– Extremely unmusical – VG

– It is not often I use the phrase, but here it is definitely appropriate to say that this is extremely unmusical of Live Nation, says Hans Ole Rian, union leader in the musicians’ joint organization and LO union Creo.

It attracted attention in the industry in the spring of 2020 when it became known that the top manager of Live Nation Entertainment, Michael Rapino, resigned his annual salary of 25 million kroner.

Documents to the US Credit Supervisory Authority SEC last spring stated that Rapino’s salary reduction would last from 16 April 2020 until the company’s board found the circumstances correct to adjust the salary back to the contractual level.

“It seems that the board considered the circumstances to be correct for the recovery of compensation at about the same time as the company was hit by its second and third rounds of redundancies and layoffs, in May and September,” he writes. Variety.

Millions are flying

The music industry magazine Billboard has in fact revealed that Rapino’s salary was back already after a month and a half, albeit halved. It was adjusted down to 40 percent in September.

With allowances for cars and private planes included, Rapino ended up with NOK 15.5 million paid out in 2020.

As of 16 April 2021, he is back on full pay, like the others in the company.

As VG has previously mentioned, more than 300 million of the pandemic’s paid public support for culture in Norway end up in foreign hands.

Live Nations’ Norwegian branch, Live Nation Norway AS, has so far received more than NOK 30 million from the Ministry of Culture’s compensation and stimulation schemes.

Live Nations International Headquarters writes to VG that Rapino’s voluntary waiver of payment meant that in 2020 he ended up with a reduction of 87 percent compared to what he was paid in 2019, which is also pointed out in a salary statement the company has sent to the SEC.

Rapino often earns more on bonuses and stock dividends than he does on salary.

Billboard writes that he should actually have had a share dividend of NOK 24 million for 2020, and that in 2019 he received a bonus of NOK 95 million. He should not have received a bonus and share dividend for 2020.

In 2017, Rapino was the highest-earning CEO in all of California: 586 million that year, according to Associated Press.

Members are struggling

However, the Live Nation boss’s high percentage cut does not make Creo boss Rian more lenient.

He reminds that the Norwegian compensation schemes have limited funds.

– The funds must then be distributed fairly and in such a way that they stimulate activity and to keep as large parts of the industry as alive as possible through the crisis, Rian says.

– I do not see that such a purpose is fulfilled by funds being used to pay salaries and board fees in the multimillion-dollar class.

– To what extent is it reasonable to draw a line from the millions the Norwegian Cultural Council pays out, to what goes on at the top level in Live Nation internationally?

– Many of Creo’s members are now struggling to pay loans and bills, several have also had to sell instruments and equipment to survive financially. By moving some of the millions that have gone to executive salaries in Live Nation and other large companies onto the small individual artists, the effect of the funds would have been much better, both for all the small individual culture workers, but also for the culture industry as a whole.

The Norwegian Cultural Council, which administers the support schemes, states that Live Nation Norway AS has applications for 17 million for processing at the time of writing, in addition to the grants they have already received.

Live Nation has further benefited from the schemes through other companies they own. Among these is the festival Tons Of Rock, which has received 36 million in compensation. Live Nation owns 51 percent of the festival.

Furthermore, they own 80 percent of the booking agency TimeOut Agency & Concerts, which has received 12 million.

– Takes advantage of the government’s naivety

Hans Ole Rian says that Creo has repeatedly demanded that beneficiaries of the government’s compensation funds should not be able to take dividends, pay out bonuses or pay “unreasonably high” executive salaries or board fees.

“This again shows that our concerns that some individual actors would take advantage of the government’s naivety were not unfounded,” says Rian.

– There must be a limit that makes it impossible to make large profits in the situation we are in now. The support will go to save people through the crisis, not to finance the luxury consumption of a few directors and capital owners.

Minister of Culture Abid Q. Raja writes in an email that he strongly denies that the government is naive.

He further points out that they are obliged to treat Norwegian and foreign actors equally, according to the EEA rules for state aid.

Raja also believes that the foreign owners’ investments in Norway are a guarantee that they will continue to do so – and that the compensation helps to ensure continued operations on Norwegian soil.

– Then we must acknowledge that large parts of the business community, including the cultural industries, are international, and then there is no direct guarantee that these “values” remain in Norwegian hands, it is said from Raja in the email conveyed by the Ministry of Culture.

Share record

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Before the pandemic broke out, they had over ten thousand employees around the world.

Michael Rapino has been the company’s director since 2005. Along the way, the 54-year-old has landed major deals with artists such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z and U2, and not least handled the merger with ticket sales giant Ticketmaster in 2010.

Forbes refers to Rapino as “the indisputable king of live music”. He has managed to keep the optimism around the company up in a tough time. In March, Live Nation shares were sold at their highest price ever.

The company has launched the project Crew Nation, a fund that will help the concert industry’s workers. according to Variety The fund had almost 150 million at its disposal in March.

Scratch in the paint

Tone Østerdal, general manager of the interest organization Norwegian Concert Organizers, believes that management salaries in times of crisis will always be a topic of discussion, also in Norway.

– But if I were to give a colleague advice, it would have to be a careful reminder that we leaders live by credibility and trust. When you have received international recognition for saying your salary in what is a crisis for both the company and the industry, probably both the top management and the board should have thought that idea out completely, says Østerdal.

Live Nation implemented a number of cost-cutting measures in 2020, and according to Variety, redundancies and layoffs affected about half of its employees.

– The apparent lack of transparency around the fact that wage payments began to run again after a short time will probably remain as a scratch in the reputation paint, Østerdal believes.

– That said, Rapino has taken a significant drop in revenue, and must to a very high degree be said to have contributed in a demanding situation, she emphasizes.

Martin Nielsen, head promoter at Live Nations’ Norwegian office, says that they do not want to comment on the case.

New rules

A new compensation scheme for January-June has long been in demand in the cultural industry. Abid Q. Raja promises that work is now in full swing to make the regulations clear. IN the draft to it, the Ministry of Culture has proposed that compensation should no longer be able to give the applicant a profit.

– In such cases, the compensation according to the proposal will be reduced, so that the result will be zero, says Raja.

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