A biography for Michael Rapinohasn’t been written yet.
“Rihanna can sell just as many tickets in Cape Town as she can in Detroit.”
“In the U.S., we were slow to evolve and build a festival capability.”
“Our goal is to continue to be a global consolidator of the live music business.”
“It's cheaper to buy and use and place ads on Facebook than it is to buy print and radio.”
“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.'”
“One of the strengths of Michael Cohl is he's a big thinker, strategic, great with relationships, artists and big deals.”
“We spend a great deal of time getting the fan to buy the ticket. Why shouldn't it be: 'Buy the concert ticket and bundle in the t-shirt, or join the fan club?'”
“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.'”
“Jay Z doesn't care if he plays in Paris or Denver, but we do. We make more money in Paris.”
“A hit is a hit, and when you have a hit great things happen.”
“Everyone loves to criticize Ticketmaster, but the real asset of Ticketmaster is that it's the third-largest e-commerce site in America.”
“I'm an introvert by nature.”
“We need to bring down service fees, become much more transparent and regain trust from consumers.”
“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.”
“We believe that the Internet is the live concert promoters best friend although it might have crippled the record label business.”
“We believe being in long-term, deeper relationships with artists is a great strategy, we will be 100% pursuing it. There has never been a debate with Michael Cohl as to whether we should be in the Madonna business or be in long-term relationships, or be in more rights with artists.”
“Calling the new company Live Nation Entertainment is a big statement. Let's make sure we send a strong message from the first investor call.”
“The history of the ticketing business was about barriers to entry, which kept Ticketmaster protected. That has changed.”
“Drake has become a mega-star, with sell-out crowds around the world.”
“We have not had a ton of innovation and marketing in the concert industry, much like the record industry. We have been a fairly old-school business compared to Coca-Cola and the big packaging/marketing companies.”