THE OFFER
So Ari Emanuel is looking pretty good these days as he tours the country promoting his new memoir Roll the Calls. A central theme of the book is Ari’s ongoing battle with dyslexia and his struggles reading — that’s why I have to recommend the audiobook version, now available on Spotify. It’s read by Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame and it’s very well done — Ari’s ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer did a great job capturing his voice.
The book portrays Ari in a very positive light — one that certainly feels unfamiliar to me. I’ll just say this — I know a lot of people who used to work at WME and have left, and the reason they cite traces back to Ari’s handling of the Endeavor IPO in 2021. A lot of agents told me they held off on big raises for years expecting to make big bucks, and it didn’t happen. Ari and Patrick Whitesell got paid, but a lot of the agents didn’t, and a bunch of the music people have left in recent years. And they all talk to me, and many of them just aren’t super happy about the way things have gone down in the last few years.
Do with that what you will. I definitely recommend the book — it is extremely entertaining, but you have to take all of it with a big heap of skeptical salt.
Here’s Who is Mentioned in Today’s Newsletter
50 Cent, Jose L. Barrera, Pete Beattle, Rob Bonta, Nick Brown, Dougie Bryan, Isaac Bryan, Darrell "Drakeo the Ruler" Caldwell, Devante Caldwell, Jon Chapple, Dan Conley, Alrick Cooper III, Darrylene Corniel, Ari Emanuel, Adrian Esquilin, Inspector Fisher, Joseph Furin, Matt Haney, Toots Hibbert, Neville Hinds, Judy Hom, Jackie Jackson, Andy King, Aaron Martin, Kim Masters, Jerry Matthias, J.R. Moehringer, Elon Musk, Gavin Newsom, Bob Odenkirk, Stephen Parker, Greg Parmley, Tecoy Porter Sr., Adrian Potinga, David Remnick, Travis Scott, Snoop Dogg, Paul Stockler, Kevin Tyo, Patrick Whitesell, YG.
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NEWS
Vanderbilt's Live Nation Subsidy Report: What Holds Up and What Doesn't
Highly cited report gets some things right, but makes too many incorrect assumptions to serve as an indictment of the promoter giant.
A new Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator report says taxpayers have spent at least $420 million to benefit Live Nation, and that 30 of the company's 64 large U.S. amphitheaters and stadiums (47%) are government-owned. Both numbers are already circulating. Multiple news outlets ran them within days of the September release.
The paper, "Sold Out: How State and Local Governments Pay for Live Nation's Monopoly," is built on a misunderstood insight: Live Nation doesn’t own all the venues in its portfolio — some sit on public land under public leases, and some of those leases are lopsided.
That is not a scandal — many public buildings are under private management, especially concert venues, sports venues and convention centers. Furthermore, the 53-page report from Vanderbilt relies on heavily inflated numbers and, according to AI models deployed by Decibel News to analyze the report, makes a number of mistakes and incorrect assumptions.
NEWS
StubHub Let a Consumer's Arbitration Die by Not Paying a $600 Fee. It Still Tells Customers to Use the Same Forum
The American Arbitration Association closed the case, warned it may refuse future StubHub claims and asked the company to take its name out of the user agreement. Seven months later, the clause still named the AAA.
StubHub requires its U.S. customers to take disputes to private arbitration instead of court. According to documents reviewed by Decibel, when one customer did exactly that, StubHub didn't pay the bill.
The consumer, whose name is redacted in the documents, filed a demand for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under StubHub's Global User Agreement. On March 26, 2025, the AAA wrote to Judy Hom of StubHub's legal department. The letter said the consumer rules applied and that StubHub owed $600. That amount was the company's own $375 filing fee plus the consumer's $225 fee, which the AAA noted StubHub's contract says the business will advance. The letter gave StubHub 30 days to pay. If it didn't, the AAA said it "may decline to administer this dispute."
The Security Gaps Behind Drakeo the Ruler's Death, in the Words of the People Who Ran the Festival
Three new court filings, with hundreds of pages of depositions, emails and internal reports, show how the artist entrance at Once Upon a Time in LA was actually run. With trial set for Nov. 30, each security company says someone else was responsible.
On the morning after Drakeo the Ruler was stabbed to death at Once Upon a Time in LA, the only on-site employee of the company that rented the festival its metal detectors texted a colleague with a question: would anyone blame the magnetometers?
Andy King, a technician for Event Security Consulting & Operations (ESCO), didn't think so. "The way they were doing artists entry (where our units were)," he wrote on Dec. 19, 2021, cars drove in and a dog sniffed only the outside of each vehicle. Occupants got out, walked through the detector and got back in. "So anything could be hidden in the cars and they're not getting fully swept or searched." Someone could leave a gun in the glove box, clear the magnetometer and pocket it after parking, he wrote. "So blame security — possibly. But there's no way you could pin anything on the mags."
Then he added: "All the guards around me knew who these guys are, their gang affiliations and who they had beefs with."
That text is one of the most striking pieces of evidence in three compendiums filed in Los Angeles Superior Court over the past month. Two were filed by Drakeo's mother, Darrylene Corniel, and his estate. They oppose summary judgment motions from ESCO and from Contemporary Services Corp. (CSC), the crowd-management firm that worked the Coliseum and the stadium then called Banc of California. The third was filed by ESCO in support of its own motion. Together they contain testimony from at least eleven witnesses, including every security vendor at the Dec. 18, 2021 festival, the promoter, the Coliseum's management, and two men who were with Drakeo when he died.
