Ben Weeden - COO of House of Blues Entertainment at Live Nation - Building the Largest Portfolio of Clubs & Theaters for the Most Powerful Concert Promoter in the World
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Benjamin Weeden is the COO of House of Blues Entertainment at Live Nation for their Clubs & Theaters division. In 2016, his team promoted over 10,000 concerts in the United States. The company owns and operates clubs and theaters all over the United States, and is most known for it’s House of Blues and Fillmore brands. Ben has been with the company literally since day one, having worked along with one of his mentors and CEO of Live Nation, Michael Rapino. In this conversation, we celebrate our 50th episode, and Ben shares a ton of insight and wisdom from his time in the Entertainment Business. We discuss his experience and how he got in, what makes a great talent buyer, what makes his division unique, the most in demand jobs at Live Nation, what his ideal curriculum would look at a Music Business school, and much more.
I have a ton of students that want to become Talent Buyers or work for Live Nation. Ben Weeden shares some great insight on what he personally looks for in Talent Buyers, and also the need for great promoters. In today’s touring industry, understanding social media, how to place efficient and effective ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagarm, etc. is crucial to being a great marketer/promoter. Also, Ben talks a lot about analyzing data in this episode. One of the jobs I consistently see posted the most is for data analysts. If you can learn how to make marketing decisions based on data analysis, and then sell tickets, that’s where the money is! If you can do that, you’re going to be very successful as a marketer. I love this episode, and how he shared the importance of getting used to promoting 100+ shows per year to become a good Talent Buyer, and put yourself through bootcamp to get ready for the big leagues with Live Nation.
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Highlights from this Episode
(5:30) Ben’s role at Live Nation
(7:00) New venues, acquired and built
(7:42) Sought out trends in the market
(9:50) Current trends in today’s music business, based on live shows
(13:00) Raising ticket prices for smaller, DIY artists
(14:51) Ben’s start in the business
(21:54) Advice for students aspiring to work in Live Nation
(24:50) Advice for talent buying without wasting money
(27:28) Most in demand jobs in the industry
(28:40) College degrees/classes that add value to the music business
(30:30) Courses for Music Business students
(33:17) Lessons learned from Michael Rapino and other mentors
(36:14) Advice on marketing budgeting for emerging bands
(37:53) Ben’s routine for stress relief and mental health
(41:15) Words of wisdom for future talent buyers/promoters
Quotes from Ben Weeden
“When expanding, population and disposable income are two of the most important data points”
“We’re trying to raise our tickets prices in such a way that it goes up with the inevitable rise in talent.”
“For better or for worse, the price of talent will never go down”
“We got to get better at pricing the house without pricing people out of the house.”
“In order to be a top-notch talent buyer, we generally look for buyers that have been playing with their own money, have been promoting a significant volume of shows (over 100 shows a year) and battling bigger guys [in the business]”
“I’ve got a lot of respect for buyers that go out on their own and carve out a niche for themselves”
“Learning the marketing side is very important because at the end of the day we don’t want just talent buyers, we want promoters.”
“We’re all going to book shows that are going to lose money; let’s just learn from it and make sure we don’t book that same show at the same price again.”
“On average, our senior promoters are booking over 200 shows a year…you have to get time with your family; you have to get time with yourself, you have to get time to take your vacations because this business just never stops…”
“It’s a tough business; it’s a grind; if you love music this is certainly the industry to be in nowadays given the importance of touring…you have to find the experience booking shows…take whatever experience you can”
“It’s a great time to be in this business, it’s only going to continue to grow, and there’s only going to be more opportunities…it is a real grind, you have to be prepared for that.”
“Get grounded on all the different facets, finance, marketing, operations and hopefully find a job at a smaller club, grinding it out and booking at a lower volume cause there is where you’re going to get experience.”
Links to people, places, and things mentioned
Live Nation
Grand Rapids (20 Monroe Live)
HOB Anaheim
Buckhead Theater
Queen Theatre
The Van Buren
Bear Sterns
SFX Entertainment
Robert Sillerman
Brian Becker
Milano Concerti
Michael Rapino
Clear Channel Entertainment
Prince
Britney Spears
Neil Diamond
U2
Madonna
Rolling Stones
Ticketmaster
Artist Nation
Ron Bension
Facebook Campaigns
Instagram Campaigns
Ohio State
Get in touch with Ben Weeden
LinkedIn
Ben Weeden’s definition of making it:
“To continue to learn every day; I learn a lot from the younger people from our team as well as from the people above me. At some point, I would love to keep building and running this division and be thankful that I’m not in investment banking or selling insurance.”
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Keep in touch with us
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Episode Credits
Host: Chris Goyzueta
Producer: Jason Trosclair
Executive Producer: ONElive Creative Agency
Music: Emily Kopp
Show Notes: Manuel Pachamoro
