Michael Rapino Quotes

Live Nation is one of the most unique, exciting companies in the world and has remained at the forefront of the live entertainment industry by continuing to innovate and bring live entertainment to more fans around the globe.

We are a business, and you do a little of what you think's right, pay your bills, and attract... a single record attracts attention to your concerts and your albums.

The States still has the best audiences by far.

If you had a successful TV show, people wanted to see you live. Promoters had had practice with pop groups, and 'Python' achieved a similar status. We also had lots of rock star fans - George Harrison, Pink Floyd, Robert Plant. Promoters saw that and liked it.

Actually, we've done 75 of these shows and every one of them has sold out. But then we buy all the tickets.

While the House of Blues slogan has been 'In blues we trust,' its stages are usually filled with more reliable moneymakers - Neil Diamond and A Tribe Called Quest among them.

When you run the Walt Disney Co., you gain a fair amount of experience in customer-facing businesses, particularly in site-based entertainment. I have a lot of experience in marketing, a lot of experience in selling, particularly tickets to site-based entertainment or movies or whatever.

I love watching live shows from different artists from different stages of their lives. I'm always interested in the mastery of the live performance.

That's one of the problems with making music your business, it becomes a business. You're no longer just this kid who is a fan and going to see every show. I've been in a bar every night for the last 15 years. Going to see bands for me is work.

Now I get exposure first with people directly in the clubs. This is a unique situation for me.

If I were to do this over I'd play a lot more shows before I made a record.

Playing live is a lost art, and you don't see a lot of bands that go out and play the way the older bands do. It's a celebration, and a lot of people treat it like a commercial or a distraction.

I've always been one for show business. I like performing, and I used to get criticized for having production value. But now it's all that! People need to get what they pay for! Otherwise, just listen to recorded music.

Even in music concerts in Mumbai and different parts of the world, seats are reserved for sponsors.

And the live show is still our main thing.

In a way, Jersey really supports rock, maybe more than New York City and Long Island. I know plenty of bands that tour and do much better at Starland or other clubs in New Jersey than others in the tri-state area.

I'm just saying that at least for the foreseeable future there won't be any more touring.

I knew how touring was for 10 years, but it's completely different now that things are popping off.

Comedians do movies and TV so that when they tour, they sell out. That's the goal: To get popular enough so the place is packed.

Musicians by and large make a living with a relationship with an audience that is economically harnessed through performance and ticket sales.

You can work and scratch out a living in the theatre, but, if you want to make money, you've got to hit the road. You've got to play big houses of 2, 3 thousand seaters with your name above the bill, do popular fare and reach out to the audience such as it is.

The players in the promotion business today are, by and large, not in it for the art anymore. It's all about how many bucks can you make on a concert.

I want to continue to constantly put out great music, expand further and further with the live show and music that is attracting music fans from all over the place, not only for ravers or electronic heads.

When I owned the theater, I had the Glen Miller Orchestra. I had 20 girls singing and dancing. I had a cast of characters. It was a big group production, as well as ushers, ticket takers.

Nowadays, it's like two different arenas, recording and touring. When I started way back in the day, doing both was nothing, you didn't have to think about it, the road and recording.