Decibel reported last month on the estate's claim that the festival's vehicle-search procedure made it "virtually impossible" to keep weapons out. The new filings show how that procedure worked in practice, and how each company involved now says someone else was responsible for it.
NEWS
Newsom Signs California's 'Ghost Ticket' Ban — Then Tells Lawmakers to Fix It
AB 1349 became law Sunday after a late-session rewrite turned its coalition inside out. The venue group that helped write it begged for a veto. The resale giant that spent millions fighting it ended up backing it. And the governor signed it while flagging the carve-out at its center.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1349 on Sunday, making California the latest state to outlaw speculative — or "ghost" — ticket listings, the practice of selling seats a reseller doesn't yet own. But the governor attached a signing message that reads almost like a note to the editor: he likes the concept, he doesn't love the final draft, and he wants the author back at the table next year.
"Buying a ticket shouldn't come with hidden risks or unfair practices," Newsom posted on X after signing.
SIZZLIN’ SHOWS CHART
Tracking the the most in-demand tickets in North America for the Weekend of Oct. 2-4. |
The Sizzlin’ Sales chart is compiled using data from Ticketdata.com and is ranked by highest get-in-the-door price — that’s the price of the cheapest ticket to the concert — on the secondary ticketing market. |
Spin It Again
Some songs win contests. This one won a country. In 1972 Toots and the Maytals took the Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition for a third time with "Pomp and Pride," joining "Bam Bam" and "Sweet and Dandy" in Toots Hibbert's trophy case. Listen and you'll hear why. A crawling rhythm from bassist Jackie Jackson and drummer Paul Douglas, spidery guitar from Dougie Bryan, organ fills from Neville Hinds and a lifting horn line from the Sons of the Jungle set the table before Toots even opens his mouth. When he does, it's pure church. Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Matthias chant a plea for everyone to cool it, while Toots insists today is a happy day, then climbs a do-re-mi scale straight to heaven for no reason other than joy. It later anchored Funky Kingston, the record that helped carry reggae to the world. Pride, it turns out, is fine. Just dance with it.
Small Type:
Ticketmaster Must Face FTC Lawsuit over alleged deceptive ticket resale practices after a federal judge denied the company's motion to dismiss. The case centers on claims that Ticketmaster's resale platform misleads consumers about ticket availability and pricing, with the FTC arguing the Live Nation subsidiary violates consumer protection laws by advertising "official" tickets while secretly funneling fans toward inflated resale listings. Industry observers say the decision could force major transparency reforms across secondary ticketing markets, potentially reshaping how platforms disclose fees and ticket sourcing to consumers. Trial date pending. ⚖️
Jon Chapple, former editor of IQ Magazine, has died after a years-long battle with bowel cancer. He was 37. Chapple led IQ's newsroom from 2016 to 2021. He launched the daily news service Index and became a vital source of information for the live music business during the Covid-19 shutdown. In 2019 he was named music business journalist of the year at the International Music Journalism Awards, and in 2023 he made Inavate's 40 Under 40 list. In May 2023, after the NHS declined further surgery, he launched a fundraiser for cancer vaccine treatment in Germany. ILMC managing director Greg Parmley said the industry rallied and raised more than £100,000 within days. Chapple is survived by his wife, Nikki, and their baby, Winifred. A celebration of life will be held Thursday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. at Southend Crematorium. ✍🏻
Kentucky establishes statewide Office of Music to bolster its growing industry ecosystem. The new government entity will coordinate resources, advocate for policy changes, and support talent development across the Bluegrass State. Kentucky's music economy generates over $3 billion annually, spanning bluegrass, country, hip-hop, and indie scenes. The office aims to expand infrastructure, attract festivals and recording projects, and create pathways for emerging artists. The move signals Kentucky's ambition to punch above its weight in the regional music landscape, leveraging Louisville's punk legacy and Lexington's college-town venues. 🎸
VIP platform Sound Rink is partnering with Laylo, the drop platform used by more than 10,000 artists, festivals and creators, to help acts grow revenue before a tour begins. Sound Rink will set up Laylo for artists new to the platform and help existing users expand their campaigns. The company will consolidate artists' mailing lists, social channels, e-commerce stores and other sources into customizable fan channels, giving artists first-party data they own for future marketing. According to Sound Rink, bands in a pilot program earned between 2x and 16x more from presales and VIP add-ons than on their entire previous tours. 🎟️
🛠️ Next Up On The Agenda
Option 🕘: Mediaite has an interesting piece about the superagent’s never-ending book tour titled ‘Ari Emanuel Clashes With The New Yorker’s David Remnick Over Superagent’s Buddy Elon Musk: “He’s Not Healthy”’ » Link »
Option 🕧: Speaking of Ari, the legendary Kim Masters has some issues to clarify with the man for her Puck article ‘The Ari Emanuel Fact-Check’ » Link »
Option 🕤: Yikes! Engadget is claiming that ‘McDonald's Is Reportedly Using AI to "Dynamically" Price Its Burgers’ » Link »
