2024 Impact 50 Honoree: Michael Rapino

CEO & PRESIDENT
Live Nation

If navigating choppy seas is a mark of great leadership, then Michael Rapino, 59, is a master, having done it remarkably well since 2005. In his 19-year tenure as head of Live Nation, he’s faced down economic calamities (the Great Recession, inflation), acquisitions and mergers, inordinate political pressure (Capitol Hill grillings), social upheaval, a global pandemic, tragic accidents and far more. Despite the gale-force headwinds, Rapino’s deftly managed to come out the other side with continuous and sustained growth propelled by his visionary stewardship, innovative initiatives and next-level strategic planning.

As Pollstar’s Impact 50 issue was being written, the DOJ had leveled antitrust allegations against Live Nation, the world’s largest, most successful promoter. It’s a testament to Rapino’s skill as a leader, the all-star team he’s assembled and the company he’s built, that in the week since the Justice Department leveled its not-yet-proven charges, Live Nation’s stock has remained steady after its initial dip and, as of this writing, remains 13.77% higher year-over-year.

Under his stewardship, Live Nation in 2023 soared to record-setting heights with $22.7 billion in revenue, according to its year-end earnings report. That is a jaw-dropping 36 percent increase over 2022. This banner year included more than 50,000 concerts before 145 million fans in more than 40 countries with Ticketmaster selling more than 620 million tickets and producing 146 festivals worldwide. All three of its primary revenue tranches, concerts, ticketing and sponsorship, were up by double digits: concert revenue up 39% to nearly $18.8 billion, ticketing up 32% to nearly $3 billion and sponsorship up 13% to $1.068 billion.

Rapino, as he’s done throughout his career, continues to forge ahead with bold initiatives — headwinds or not. Witness Live Nation’s Concert Week, now in its 10th year, which offered $25 tickets between May 8-14 to more than 5,000 shows across 20 countries. This included shows by top tier artists such as 21 Savage, Peso Pluma, Alanis Morissette, Janet Jackson, New Kids On The Block, Cage The Elephant, Dan + Shay, Dierks Bentley, Sean Paul and Meghan Trainor among others.

LN’s “On The Road Again” program, which launched with living legend Willie Nelson last fall, has provided $1,500 in gas and travel cash per show on top of performance compensation to more than 4,000 headliners and supporting acts playing Live Nation clubs. The program eliminated merch cuts at Live Nation venues and gave its own staff bonuses and raised the minimum wage to $20 — far above the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

While Ticketmaster took it on the chin following the Swiftian ticket crash of November 2022 heard around the world, they’ve done more to lead on ticketing reform than any other platform calling for price transparency, artist choice and limits on resale.
The company announced in May, that in the first six months of its all-in pricing — which preceded any federal ticketing mandate — that completed ticket transactions increased 8%.

Additionally, Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange program, which allows artists to offer fans to re-sell tickets at face and cut out the resellers, is starting to scale. Artists including Billie Eilish, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, U2 and Queen have fully embraced the platform for their tours, where they’re allowed to as states like New York, Colorado and Illinois, among others, have banned the practice thanks to state governments and secondary market advocates.

Global expansion is a continued priority with the company promoting 50% more international artists in its 2023 top 50 tours as compared to 2019. In its Q1 2024 earnings report, sales for Latin bookings were up 40% YOY in the U.S., with a similar increase in Europe. Afrobeats bookings were up 400% in the U.S.

The company also said it plans to open “at least 12 major venues” globally in 2024 and 2025 increasing total capacity by 8 million.

“I’ve always said these are incredible portfolio pieces around live that we own,” Rapino said rather presciently on Live Nation’s May 2, 2024, earnings call. “They are all part of what we think is a great portfolio. But I’ve also said these are incredible businesses on their own. So, I think long-term, together or separate, these would all be very successful businesses. We happen to like our portfolio today and plan on keeping it.”