Ticketmaster CEO says concert tickets are too cheap, actually, if you think about it
In perhaps the most out-of-touch statement since Lucille Bluth priced bananas, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino — the boss of the company that runs Ticketmaster — said that, actually, concert tickets are too cheap. I'd like to see him tell that to literally any non-millionaire American who's tried to see their favorite artist.
The comments from Rapino came this week while speaking at CNBC and Boardroom’s Game Plan conference. They quickly circulated online and, frankly, I thought they had to be fake. As a CEO, it's the kind of thing you might think, but probably not something you say out loud.
And if you think we're stripping out some crucial context, think again — the executive was pretty clear in his assessment. For full context, the comments came as Rapino noted that the most expensive sports tickets go for wildly high prices compared to concerts.
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"Music has been under-appreciated," Rapino said, according to Vice. "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 argued that concerts — especially those from the biggest stars — are now more complex productions and should come with higher price tags.
He even said that there's plenty of room for concert tickets to get even more expensive.
"We have a lot of runway left," Rapino said, via Rolling Stone. "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."
Let's, for a moment, forget that someone paying $70,000 to attend a basketball game is already ridiculous — a gross display of conspicuous consumption, and, in practice, a fee for sitting close to athletes, TV cameras, and celebrities with comped tickets. Sports games are higher priced — and remain the crown jewel of televised events — because they are one-off events with an undetermined outcome. Yes, there are 82 regular-season Laker games, but no one is like the other. You're paying for exclusive access to a thing that will never be repeated.
A concert, meanwhile, is, by its nature, much like the night before and the night after. It's also not totally dissimilar to what you'll find on Spotify. I'm saying this as someone who goes to way more shows than sports games. Buying entry to a concert or show is my primary ticket-buying experience. And, in my experience, prices are really freaking high.
On average, a ticket to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour cost $3,071 in Indianapolis, the capital of a state with a median income of $71,959. The price of a single ticket was double the average monthly rent in the city. That surely cannot be considered "underpriced."
In case you were wondering, Rapino's total compensation last year was $33 million, which was a jump from the measly $23.4 million the year prior and a big dip from $139 million in total comp — yes, you read that right — in 2022.
As consumers, we've all come to expect paying high prices — and excessive Ticketmaster fees — to go see our favorite artists. And we know that arrow is only pointing in one direction going forward. But next time you pull out your credit card to shell out hundreds of bucks — thousands, maybe — to see your favorite musician, you can at least take solace in knowing the Ticketmaster boss thinks you got a great deal.
This story reflects the author's opinion.
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
