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Live Nation’s CEO Says Concert Tickets Are ‘Underpriced.’ His Comments Are Nothing New 

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Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino sparked a furor among concert fans last week when he told a CNBC host that concert tickets were underpriced — a sentiment that drew swift condemnation from both casual listeners and dedicated fans frustrated by the cost of seeing live music. While Rapino’s comments caught many off guard, they echoed a line of thinking at the company that predates the pandemic and has only grown louder in recent years.

Despite persistent complaints that concerts are becoming too expensive, Rapino and other Live Nation executives — including president Joe Berchtold and global promoter Arthur Fogel — have long argued the opposite: that ticket prices for many superstar acts are still too low compared with consumer demand.

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Speaking at CNBC’s Game Plan conference in Los Angeles, Rapino framed live music as undervalued compared to other forms of entertainment.

“Music has been underappreciated,” Rapino said. “In sports, I joke it’s like a badge of honor to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside [seat]. 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 Lakers game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time.”

The remarks were quickly clipped, shared across social media, and met with widespread backlash. Grammy-winning songwriter, artist and producer Jack Antonoff responded, “This breaks my heart and is a really sick way of looking at it.” Fans online blasted Rapino as out of touch, pointing to steadily rising costs that have made live music less accessible.

According to Billboard Boxscore, ticket prices for the top 100 tours rose more than 30% in 2024, averaging $130 per ticket — a 9% jump in a single year. Stadium shows in particular have surged, with average prices rising from $125.10 in 2023 to $140.42 in 2025.

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It’s unclear how Rapino arrived at the $72 figure he cited, though it was likely calculated across all shows, including clubs and theaters, while Billboard’s data zeroes in on the top-grossing tours. But the contrast highlights a disconnect between how industry leaders frame pricing and what fans experience at the box office.

Still, Rapino’s position is not new. On investor calls as far back as 2021, he has argued that the real proof of underpricing comes from the booming resale market, where tickets routinely trade at multiples of their face value. Berchtold has pointed to more than a billion dollars in annual “price arbitrage” on Live Nation tickets — money spent on StubHub or Ticketmaster’s resale platform rather than going directly to artists and promoters.

That gap between primary and secondary markets remains central to the debate. Rapino and others contend that fans are already proving their willingness to pay more when they turn to resellers, suggesting higher face values could ultimately bring more revenue back to artists. Critics counter that such logic risks pricing out everyday fans and cementing live music as a luxury experience.

For now, Rapino’s latest comments have reignited one of the industry’s most heated conversations: how to keep tickets affordable for fans without the tickets getting significantly marked up on resale sites — and who ultimately gets to decide the true price of a concert ticket. For many fans, though, the idea that tickets are “underpriced” rings hollow. With touring costs, service fees and secondary markups already pushing concerts out of reach, Rapino’s comments feel less like an industry insight and more like a reminder that live music is becoming a luxury few can afford.

Live Nation declined to comment for this article.

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NFL Player Keion White Shot Following Alleged Argument With Lil Baby at a Nightclub

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NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.

According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.

SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.

“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”

According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”

“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”

No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.

Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.

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Don Toliver Scores His First No. 1 Hit on Hot Rap Songs Chart

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Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.

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The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.

“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.

With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.

Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).

With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.

  • No. 1, “Body”
  • No. 2, “E85”
  • No. 4, “ATM”
  • No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
  • No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
  • No. 8, “Tiramisu”
  • No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
  • No. 10, “Call Back”
  • No. 11, “Gemstone”
  • No. 12, “Excavator”
  • No. 13, “Opposite”
  • No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
  • No. 18, “Tuition”
  • No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
  • No. 22, “TMU”
  • No. 24, “Sweet Home”
  • No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”

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Baby Keem Announces ‘Ca$ino’ Album Release Date & Previews Kendrick Lamar Collaboration

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Baby Keem is back. Keem announced plans for his upcoming album, Ca$ino, on Tuesday (Feb. 10), and the sophomore LP is slated to arrive on Feb. 20.

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“Ca$ino Feb 20, 2026 Limited Edition Vinyl Available Now,” Keem wrote on Instagram. The 25-year-old revealed the LP’s cover art, which features a photo of a young Baby Keem with the parental advisory sticker.

Ca$ino boasts 12 tracks, including collaborations with his cousin Kendrick Lamar, Too Short, Momo Boys and Che Ecru.

With the four-plus-year layoff, fans are anticipating Keem’s return. “Took your time bro this better be a classic,” one person commented. Another added: “USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!”

Keem also released a Ca$ino documentary on YouTube to accompany the announcement. The Booman I doc features appearances from plenty of Keem’s family members describing his upbringing, including an appearance from Kendrick. “I understand the hardships before he was born. Knowing his mom, that’s my first cousin,” he said. “I already knew what she was going through, just the history of our family in general. We don’t call ourselves the hillbillies for nothing.”

Lamar continued: “Section 8, welfare … This is a story of a warfare environment and a warfare psychologically trying to change our generational curses.”

There’s also footage of Keem in the studio working on his collab with Lamar, “Good Flirts.” “Walking in the party, I don’t feel nobody/ What the f—k,” K. Dot raps on the hard-hitting track. “Is it fake, is it love, probably/ I smell something.”

Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, arrived in September 2021 and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. He released a deluxe for the LP in October 2022 featuring Lil Uzi Vert and PinkPantheress.

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