OMAR AL-JOULANI: THE HITS INTERVIEW (PART ONE)

In another universe, Omar Al-joulani might have been a mover and shaker in Canadian politics, but luckily for concertgoers around the world, he decided to make a career in the live-music business instead. The Toronto native has spent the past 14 years at Live Nation, where he’s currently president, Touring, and has overseen massive outings by everyone from JAY-Z and Beyoncé to Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd. Artists and managers frequently salute his ability to help grow their businesses without sacrificing their creativity or independence.

What follows is part of a longer interview that includes a deep dive into Omar's backstory; stay tuned for that.

Tell us about a recent highlight of your year.

One of the true highlights has been Adele’s amazing run of shows in Munich. Adele and her team, led by Jonathan Dickins and Rose Moon, along with agent Lucy Dickins, have an unmatched creative vision and attention to detail. It's been quite the spectacle to watch this venue get created from scratch—a bespoke stadium designed just for Adele. They thought of every detail, including Adele World, an immersive hospitality experience for fans to enjoy pre- and post-show. It's another great example of how live events continue to evolve and create more memories for fans while also driving huge impact for the local community, and our Live Nation team was honored to provide support.

In 2024 the fact that an EDM artist plays an arena doesn’t seem strange. The fact that a hip-hop tour plays a football stadium doesn’t seem strange. But when you worked on tours like On the Run and Swedish House Mafia a decade ago, it was game-changing.

Swedish House Mafia goes back to [JAY-Z and Kanye West’s] Watch the Throne, which was the first hip-hop tour of its size. It’s what unlocked for me the potential for other genres that hadn’t been at that scale. JAY-Z paved the way for a lot of what we’re seeing today—the innovation he’s shown over the years in how he’s chosen to tour. The Swedish House Mafia relationship came from Roc Nation. When I got involved, they were being managed by 360, which was a Roc Nation company. That’s how I got inserted into the mix as someone who could help them figure out how to tour.

I think we get lost sometimes trying to put artists into genres. For me, it’s always been about applying the same principles that you apply to any contemporary artist. I always like to say that the word “pop” comes from “popular,” so any artist who can go out and sell 50,000 tickets a night is pop. I’ve taken this from Arthur—the job of a promoter is to take an artist at whatever size they may be and to help them get bigger. Sometimes that’s taking a club act to a theater or an arena act to a stadium. I play a role on a very large team and that role is to help the artists get bigger.

With Swedish House Mafia, there were a few tests that had proven that fans wanted to see them in arenas; they were the only electronic act to have sold out Madison Square Garden. We sat down and looked at the markets where we thought they could do that business at scale and really only played those markets. We scaled the venues as GA by section, which was very important for them. They were the first artists to do that. They put together a phenomenal worldwide marketing campaign, and I did my part along with [then-agent] Sam Kirby Yoh and [then-manager] Amy Thomson and everyone else in that group.

I helped put some pieces together for On the Run, but it was all JAY and Beyoncé. They decided to tour together, they came up with the name of the tour and the creative and they gave us the time period. I think you’re right about that tour being a turning point. We saw Beyoncé then come back and sell out stadiums on her own. That summer of 2014, right after On the Run ended, we did Eminem and Rihanna’s Monster Tour, which had two stadium sellouts each in L.A., New York and Detroit. They also both paved the way for others.

In terms of what Live Nation has or will have in the market, what are you excited about?

I’m excited for so much. I have to tell you, it’s a great time to be around the live music business. It was exciting to see Diljit Dosanjh play sold-out stadiums in Vancouver and Toronto. He’s a Punjabi artist who sings in Punjabi, and he’s a first-generation Canadian. His family’s from India. He’s melding contemporary beats with rapping in Punjabi. I’m excited to see Tate McRae, who I think is well on her way to being the next big Canadian pop star, as I wave the Canadian flag. I’m excited for another run of blink-182, which has been a tremendous amount of fun as they reunite. And clearly, USHER is another one. We’re so proud of all the hard work that Ron Laffitte and his team have done to create this amazing experience that’s risen out of Las Vegas and has now gone global.

