation-Ticketmaster has yet to respond to the suit.)

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While Rapino celebrated the continued demand for live events — “No matter what you bring to that table that day, you unite around that one shared experience,” he said — Pollstar’s 2024 year-end report contained some possible warning signs. The report noted that there were “more festival and tour cancellations” in 2024 than at any time since the Covid-19 shutdown and the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009.

It also flagged several declines in the North American live-music scene. The overall gross for the top 100 touring artists fell from $6.63 billion in 2023 to $6.18 billion in 2024, a 6.79 percent decline. The average gross per concert fell 8.78 percent, from $2.04 million in 2023 to $1.86 million in 2024. And the average number of tickets sold for the top 100 touring artists in 2024 was 13,634, down from 15,008 in 2023 — a 9.16 percent drop. But that didn’t stop ticket prices from rising, even just a bit, from $135.88 to $136.45.

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