Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has said that “Multibillions” of robots targeted the tickets for Oasis‘ upcoming reunion tour when they went on sale. Other ticket sellers immediately began offering seats at higher prices. He urged government officials to regulate the business by capping ticket resale prices at a 20% markup. On a related note Oasis fans have also been scammed by fake tickets.
Michael Rapino addresses the Oasis ticket issues
“You shouldn’t have a middleman that has nothing invested in the business make any money from it,” he said.
Rapino recently spoke Wednesday evening at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles. His company, the world’s largest concert promoter, has often faced complaints from fans over the difficulty in getting tickets to shows by artists like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen and the prices of the tickets.
Also adding to Live Nation’s miseries, it was sued last year by the US Justice Department and a group of states for allegedly monopolizing the concert ticket business. According to the complaint, the company’s Ticketmaster platform, the largest concert ticket sales site in the US, exercises power over performers, venues and promoters, narrowing the options for artists and forcing consumers to pay more in fees.
Rapino stated that he believed the company would win the case, which he attributed to overaggressive antitrust enforcement.
“We’re a 2% margin business, so we must be the dumbest monopoly alive,” Rapino said. “We give 90-plus percent of the door to the artist.”
Rapino has served as CEO of Live Nation since 2005. This was a period when the company acquired other local concert promoters and in 2010 merged with Ticketmaster. Among the music festivals Live Nation oversees are Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival and Napa’s BottleRock.
Sales at Live Nation surged as venues reopened after the pandemic and consumers looked to get out and see shows again. Revenue last quarter went up 7% to more than $6 billion and operating income climbed 21% to $466 million. The company said it sees no signs of a slowdown.
Rapino stated he tried to talk the Irish band U2 out of playing at the new Sphere Theater in Las Vegas as he was afraid the globe-shaped venue with screens all around would make some concertgoers nauseous.
“I said to Bono, ‘My job isn’t to figure out what can go right. It’s what can go wrong,’” Rapino said. Ultimately, the band opened the new venue to multiple sold-out shows.
“We sat there opening night and it was fabulous,” Rapino said.
