The new guy to blame when you can’t get seats
How a guy from Lakehead climbed to the top of the concert biz heap
Michael Rapino, the 43-year-old music business mega-promoter behind Live Nation, is about to merge with controversial Ticketmaster Entertainment, the company caught up in protests over the so-called “secondary” market for tickets sold far above face value. It turns out Rapino got his start a long way from the bright lights, at Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University. This feature story recounts how Rapino got into the concert promotion business in 1999, and “clawed his way to the top” in a few short years.
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