In today’s popular narrative, Live Nation’s Ticketmaster is a villain, squeezing every last penny out of concertgoers who just want to see a show.
But this statement is misleading because – in the view of Live Nation CEO Michael Rapinoe – It misunderstands what Ticketmaster and Live Nation more broadly is really about.
“We are a B2B company,” Rapinoe said at the company’s 2024 investor briefing on Wednesday (November 13).
“We have two B2B [business-to-business] clients, Ticketmaster’s venues, and artists in the concert division.
As strange as it may sound, Ticketmaster – For Sale 144 million Offering tickets to consumers for the first three quarters of the year would deny the idea of this being a business-to-consumer business, but Rapinoe’s reasoning is compelling.
After all, “you’re not going to a Live Nation show, you’re going to a Coldplay show,” Rapinoe said.
So what does Live Nation and Ticketmaster actually do? Part of that, in Rapinoe’s view, is to absorb the public’s revulsion at the troubling reality that for the biggest artists, demand for tickets far outstrips supply, often leading to frustration among millions of fans.
And, as Live Nation has repeatedly pointed out, Ticketmaster doesn’t set ticket prices — that’s set by the artists and sports teams whose events Ticketmaster services.
“We don’t have a lot of control over consumer products. I can’t tell you what the price is. I can’t tell you how to sell it,” Rapinoe said. “We work for artists. We take the hits for artists. We protect artists.
And took a big hit – controversy from the ticketing system crashing during the ticket sales process Taylor Swifttravel, prices are high Bruce Springsteen‘s tour and the ire of the sudden spike in ticket prices for their recent Oasis reunion tour, Ticketmaster has been hit again and again.
“We work for artists. We take the hits for artists. We protect artists.
Michael Rapinoe, Live Nation
Consumer dissatisfaction has also engulfed regulators. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing during Oasis ticket sales. Most famously, in the United States, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company in an attempt to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
But Rapinoe said Live Nation’s actual customers — venues and performers — are happy with the company.
“No artists are complaining. You have fans who want cheaper tickets, but you don’t have our core customers saying we’re not doing a good job,” Rapinoe said. “So I’m not too worried about the consumer side.”
Here are three other things we learned from Live Nation’s Investor Day presentation:
1. Dynamic pricing means sometimes ticket prices actually drop
Dynamic pricing – where ticket prices change instantly based on consumer demand – has been one of Live Nation’s most controversial innovations.
When tickets for Oasis’ 2025 UK shows tripled in price while on sale, Oasis fans criticized the company on social media, causing enough of a ruckus for regulators to step in and Oasis promising not to include Use dynamic pricing.
But with dynamic pricing, what goes up can also go down. If the system sees weak demand for certain seats, it will lower prices.
according to Omar JulaniVice President of Touring at Live Nation, “It’s not just 50% of [price] The changes we make are decreasing.
In other words, contrary to popular belief, dynamic pricing can get you cheaper tickets at least as much as it might cost you more.
2. 95% of shows are not sold out, which means ticket prices will be lower in the future
Rapino and Al-Joulani mentioned another interesting statistic: About 95% of Live Nation shows are not sold out.
This has several key implications. One is that, contrary to what some consumers believe, Live Nation and Ticketmaster (or, more accurately, the artists who set ticket prices) do not actually have unlimited pricing power.
If unlimited pricing power does exist, it only exists for the most popular artists—Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, whose fan bases number in the tens or hundreds of millions—and they The shows are always sold out.
“There are a lot of tickets for sale just within the number of shows we have now without the need to add new shows.”
Omar Al-Julani, Live Nation
Another implication is that Live Nation is leaving money on the table in the form of empty seats.
According to Al-Joulani, 95% of the shows are not sold out, equivalent to 35 million Unsold tickets worldwide.
“There are a lot of tickets for sale just within the number of shows we have now without the need to add new shows.”
Live Nation “has just started to get involved in this space as part of AOI [adjusted operating income] Opportunity,” he said. Looking forward, “ticket pricing will be further optimized, which often means lower prices.”
3. Venue Nation is preparing 80 new venues
Purchasing and/or building live event venues has become an important part of Live Nation’s growth strategy because, as the company’s leadership has repeatedly emphasized, many live music markets around the world lack the variety of venues needed to host events.
Live Nation’s solution was to stick with the old dream land As the saying goes: “If you build it, they will come.”
This adage seems to be true. according to Jordan ZacharyChief Strategy Officer of Live Nation, the company’s Venue Nation division that has grown into the largest theater and club network in the world, introduced $2 billion annual income, including US$1 billion From food and beverage sales.
This is just for beginners. Zachary says Venue Nation’s development team is somewhere nearby 80 The venue is under preparation and is expected to cost approx. US$3.4 billion For acquisitions and new construction. These include 35 “mega venues” planned to open in the next five years.
“These venues will attract 20 million fans annually, equivalent to an AOI value of $400 million across all our business lines,” Zachary said during an investor day presentation.
Much of that will take place outside of Live Nation’s home (and largest) market, the United States, though not necessarily in the fastest-growing developing markets. Live Nation said even Western Europe lacks the venue infrastructure needed to keep its live events business growing compared to the United States.
“These venues will attract 20 million fans annually, equivalent to an AOI value of $400 million across all our business lines.”
Jordan Zachary, Live Nation
“Our main focus is really the arena and the global infrastructure across Western Europe, Asia, Latin America,” Zachary said.
So, would it make sense to spin off the real estate business into a separate company, given that Live Nation has effectively become a real estate company? Rapinoe doesn’t think so.
“We’ve thought about it,” he said, but “the cost of divesting them will ultimately take away most of the profits from the core business.”
In other words, Live Nation won’t have any real estate fire sales in the future. The company remains committed to being a live events business.
“This is our core business,” Rapinoe said.global music business
