So that's where the 30%+ convenience charges/fees go.

In  a recent  “Heard it On the Street” Column of the Wall Street Journal, it was leaked (most likely by a disgruntled employee) that an e-mail to all employees proudly announced “bonuses” to 50 “stars” of Live Nation.  The bonus was... brace yourself... a whopping $250 per star for a whopping total of $12,500 in bonuses.  Wow.  These guys take in a wee  twenty million or so apiece and give a lucky 50 employees an extra $250.

Bob Lefsetz - a leading music industry critic lambasted the money shovel.

Rapino, Azoff and Hubbard are doing nothing the rest of corporate America is not.  Only this time, they’re doing it in our own backyard, in a business we can understand.  And we ask ourselves…  What have these men done?  Create the iPad? The Prius?  What can we point to that explains this level of compensation?

Nothing.

It’s like everyone in America is shrugging his shoulders and saying "It’s not my fault."  Then I must ask, whose fault is it?

Enough with the tax cuts for the rich.  Enough with the trickle down theory.  I want a world where the musician makes more than the executive.  Because without the musician, there’s nothing.

The following shows the growth in compensation for the highest-ranked executives at Live Nation Entertainment, starting in 2008.  Concurrent net losses are posted at the bottom.  All data sourced from federal SEC filings.