Ticketmaster CEO, worth $130 million, dragged for saying concert tickets are ‘underpriced’

Huge artists like Jack Antonoff condemned him, calling it ‘sick’ and saying ‘it breaks my heart’

2 months ago

Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino is getting absolutely dragged for some completely out of touch comments regarding the current epidemic in concert ticket prices. And when I say epidemic I am not being dramatic. Dynamic pricing on Ticketmaster is truly one of the biggest horrors of our time in pop culture. People are paying upwards of £600 to see Lady Gaga play one night on her tour – with Beyoncé tickets too skyrocketing up to £800. Bear in mind I paid £120 to see Taylor Swift do the Eras Tour – and even that I thought was outrageous. Whilst artists like Ariana Grande speak out to keep prices lower, Ticketmaster CEO who is worth a despicable $130 million doesn’t share the same sentiment and says that he thinks tickets are actually underpriced.

It’s sickening, and artists and fans are not standing for it with his comments getting a thorough pasting online today.

What did he actually say?

Michael Rapino said “Music has been under appreciated,” comparing concert prices to that of sports events. “In sports, I joke it’s a badge of honour to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside [ticket]. They beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé.”

He added, “We have a lot of runway left. So when you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced andhas been for a long time.”

Truly a harrowing statement and one that shows how out of touch the obscenely wealthy are with the everyday concert goer.

No one is having any of it, even big artists

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The comments have seen major backlash online – even from big artists. The most outspoken about this is Jack Antonoff – frontman of Bleachers and writer / producer / collaborator for big pop girls like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter, Lorde and now Doja Cat.

In a series of tweets on X, Jack Antonoff blasted the CEO of Ticketmaster for his comments on concert prices.

this really breaks my heart and is a sick way of looking at it. pic.twitter.com/wKbLAffxNh

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) September 25, 2025

Jack Antonoff said “This really breaks my heart and is a sick way of looking at it.

answer is simple: selling a ticket for more than its face value should be illegal. then there is no chaos and you give us back the control instead of creating a bizarre free market of confusion amongst the audience who we love and care for.

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) September 25, 2025

Jack then continued to say “answer is simple: Selling a ticket for more than its face value should be illegal. Then there is no chaos and you give us back the control instead of creating a bizarre free market of confusion amongst the audience who we love and care for.

“As always when i read things like that I call my people right away to think of new ideas around it. We’ll never stop doing that. It could all be so easy if the people up top didn’t see the audience as a faceless group to extort money from.”

It comes as increasing frustration regarding how Ticketmaster operates and crashes constantly when people try and get in the queue for big artists seems to happen every single time. When will it end? It’s hard not to feel completely hopeless when the big rich men at the top don’t hear the complaints in the slightest. I’m glad the Ticketmaster CEO is getting a deserved dragged reaction for his comments on the ticket prices right now.

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