Demand for concert tickets is higher than ever in 2025, resulting in higher ticket prices, but Live Nation's CEO thinks they're too low.

On August 11, Portland, Maine’s independent music community scored a first-of-its-kind victory against industry giant Live Nation-Ticketmaster. After months of organizing led by the Maine Music Alliance (MEMA) — a coalition of local independent venues,

A Coupon Cabin survey published in January 2025 found that 90% of Americans believe concert tickets are overpriced [5]. Even so, people still went to an average of seven concerts in 2024. Last year, 32% of respondents spent between $100 and $499 on tickets, at a time when the cost of living was up across the board [5].

Regulators allege Ticketmaster used deceptive pricing and sales tactics, costing consumers billions of dollars.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is accusing Live Nation and its ticketing arm Ticketmaster of allowing brokers to run up prices.

The FTC claims the conduct "gives purchasing consumers no choice but to resort to purchasing tickets at a steep markup in the resale market."

Grammy-winning producer-songwriter Jack Antonoff slammed Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino’s recent claim that concert tickets are “underpriced,” calling the perspective “a sick way of looking at it.” In a social media post,

In 2005, the FTC disallowed Blockbuster’s attempted purchase of Hollywood Entertainment, since the combination would “control” over 50 percent of the home rental market. Movie Gallery was the “winner” in the bidding war. To say the victory was pyrrhic insults understatement.

Despite rising costs for concert tickets, CEO Michael Rapino says music fans get top-tier experiences for far less than sports.

We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status.'

Despite the calculations by the CEO of Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, Pollstar reports that the average ticket price in the U.S. is $136, nearly double what Rapino believes it to be. He also neglects the numerous music tours canceled due to low ticket sales,

Live Nation trades at $158.88 and has moved in lockstep with the market. Its shares have returned 18% over the last six months while the S&P 500 has gained 18.4%. Is now a good time to buy LYV? Find out in our full research report,