I can hope that the economy gets better, or I can seek a more proactive approach to protect our employees, reward our shareholders and better service artists and fans.
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.
Bono. He still is somebody who, and I don't say I'm starstruck in that sense, I'm always in awe of. It doesn't matter how many times I've been with him, he's still an exceptional man that continually inspires me in many ways in life.
Every city's got a famous rib place or coffeehouse or dessert place.
History has shown that even in a recession, consumers go to shows.
Clinging to old ways and fighting change is not the answer.
At a very young age in Canada, I had mapped out that my mission in life and my passion was live events.
You'll see an erosion of rock 'n' roll for sure... if you're playing a mainstream festival, you don't want to be the rock guy when everyone else is talking about Swedish House Mafia.
One of the strengths of Michael Cohl is he's a big thinker, strategic, great with relationships, artists and big deals.
Our business model rises or falls on our ability to serve the artists. If others can do it better, the artists will go elsewhere.
I probably go to 100 shows a year.
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?'
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.
House of Blues has soul right down to the chef in the kitchen.
It's a very competitive market. AEG has a ticketing platform, Stubhub has grown their marketshare, Vivid has come out of nowhere. It's not like venues don't have options. If you're a venue you can pick any ticket platform you want, and we have to provide a better product and win that business fair and square.
In the U.S., we were slow to evolve and build a festival capability.
I have no problem if you bought a Justin Timberlake ticket and you decide to go sell that ticket to somebody. We would first and foremost want to make sure that the first ticket sold, that the fan has a shot to buy that ticket.
I got lucky when I was a teenager when we were booking bands at university. Those gigs were the greatest two hours in my life and there was nothing else I wanted to do. I knew my passion early, which is always the tough part of life, figuring out what makes you tick.
It's cheaper to buy and use and place ads on Facebook than it is to buy print and radio.
