Innovative Event Dynamics: How the Philippines is Transforming the World’s Live Experience, According to Rhiza Pascua, Managing Director of Live Nation PH
Known for bringing in the world's biggest acts, Rhiza Pascua of Live Nation Philippines reveals winning strategies that help position the country at the forefront of the international entertainment scene.
The Philippines features a vibrant music scene, with OPM (Original Pilipino Music) taking center stage and a strong karaoke culture among Filipinos. In 2022 alone, Filipino households have spent around PHP224.5 billion on recreation and culture. This is an increase of about 25.3% versus last year’s total expenditure.
This, coupled with a strong fanbase among Filipinos for Korean pop music groups (Kpop), as well as music groups from diverse genres, have made concerts and live performances a much-anticipated event, with data forecasting a projected market volume of US$95.19 million (around PHP 5.27 billion) by 2027 for music events in the Philippines.
Taking center stage is none other than Rhiza Pascua. As a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, she has made a name for herself through the company she built from the ground up: Music Management International (MMI), where she was able to successfully bring the world's biggest acts to Manila—with notable names including Madonna, Coldplay, U2, Harry Styles, and Bruno Mars, among others.
Following the strategic acquisition of her company by Live Nation Entertainment, however, she takes on the role of the Managing Director of Live Nation Philippines—the local division of the world’s leading live entertainment company.
In this exclusive interview with The Business Manual, Rhiza shares the origin story behind her live entertainment company, the acquisition, and what plans she has in store for Live Nation Philippines amid a thriving live entertainment culture that is abundant with possibilities.
From Music Management International to Live Nation Philippines
Even before becoming the Managing Director of Live Nation Philippines, Rhiza has been an instrumental force in shaping the Philippines as a global touring destination. With a distinguished career that spans three decades, she was able to successfully forge lasting partnerships—not just with artists, managers, and agencies, but also with suppliers and proprietors.
The holistic culmination of all this can be seen in her company, Music Management International (MMI). "We started as a company that organized live events for the now-defunct dot com [companies that thrive on internet commerce], then we pivoted to bringing acts to the Philippines with the encouragement of agents and managers themselves," Rhiza explains.
"We started with the smaller and older acts and the next thing we knew, we were working with the biggest and hottest acts in the world," she adds.
Established in 1996 in California, MMI was Rhiza's answer to a prevalent pain point in the country's live entertainment industry—that the world's biggest artists would skip Manila while on the Asian leg of their concert tours. Strategic thinking, a keen business insight, and single-minded determination were what led to her success, given that in 2011, she was able to bring in big names like Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, Justin Bieber, and Maroon 5.
MMI's fast growth eventually caught the eye of Live Nation—an American multi-national live entertainment company that currently brings in 40,000 shows per year, sells more than 500 million tickets annually, and employs about 44,000 people worldwide.
"In 2013, I got a call from Live Nation—asking for a meeting regarding a partnership. I remember meeting them in the Beverly Hills office, and then a month later, the meeting was in Asia. Negotiations began and an exclusive partnership was announced a year later," Rhiza recalls.
Following this, the then-Vice President called her in 2018—expressing interest in acquiring MMI. "After years of discussion and consideration, including the pandemic years, we agreed on having majority of the company acquired. This finally happened in April 2022," she says, adding that the acquisition was meant to expand Live Nation's network in the Asia Pacific region.
Of Negotiations and Accountability
Acquisitions are tricky terrain for any business owner, especially for a business that was built from the ground up.
First is the attachment and immeasurable sentimental value that comes with the business. "You know, the Filipino way of taking it is 'This is my DNA. I can’t give it up,'" Rhiza explains. "But for business as a whole, it’s great. It’s good that people are taking a liking or are interested in your company."
In Rhiza's case, she chose to meet halfway by selling part of her company, MMI. "Towards what became the end of the pandemic, that’s when we started signing. I said, 'I cannot sell you the company fully.' But for it to become an acquisition, they have to have a bigger chunk. I’m still happy with it."
Next is being able to work together. "Just as there are marriage rules that can’t be broken, there are things that I had to get used to after the acquisition," the Managing Director notes. "Now, we have to say we’re spending this much on this act. We’re renovating our office."
"We have to… not really get approval, but declare and inform them. Make sure they’re happy. And I think they’re still happy with us."
And finally, this also meant a higher level of accountability for what happened, how funds were spent, and the like. But with this acquisition came mutual learning from both parties, as Live Nation brought insights with them that worked in the local live entertainment industry.
"New technology that they've shared with us... that’s always good," Rhiza reveals. "They’re very advanced when it comes to things like 'You know, this artist is gonna be big. Let’s watch out for this guy,' [or] 'This technology is gonna be the next big thing, so let’s buy it.'”
"They have good investments. So far, we haven’t had any investments that we didn’t like. And we get the best acts," she says.
Overcoming, Adapting, and Pivoting From Challenges
Given the monumental success of Live Nation Philippines and MMI today, it is important to go back to the latter's roots, as MMI was not founded in the Philippines—but rather, in the United States. This meant that Rhiza did not have many connections when she flew back to the Philippines, having decided to venture into new territory since organizing concerts for dotcoms was no longer viable.
"I flew out here and started meeting with people blindly," she says. "I really didn’t know anyone. I asked my parents for their friends’ numbers. I made phone calls and, believe it or not, the people I met before are still the people I work with to this day."
But persistence was key and soon after, Rhiza was bringing in foreign acts to Manila. "I believe the first one was James Ingram. We did The Corrs. We did 98 Degrees, Michael Johnson, David Pomeranz, Stephen Bishop...a lot of… we call them now 'oldies,'" she laughs.
The real challenge—aside from the lack of connections—was that these foreign performers knew nothing about the Philippines. "I had to go from one agent to the other, showing them the map of the Philippines, saying 'Manila’s here,'" she recalls. "I think the other areas were worrisome to them, so I really had to make a layout of where the shows would be and convince them that it was safe to come out here."
"I just kept bugging them. I was convincing people that it’s safe to come out here. And then, maybe a few years later, bigger acts started coming to Manila. They started trusting that it was a safe place to go to," she adds. "I think the first big one was Mariah [Carey]. Josh Groban came. And then, it was one after the other after that."
Despite a foundation built on trust and connections forged throughout the years, Rhiza was still not in the clear. With failures and challenges being common occurrences in any business, it manifests in the live entertainment industry, in the form of picking the right act and dealing with the right people, along with dealing with things that are inevitable, like the weather, the storm, peace and order, and cancellations.
"It’s easy to forget the people behind the scenes who made it all happen in the first place. We get so caught up in the experience of watching our favorite artists that we pay no mind to the men and women who toil behind the scenes to make the show possible," she laments.
But this hasn't deterred Rhiza in her many years in the business. "I’m a solution-driven person so I just try to solve the problem," she declares. "If there’s no solution, just say it like it is. If it needs to be rescheduled, reschedule it. If it needs to be canceled, we find another artist."
"There’s always something to make people happy."
