I can't think of a more hated company than Ticketmaster. And if you look up Rapino's compensation...
Not that anyone died from being unable to get a concert ticket, but we have an entire nation of pissed-off customers.
And if Rapino were to die, it would be the acts Live Nation promotes that would be responsible. And the agents and managers who represent them.
The fees were developed as a way to create a pool of revenue that the acts couldn't commission. No fees, no profits, and every business needs to make profits to stay in business.
But what about the poor acts playing clubs, posting on Spotify to nearly zero acclaim. They've got to blame someone for their lack of financial success. And the target is on the back of Ticketmaster. The fees on a club show ticket can be as high as the face price. And both the acts and the customers are bitching about this. The acts believe they're entitled to get out of the van, get a bus or stay in hotels...and live at least a fraction of the life of superstars. Aren't they in the business too?
And fans quite rightly can't fathom the fact that fees are astronomical on smaller shows.
But the truth is just because you call yourself a musician does not mean you're entitled to be rich. No one complains in sports when they can't make it in the NBA or MLB. They have to face the fact that they're just not good enough, or have aged out. But in music!
And you can't say this because you're pissing on someone's dreams. What world do we live in where we need to support everyone who makes music? Where everyone who posts on Spotify is entitled to leave their day job?
But without these fees, there is no show. There are costs. Acts and customers are irrational. But this irrationality has a price.
Hatred of everyone on the business side of the equation.
We've got to to into all-in pricing to take the heat off of Rapino and Ticketmaster and Live Nation and AEG and every other ticketer and concert promoter. The public is boiling, how much more do you expect them to take?
But the public is irrational. Listeners believe they're entitled to a front row ticket at a cheap price and the acts do nothing to disabuse them of this notion.
And then there's Spotify... Daniel Ek may be more hated than Rapino. But Spotify is the most transparent company in the music business. You can literally go on the desktop app and see exactly how many streams a song has. But the story from the underclass is that Spotify is gaming the system. Stealing their dollars. And digital is not like physical, it's totally traceable, the data is there. Spotify pays nearly 70% out in royalties. You don't hear the big three record companies complaining about Spotify payments. And the irony is if you're a true indie, you're getting much more than the acts on the big labels, but the truth has no legs, you believe you're still being ripped-off.
Not that music is the sole offender here.
They call them "junk fees," but basically they're a complete rip-off, a way for hotels and others to make more money. Why can't they just give us one price? You check in, you don't use the pool, you don't use the spa, you were barely there but you've got to -pay a resort fee? THAT'S NUTS!
But not everybody stays at a hotel And not everybody is an artist on Spotify. But seemingly everybody is in the market for a concert ticket, which makes Michael Rapino Enemy #1 in the music business, if not America!
And then you've got the brain dead press that keeps saying Lucian Grainge is the most powerful person in the music business, even though those on the inside know that it is laughable. Universal makes beaucoup bucks on its catalog, records in some cases half a century old. The big three labels can barely break an act. The action is all in the indies. But those inured to the old system, the same press that missed Trump's second ascension, keeps focusing on records when in truth it's all about the road. Very few acts survive on record royalties. They make their living playing live, and Live Nation and others pay them almost all of the revenue, ergo the need for the fees! Live Nation's margins are incredibly low, Rapino and company are keeping nearly the entire community of artists alive, but we keep seeing tributes to Grainge, in the industry press as well as the mainstream press.
Never has the truth been so obfuscated.
Someone pays the price. But it's never the acts. The act that rode shotgun in your life, that kept you from committing suicide, it can't possibly be greedy. The act cares about you, but Ticketmaster? That's the ENEMY! Without Ticketmaster...
Even the government is delusional. It believes if you split Ticketmaster from Live Nation ticket prices will go down. Ain't that a laugh. Prices are set by DEMAND! And there's always another promoter lined up to pay the act if it doesn't make a deal with Live Nation.
I'm not saying Live Nation is squeaky clean.
And we can debate all day long whether Rapino's entitled to that compensation. He's selling art, and he's making more than most of the acts Live Nation promotes. Ditto on Lucian Grainge. The latter situation is especially ugly. The label deals are horrific compared to those of Live Nation. Essentially no one gets more than 50% of the net, and most get much less than that, never mind it's impossible to get an accurate accounting, and Grainge makes over a hundred million bucks for taking the company public?
I mean we can hate on Elon Musk all day long, but this guy changed the car market completely with Tesla, and then there's SpaceX and Starlink. He's an innovator, not a manager.
One thing you can say is that Rapino has made many business moves since he's been running the company. Purchased this, started divisions here... The last thing Grainge did was consolidate his labels, getting rid of Capitol. Universal Music is much closer to UnitedHealthcare than Live Nation.
So...
Maybe Rapino is safe.
But one thing is for sure, the public is beyond angry. And feels powerless.
Used to be the acts were leaders, beacons, their essence was their ability to speak power to the man. Today's acts? They're hiding behind Ticketmaster while they're playing privates and selling perfume and tchotchkes.
These CEOs can point to the fact that other business people make just as much, or more... But this explanation doesn't fly with the public, and most people are not that concerned what happens at Union Carbide.
The acts could go paperless, but then they risk not selling out.
Your beloved acts? They do not have clean hands.
Then again, almost no one in entertainment does, never mind in the Fortune 500.
But the average bloke doesn't have the opportunity to steal, to bend the law. They're working for a living before they're downsized.
Does Bruce Springsteen sing of this?
No, he sells his catalog for over half a billion dollars and tells us to vote for Kamala Harris and we're supposed to listen to what he says?
He's so far from the working man he doesn't have a clue what the plight of the working class is.
Nor do the Democratic brass, which is one reason Harris lost.
There's no amount of security that can prevent someone from being assassinated. The only way to be safe is to address the problem. And you start with the truth. The fees are all about the acts. And the acts keep wanting and in many cases getting more.
But all the blame is put on Ticketmaster.
And have you noticed all the hype about Taylor Swift has been about the revenue? Not the music. If you're a fan you don't care, but if you are not... You're Taylored out, you don't want to hear about it anymore. It's like you don't get an opinion. She's America's Sweetheart, accept it!
And the public connects on social media which everybody in power pooh-poohs.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are organized online.
How does this play out?
Expect change.
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