We spend a great deal of time getting the fan to buy the ticket. Why shouldn't it be: 'Buy the concert ticket and bundle in the t-shirt, or join the fan club?'
— Michael Rapino
We want people to know that Live Nation can serve all their live-music needs. If we're going to be the ones who have a relationship with the consumer, then we have a responsibility to be the ones accountable if things go bad.
In the U.S., we were slow to evolve and build a festival capability.
We have not had a ton of innovation and marketing in the concert industry, much like the record industry. We have been a fairly old-school business compared to Coca-Cola and the big packaging/marketing companies.
To be a great concert marketer, we are shifting our focus from traditional media to online and mobile as direct ways to reach consumers.
Jay Z doesn't care if he plays in Paris or Denver, but we do. We make more money in Paris.
History has shown that even in a recession, consumers go to shows.
Live is truly a unique entertainment form; it cannot be duplicated and creates lifetime memories that fans are craving more than ever in this experience economy.
Corporate America couldn't be more excited about the demise of the record companies.
We need to bring down service fees, become much more transparent and regain trust from consumers.
Madonna would not have done a 360 deal with us just because of our touring capability. We had to prove to her and others that we have been working on and built a very good execution capacity at Artist Nation.
Dave Matthews, Tim McGraw, U2, The Rolling Stones - there are a lot of artists selling out stadiums around the world that we work with regularly. And end up making most of our money with those artists.
The concert industry lags dramatically behind the great hospitality businesses out there, whether they're theme parks or hotels or sporting events.
EDM is here to stay. If you're 19 years old, this is your rock 'n' roll.
We as an industry need to do a better job of increasing the awareness of the show, decreasing the ticket price, and making it a better experience online to buy tickets.
No matter where the price of gas is, the consumer's still got to get out. They've still got to save their money to go see Tim McGraw.
Bono. He still is somebody who, and I don't say I'm starstruck in that sense, I'm always in awe of. It doesn't matter how many times I've been with him, he's still an exceptional man that continually inspires me in many ways in life.
I have no problem if you bought a Justin Timberlake ticket and you decide to go sell that ticket to somebody. We would first and foremost want to make sure that the first ticket sold, that the fan has a shot to buy that ticket.
When a fan buys a ticket, we learn an enormous amount about them: What bands they like, where they live, how much they are willing to spend. Someday, a fan will be sitting in a bar and his cellphone will text message 'Sonic Youth are playing tonight. Do you want to go?' He'll buy his ticket over the phone and walk to the concert.
Our business model rises or falls on our ability to serve the artists. If others can do it better, the artists will go elsewhere.
It's cheaper to buy and use and place ads on Facebook than it is to buy print and radio.
We believe being in long-term, deeper relationships with artists is a great strategy, we will be 100% pursuing it. There has never been a debate with Michael Cohl as to whether we should be in the Madonna business or be in long-term relationships, or be in more rights with artists.
Jay Z is one of the world's preeminent touring artists.
I can hope that the economy gets better, or I can seek a more proactive approach to protect our employees, reward our shareholders and better service artists and fans.
Our job is to build a company for the future that can meet the demands of the artist and fan of the future.
As an industry, YouTube and digital content have a huge upside to creation and virally reach fans, and there's a multi-billion dollar business of advertising attached to that.
In our business we don't mind if a price of a ticket goes down; our job is to get as many bums in seats as possible.
I got lucky when I was a teenager when we were booking bands at university. Those gigs were the greatest two hours in my life and there was nothing else I wanted to do. I knew my passion early, which is always the tough part of life, figuring out what makes you tick.
We believe that the Internet is the live concert promoters best friend although it might have crippled the record label business.
Everyone loves to criticize Ticketmaster, but the real asset of Ticketmaster is that it's the third-largest e-commerce site in America.
Calling the new company Live Nation Entertainment is a big statement. Let's make sure we send a strong message from the first investor call.
Hosting over 35,000 concerts and festivals each year, Live Nation has the opportunity and responsibility to provide our artists and fans with a live music experience that protects our planet. The adverse effects of climate change are undeniable, and we want to use our place on the world stage to be part of the solution.
The biggest cost of my business is competition - promoters bidding against each other to get a tour.
You look at the Rolling Stones. It had the lips, the logo and the style. You look at Jay-Z, who I think is probably the smartest brand marketer I've ever met. These people understand the core of what their brand is and what their fans want.
The history of the ticketing business was about barriers to entry, which kept Ticketmaster protected. That has changed.
Our goal is to continue to be a global consolidator of the live music business.
Clinging to old ways and fighting change is not the answer.
Vice has done a great job at talking to millennials.
One of the strengths of Michael Cohl is he's a big thinker, strategic, great with relationships, artists and big deals.
Adding C3, the leading festival portfolio in North America, to our global portfolio of Insomniac, Festival Republic and Country Nation provides Live Nation with the world's largest festival platform.
The better job we do of getting the right fans in the right seats at the right time, the more money our clients are going to make.
Our job is we work for the artist and we service the artists fans. And the better service and the better company we can provide for the artist, the better job we can do for the fans, from flexibility in selling to lower service fees.
Going into 2010, we didn't expect the consumer pullback that happened. We all thought that the theory that concerts are recession-proof was true.
Drake has become a mega-star, with sell-out crowds around the world.
The touring business is obviously critical to selling records, building fan bases, selling T-shirts, fulfilling sponsorship commitments.
BottleRock has these incredible VIP cabins where a chef is preparing sushi for you in your cabin or lounge decorated by Restoration Hardware.
You'll see an erosion of rock 'n' roll for sure... if you're playing a mainstream festival, you don't want to be the rock guy when everyone else is talking about Swedish House Mafia.
In my business, the cheaper the ticket price the better. I'd love for more consumers to walk into an amphitheater, park, have a beer and eat a hot dog. There's no advantage to me to have anything but sold-out shows.
A promoter needs to be in the e-commerce ticketing business. In a fundamental sense the promoter's job is to buy a show and go and market and sell the tickets.
There's always a fine line between 'What is the market going to bear?' and, 'By the way, I've got 2,000 unsold seats.'
