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    Livenation CEO Michael Rapino says concert tickets are 'underpriced'
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    Livenation CEO Michael Rapino says concert tickets are ‘underpriced’


    His full quote:

    "Music has been underappreciated,” Rapino said, especially compared to 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.”

    Posted by Diedalonglongtimeago

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    42 Comments

    2. GrandmaToto on

      Person who sells tickets and has a vested interest in making sure prices go up says prices should go up.

      Insert shocked Pikachu face here.

    3. ReporterNo4339 on

      Honestly, people should boycott when CEOs say crap like this. Soon enough, he’ll see that 72 is fair enough for a concert🙄

    4. Old-Dinner-6108 on

      NBA fans have been complaining for years now that real fans have been priced out of the in game experience because tickets are extremely expensive. Real fans of artists’ are being priced out of the concert experience because of greed. There is no reason why nosebleed tickets should cost a whole paycheck in this economy. Fuck him. Corporate greed destroys everything for poor people.

    6. Beautiful-Suspect448 on

      Is he want us to believe they’re doing us a favor with the current prices because they can still be higher or what? Screw you. I hate Ticketmaster, Live Nation and their damn monopoly.

    13. visualframes on

      I avoid all LiveNation, Ticketmaster, Ticketek shows because while they might be theatrical spectacles it’s just not worth it at the $100 mark.

      When an artist plays at a club or an event space that’s not a stadium or arena, it’s just so much better an experience.

    14. WhyYesIndeedIDo on

      The ultra wealthy live in a different reality than we do, they don’t know what normal life is like anymore.

    15. cameroncane on

      For a CEO to come out and say, “You know what? We aren’t charging enough.” is fucking wild, considering lol.

    16. dope_sheet on

      Or maybe someone who doesn’t know the price of a loaf of bread shouldn’t be deciding prices for the masses.

    22. Odie7997 on

      I’m not mad about ticket prices. I’m mad about the bullshit fees. I was going to buy tickets for a show this week. Face value of ticket was $107. After tax and fees it was $148. Taxes and fees should not be 45% of the ticket price. It should be illegal.

    24. RhinoPillMan on

      He made $139 million (just his compensation for being CEO, who knows if he profited off of investments) in 2022. I don’t give a fuck what he thinks about the price of anything.

    26. ProbablyNotADuck on

      And what is the profit off of those tickets? If the profit margin is ridiculous then, yes, they are overpriced. Just because you can get an exorbitant amount does not mean those things are actually worth that much.

    31. stink3rb3lle on

      His explanation of the price difference explains the difference itself. That “badge of honor” only exists because people pay so much as a means to show off, they don’t actually care that much about the game. The people who care the most about the game are priced out.

    32. theagonyaunt on

      To his point about how professional sports tickets are also massively inflated (not his actual point but that’s my takeaway from it), this is why I support women’s sports (among other reasons). The women’s pro soccer team in my city has season passes starting at $258 and going up to $565. The men’s team starts at $540 (for the ultra nosebleed seats) and goes up to $5,326 for seasons passes.

      Granted the women’s league stadium is not nearly as swanky as the men’s league but when one team’s cheapest season pass is $25 less than another team’s most expensive season pass – eek.

    34. zooberwask on

      The capitalist class will bleed you dry until there’s nothing left meanwhile the system collapses under its own contradictions 

    35. badchefrazzy on

      CEO’s don’t get to have a say in the pricing of anything except the Arizona Tea CEO and Costco’s CEO that priced the hotdogs. All you other fuckers can just STFU and sit down on your piles of ill gotten gains, you have plenty.

    36. DennisAFiveStarMan on

      People of his social status have forgotten how to pay for it himself. Everything feels cheap if you’re comped in

    41. Mediocre_Mix7233 on

      The same ppl that want to see Beyonce are not the same ppl who dream of sitting court side.

      We just want a price we can afford for a night out at a concert not a luxury

    42. VaticRogue on

      This trend of milking every last dollar is going to kill so many industries. It’s so short sighted in the long run.

      What’s going to happen with this – just like sports and other places. Prices go up to the point the average person can’t afford to go in person. Then the price to watch it digitally gets too high. Then the average person stops watching or paying attention. Then nobody cares and the value of the product is gone and it dies.

      You can already see it in action with most teens now. Look at their preferred types of entertainment. Most don’t care about sports, tv, or movies. They rather watch YouTube. A lot of that boils down to accessibility. It’s affordable being a free service and all you need is a phone you already have.

      Once this teen generation gets a bit older and is a higher percentage of the adult public, the amount of “why is X industry failing?” articles will be through the roof.

      Keep your entertainment affordable and accessible or people will find other things to enjoy.

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