Live Nation’s “On the Road Again” program, originally slated to end in 2023, will now continue through 2024 — with no end date.
The initiative, which launched last fall with country superstar Willie Nelson and named after one of his songs, eliminated merchandise fees at Live Nation venues — allowing artists to keep 100% of the profits of on-site sales. Additionally, the headliner and supporting act at each show at a Live Nation venue would receive $1,500 for gas and travel.
“Our goal was to make touring a little easier and we’ve accomplished that night after night for over 4,000 artists, with more on the way,” Nelson said in a statement.
When news of the imitative was first announced, there was very positive media coverage surrounding the program, but others were quick to point out its flaws — including the fact that the program was originally meant to only run for 90 days, and only a small number of venues would be participating. A list of participating venues can be found here.
| READ: Independent Venues, Artists Slam Live Nation’s Club Initiative |
NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) has called-out the program for being a cynical attempt to exert more control over the live entertainment industry by Live Nation and a short-term public relations play. Rather than helping small acts and small venues, NIVA said it is just another effort to squeeze out competition by the company that already dominates the industry.
“It appears to be a calculated attempt to use a publicly-traded conglomerate’s immeasurable resources to divert artists from independent venues and further consolidate control over the live entertainment sector,” NIVA said in a statement. “Such tactics threaten the vitality of small and medium-sized venues under 3000 capacity, many of which still struggle to keep their doors open.”
Additionally, Live Nation boasted its promise to pay workers at its venues at least $20/hour as a part of the initiative. However, many – of whom are likely part-time employees with no access to company benefits – only need to make 3,341 times more to catch up with what the longtime executive made per hour in 2022. Salary figures showed that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino made a whopping $139 million in 2022, which adds up to an average of $2.76 million every week or $66,827 per hour.
Live Nation has proved its stranglehold of the entertainment industry, especially after releasing its record-breaking fourth quarter and full year earnings for 2023. The entertainment giant revealed revenue was up 35% to $22.7 billion last year, as well as a concert revenue increase of 39% to $18.8 billion.
These numbers were unequivocally achieved with the use of surge pricing, which has fueled a spree of record-shattering earnings reports for the California corporation, which has been under massive scrutiny for alleged monopolistic practices and subject to a Department of Justice investigation over those allegations for at least a year.
