Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino recently claimed that concert tickets should cost way more, actually, while speaking at CNBC and Boardroom’s Game Plan conference. According to Rapino, who has a net worth of $997.1 million, concert tickets have been “underpriced” for “a long time.”
Rapino compared popular concerts to sports games, insinuating that sports fans actually enjoy spending thousands of dollars on tickets. By this logic, concertgoers should embrace higher prices, or at least learn to like it.
“Music has been under-appreciated,” he said. “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.”
Spending 70 grand on Knicks tickets is only cool if you have 70 grand in disposable income to spend on Knicks tickets. As usual, a millionaire CEO has said something so wildly out of touch that the veil keeping us all periodically shielded from the ever-present threat of late-stage capitalism has thinned once more.
Live nation ceo apparently Thinks We Need to spend money we don’t have in order to really appreciate live music
Listen, with music—as with any art if you’re really serious about it—spending exorbitant amounts of money does not always equal appreciation. But beyond appreciation, there’s the question of accessibility. By claiming actually affordable ticket prices as “under-appreciation,” Live Nation risks alienating fans who simply can’t afford to fork over thousands of dollars to see Taylor Swift, or whoever.
Maybe that becomes an argument about the rising extravagance of mainstream pop concerts. Never fear, Rapino commented on this phenomenon as well.
“The cost has gone up” on concert tickets in recent times, he said, and some of that can possibly be attributed to inflation, different venue types, and artist demand. A lot of it is the direct influence of Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly on live music. But also, said Rapino, the increases have to do with mainstream artists turning concerts into an “investment in the experience.”
Referencing Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour, Rapino pointed out that she had “62 transport trucks” along with her. “That’s a Super Bowl she’s putting on every night. 10 years ago, there might’ve been 10 trucks.”
Yeah, and 10 years ago I paid $99 total for three tickets to see Fall Out Boy and Paramore on tour together. When does the madness end?
a concert is not the same as a basketball game, and yet Michael Rapino Keeps making that comparison
“We have a lot of runway left,” the Live Nation CEO continued. “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.”
It’s important to note here that Rapino’s estimate of $72 for the average concert ticket is not strictly correct. According to data from Pollstar, the average stadium concert ticket in the U.S. actually costs $128.64. An arena show is $98.78, an amphitheater is $70.72, a theater $75.09, and a club show $43.95. The total average of all these came in at around $83.
Rapino’s initial figure is close, sure. But there’s no telling if he was taking into account venue differences. There’s also dynamic pricing to contend with, which has caused many complaints over the years. Most recently, U.S. Oasis fans raised hell when their Live ’25 tour dates went on sale.
“[Artists] are forfeiting margin for the experience,” said Rapino. “You hear about these $100 million grosses, that artist, depending on the show, might only take home 30 percent of that, spending 70 on the show.”
I’m sure actual billionaire Taylor Swift is really suffering from that measly 30 percent. Meanwhile, Eras Tour tickets on the secondary market reached between $1,652 and $3,801. One fan paid $5,500 for her tickets. Face-value tickets started at an average between $49 and $449, with VIP tickets between $199 and $899.
While there are still opportunities to spend $50 max on a ticket (for example, I recently spent $52 to see Ashnikko next year), those prices simply don’t exist for more popular, mainstream artists. If you want to see Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, or anyone else who falls under that umbrella, you’re going to have to shell out the big bucks. That, however, should not be the norm. There’s something severely broken in the system if people are going into massive amounts of debt just to see a pop star jump around for three hours.
Photo by John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
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