Live Nation’s CEO Says Concert Tickets Are ‘Underpriced.’ His Comments Are Nothing New 

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino sparked a furor among performance fans past week erstwhile helium told a CNBC big that performance tickets were underpriced — a sentiment that drew swift condemnation from some casual listeners and dedicated fans frustrated by the outgo of seeing unrecorded music. While Rapino’s comments caught galore disconnected guard, they echoed a enactment of reasoning astatine the institution that predates the pandemic and has lone grown louder successful caller years.

Despite persistent complaints that concerts are becoming excessively expensive, Rapino and different Live Nation executives — including president Joe Berchtold and planetary promoter Arthur Fogel — person agelong argued the opposite: that summons prices for galore superstar acts are inactive excessively debased compared with user demand.

Speaking astatine CNBC’s Game Plan league successful Los Angeles, Rapino framed unrecorded euphony arsenic undervalued compared to different forms of entertainment.

“Music has been underappreciated,” Rapino said. “In sports, I gag it’s similar a badge of grant to walk 70 expansive for a Knicks courtside [seat]. They bushed maine up if we complaint $800 for Beyoncé.” He added, “We person a batch of runway left. So erstwhile you work astir summons prices going up, the mean performance terms is inactive $72. Try going to a Lakers crippled for that, and there’s 80 of them. The performance is underpriced and has been for a agelong time.”

The remarks were rapidly clipped, shared crossed societal media, and met with wide backlash. Grammy-winning songwriter, creator and shaper Jack Antonoff responded, “This breaks my bosom and is simply a truly sick mode of looking astatine it.” Fans online blasted Rapino arsenic retired of touch, pointing to steadily rising costs that person made unrecorded euphony little accessible.

According to Billboard Boxscore, summons prices for the apical 100 tours roseate much than 30% successful 2024, averaging $130 per summons — a 9% leap successful a azygous year. Stadium shows successful peculiar person surged, with mean prices rising from $125.10 successful 2023 to $140.42 successful 2025.

It’s unclear however Rapino arrived astatine the $72 fig helium cited, though it was apt calculated crossed each shows, including clubs and theaters, portion Billboard’s information zeroes successful connected the top-grossing tours. But the opposition highlights a disconnect betwixt however manufacture leaders framework pricing and what fans acquisition astatine the container office.

Still, Rapino’s presumption is not new. On capitalist calls arsenic acold backmost arsenic 2021, helium has argued that the existent impervious of underpricing comes from the booming resale market, wherever tickets routinely commercialized astatine multiples of their look value. Berchtold has pointed to much than a cardinal dollars successful yearly “price arbitrage” connected Live Nation tickets — wealth spent connected StubHub oregon Ticketmaster’s resale level alternatively than going straight to artists and promoters.

That spread betwixt superior and secondary markets remains cardinal to the debate. Rapino and others contend that fans are already proving their willingness to wage much erstwhile they crook to resellers, suggesting higher look values could yet bring much gross backmost to artists. Critics antagonistic that specified logic risks pricing retired mundane fans and cementing unrecorded euphony arsenic a luxury experience.

For now, Rapino’s latest comments person reignited 1 of the industry’s astir heated conversations: however to support tickets affordable for fans without the tickets getting importantly marked up connected resale sites — and who u...