In early days of Live Nation, we really believed it was important to be a direct-to-consumer business, which the labels aren't and no promoter was at the time. By merging with Ticketmaster, we could we give the artist a direct relationship with the fan.

Michael Rapino

Categorized in : Live Relationship Time Business

Rihanna can sell just as many tickets in Cape Town as she can in Detroit.

town she just detroit

We can't say to a Ticketmaster venue that says they want to use a different ticketing platform, 'If you do that, we won't put shows in your building.'

your you building want

It's a very competitive market. AEG has a ticketing platform, Stubhub has grown their marketshare, Vivid has come out of nowhere. It's not like venues don't have options. If you're a venue you can pick any ticket platform you want, and we have to provide a better product and win that business fair and square.

better win you business

My kids, my health and my job are all equally important.

job health important kids

A hit is a hit, and when you have a hit great things happen.

happen great you things-happen

I'm known for having a very small to-do list and a big don't-do list.

having very small big

I'm an introvert by nature.

introvert nature

Part of calling ourselves Live Nation was about starting to shift the way we think, to be first and foremost fan-focused.

live nation think way

Every city's got a famous rib place or coffeehouse or dessert place.

famous city place dessert

I probably go to 100 shows a year.

year go shows

To be the music company of the future, you have to figure out a way to be a great business and distribution partner of younger bands, midsized bands, and ones that break out, like Arcade Fire.

you future music business

House of Blues has soul right down to the chef in the kitchen.

down kitchen soul chef

We do a big business with our midsized-venue model. We don't need bands to be on the top-ten charts to make money.

need big money business

At a very young age in Canada, I had mapped out that my mission in life and my passion was live events.

live passion age life

I've met plenty of CMOs in life, and I always say that I've never met any that can hold a candle to rock stars, who I truly believe are the greatest brand managers in the world.

stars life believe world

You look at the Rolling Stones. It had the lips, the logo and the style. You look at Jay-Z, who I think is probably the smartest brand marketer I've ever met. These people understand the core of what their brand is and what their fans want.

look you style people

Bono. He still is somebody who, and I don't say I'm starstruck in that sense, I'm always in awe of. It doesn't matter how many times I've been with him, he's still an exceptional man that continually inspires me in many ways in life.

me man matter life

There's always a fine line between 'What is the market going to bear?' and, 'By the way, I've got 2,000 unsold seats.'

bear always fine way

The biggest cost of my business is competition - promoters bidding against each other to get a tour.

tour against competition business

No matter where the price of gas is, the consumer's still got to get out. They've still got to save their money to go see Tim McGraw.

go see money matter