Live Nation increases minimum wage at club venues

Live Nation’s On the Road Again programme is rolling out new minimum wages for staff at clubs across the United States and Canada.

Moving forward, base pay for hourly club staff will start at $20/hour, while supervisor roles will start at $25/hour.

The new base wages are over 250% higher than the federal minimum wage, and also exceed the highest state minimum wages. The increases will impact more than 5,000 crew members, including box office attendants, production crew, artist hospitality, guest services, ushers, parking attendants, cleaning crews and sustainability coordinators.

“Shows wouldn’t happen without the unsung heroes who work in the background to help support artists and fans,” says Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino. “In addition to developing artists, clubs also help industry professionals learn the ropes, and many of our promoters and venue managers worked their way up from smaller venues.

“The live music industry is on track for years of growth and offers a great career path, and by increasing minimum wages we’re helping staff get an even stronger start as they begin their journey in live.”

All headline and support acts playing LN clubs will continue to receive $1,500 in travel bonuses on top of nightly compensation and 100% of merch profits

Created with music legend Willie Nelson, the On the Road Again initiative is projected to deliver tens of millions of dollars in extra earnings to club artists and crew.

All headline and support acts playing Live Nation clubs will continue to receive $1,500 in travel bonuses on top of nightly compensation and 100% of merch profits through the scheme, which launched earlier this year.

LN said that benefits from On the Road Again are being provided directly from the venues’ existing earnings, with no increases to consumers.

However, the initiative drew criticism from the US’ National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which argued that it appeared “to be a calculated attempt” by the promoter to steer business away from independent venues.

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