Speaking of new genres, Burna Boy went out and played arenas and started to show that Afrobeats is here to stay. I saw Zach Bryan in Toronto and was lucky enough to work with him on his Canadian shows. There were 20,000 people singing every word, which was quite amazing. Shakira did a Times Square performance to set up her tour. It’s really her time to go out and show just how big she is around the world. Gracie Abrams. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Glass Animals. I could go on and on.

Live Nation has launched some interesting single-day mega-fests like When We Were Young, and people seem to be responding quite favorably.

[Live Nation Festival Promoter] Jeffrey Shuman is a genius. I don’t use that term lightly, especially for non-artists. But Jeffrey is an artist; he’s a creative genius. Every time he sends me a poster and says, “What do you think?” I’m amazed by the way his brain works. I have so much respect for what he’s able to do and that he can get it all done in one day and make it an easy fan experience. If you look at When We Were Young, how are you ever going to top the first two iterations? By giving fans this amazing opportunity to see their favorite artist play their favorite album in its entirety. Jeffrey’s partnerships are so smart. His partnership with USHER on Lovers and Friends is just so smart. He partnered with [manager David] Beno [Benveniste] and [his client System of a Down] on Sick New World. He really knows who to get into business with and the tastemakers to be involved with.

You need to be kind of an artist whisperer in your job. What skills have you found come in handy when working with these creative people and their teams?

I don’t know that I’m a whisperer—I’m actually quite a loud individual by nature. But not growing up around artists, I feel so lucky to be in a creative environment every day and call it my job. I like to get up in the morning and work. I find it all fun. The harder I work, the more fun I have.

I think the only secret, which is really no secret at all, is to always be completely honest. Artists and their teams hear a lot of B.S. from a lot of people. Everyone in the room has an agenda. The important thing is to be transparent about what your agenda is. Our agenda is to support artists in promoting as many shows in as many places around the world as makes sense. That’s our mission.

My agenda is to do what’s right by the artist because I want two things. I want repeat business. I want the artist not only to work with us but to continue to want to work with us. The way to build those relationships is to side with the artist even if it doesn’t suit your short-term agenda. I’ve learned that from Michael. And two, for artists to be our greatest marketing tool in that they tell other artists why they should work with you.

A great example of that is my longstanding relationship with Imagine Dragons—I’ve worked with them since they were playing the House of Blues. Yet we’ve never had a long-term deal; we’re in a long-term relationship that’s not contractual. They just continue to give me the pleasure of being able to work with them.

You alluded to Burna Boy and certain genres not necessarily native to the U.S. having big live moments here. At the same time, with Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen, country is massive in the U.K. and parts of Europe. To what do you attribute that?

I would call it more Americana than country, but these are phenomenal songwriters who are telling a story, and their stories are universal. I think Bruce Springsteen has been a big influence in Americana. There’s nobody more authentic in terms of the lyrics and the message. That’s what you’re seeing with the Noah Kahans, Zach Bryans and Chris Stapletons of the world—authentic, lyrically driven artists really connecting with audiences.

If you could snap your fingers and advance an innovation in the live space that’s in progress but not quite there yet, what would it be?

I’d pass very strong legislation around ticketing—around secondary, around the artist’s right to control transferability—and outlaw spec selling. I would pass the FAIR Ticketing reforms we introduced last year. I think that would be a much healthier ecosystem for all of us to live in: artists, venues, fans, promoters, agents, managers, industry people. To me, that’s what’s missing in this business.

You and Michael are brothers-in-law [Al-joulani is married to Rapino’s sister]. Are the two of you allowed to talk music at family gatherings? Or is there a moratorium so other family members can get a word in?

Business, not as much, but music, yes. We’re always talking about music with the kids and seeing what they’re listening to. Music is always at the core of any good family gathering—not just ours.