Michael Rapinoe at the Live Nation offices in Los Angeles on January 16, 2018.
(Live Nation)
If you’ve ever enjoyed a show at the Forum, sipped a beer at the Echo, partyed until dawn at Electric Daisy Carnival or yelled at the top of your lungs at Ticketmaster, you’ve been a part of Michael Rapinoe’s live music agenda.
As the longtime head of Live Nation Entertainment, Rapinoe has overseen the expansion of the Beverly Hills-based company into the world’s largest concert promoter and an inevitable giant in the live-entertainment world. Last year saw another dizzying growth, with Live Nation’s 2023 revenue forecast rising 36% year-over-year to $22.7 billion, proving that fan demand for concerts remains unmet.
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“we, [COVID-19] “Once the crisis passes, the desire for fan celebration will return stronger than ever,” Rapinoe said in a phone interview. “We’re thrilled to see demand exceed previous records in 2023.”
A native of Thunder Bay, Canada, Ms. Rapino started her career at Canadian brewer Labatt before joining what would become Live Nation Entertainment, where she oversaw its European and international music divisions before becoming chief executive in 2005. In 2010, Ms. Rapino led the company’s acquisition of Ticketmaster. The combination of the two companies gave Live Nation a stake in every aspect of concerts and was again the subject of heated U.S. Senate hearings last year.
“There’s a lot of confusion in this business,” Rapinoe said. “We need to do more to help fans understand why tickets are unavailable and why they’re costing three times as much on the secondary market. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I want to be part of the solution.”
“We are thrilled to see demand exceed previous records in 2023.”
— Michael Rapinoe
Ms. Rapinoe, 59, has acquired or invested majority stakes in festivals such as Lollapalooza and promoters such as Insomniac, the Los Angeles promoter behind Electric Daisy Carnival, and launched new festivals such as When We Were Young in Las Vegas after the pandemic lockdown.
But that growth has come at a cost. Live Nation came under fire in 2020 for accepting a $500 million investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and in 2021 settled a wrongful death lawsuit after the Astroworld tragedy, in which 10 fans were crushed to death by a crowd. In May, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, alleging that the company and Ticketmaster ” [their] “Live Nation and Ticketmaster have the power and influence to insert themselves at the center and periphery of nearly every aspect of the live music ecosystem. This gives Live Nation and Ticketmaster the opportunity to freeze out innovation and exploit the industry for their own gain.” The lawsuit aims to unravel the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger.
But there’s no denying the company’s post-COVID gold rush. Its market capitalization is now estimated at nearly $22 billion. The company has responded to recent pressure by eliminating cuts on merchandise sales at smaller venues and promoting all-implied pricing for tickets.
With recent sold-out stadium tours by the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé signaling a growing demand for concerts in the future, Rapinoe’s grand vision has other artists both domestically and internationally striving to compete at Live Nation’s level.
“TikTok allows artists from all over the world to fill theaters,” Rapino said. “It opens up the world map for artists to be discovered instantly.”
