As the United States creeps closer to the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are wondering just how long until the world returns to some sort of normalcy. Some people–namely, LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino–are much more optimistic than others. On the LiveNation Q4 2020 earnings call last week, Rapino said that he expects large-scale concerts in the United States to return by mid-summer.

“We might have certain states that might not be ready,” Rapino said, “but we have enough states and enough artists willing to play the open slots if we get to that level in the right markets. So as long as these states open up to the right capacities, we can start in midsummer and in the Southern US we can go all the way into November.”

Rapino says he came to this conclusion after speaking with governors in key American states. He plans to organize venues to open up to 75 to 100 percent capacity for outdoor events in 2021. “We’re better off waiting for a high bar capacity moment,” he continued, “in most of the states to ramp up and talk to the artists about getting paid properly.”

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