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The Visionaries

“The live industry is going to grow massively for 10 to 15 years and is going to be up every year,” WME head of music Marc Geiger told Pollstar late last year, estimating that the agency was responsible for some 36,000 shows in 2018. “More artists are breaking, more music is being consumed, there’s more types and there’s less filters.”

At WME, Geiger oversees a stable of top-tier talent. Superstars Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake ranked Nos. 5 and 7 on Pollstar’s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart, grossing $167.6 million and $151 million, respectively. In the hip-hop world, WME represents Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino, who is headlining major festivals including Coachella and Lollapalooza this year.

And WME’s country roster features major headliners Luke Bryan and Eric Church, whose “Double Down” tour, comprised of doubleheader, Friday-Saturday stands in various markets, has been a smash in 2019. Church topped Pollstar’s LIVE75 chart twice this spring and, at press time, his trek had already raked in $41.9 million, according to Pollstar Boxoffice.

In his role at WME, Geiger is helping emerging headliners like Greta Van Fleet and favorites like Trans-Siberian Orchestra navigate the digitally driven live space, which he helped shape. 

He predicts in the coming years that the “continued growth of streaming music and the integration of live dates and ticketing into the Spotify, Apple Music, Tencent and more will fuel ticket sales even further.” 

Adds Geiger: “The bottom line is more people around the world have an entire library of music on them and music becomes a better part of their life.”

To this day, Geiger says he operates on lessons learned from Bill Graham, Rick Rubin and Gary Kurfirst “to do what’s right and to fight for what you believe in.” He’s “learned that timing is half the battle and being first isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

As for what lies ahead, Geiger is tight-lipped: “Too many and too confidential to mention…”