Skip to content
Live Index

Research and data

Marc Geiger, chairman and chief executive officer of Gate 52
Photo: Variety

Independent

Marc Geiger

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gate 52

Company metric · Trade-reported

70+

Independent venues in Gate 52's booking and promotion network

As reported 2025

Trade coverage of Gate 52's 2025 rebrand from SaveLive reported that the company operates 14 owned venues and maintains a booking and concert-promotion network of more than 70 independent venues across 55 markets in 40 US states. It is a company-scale figure describing the network Geiger leads, not a personal measure.

Source: Billboard — Marc Geiger's SaveLive Changes Name to Gate 52 (retrieved 2026-09-16)

Hero metrics are sourced, person-specific measures of live-music economic footprint. Company metrics are labelled as company metrics; no synthetic score is used.

Chairman and CEO of Gate 52, formerly SaveLive, an independent venue and booking network he co-founded during the pandemic.

Last updated 2026-09-16

In short

Marc Geiger is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Gate 52. Runs a network of more than a dozen owned venues and a booking partnership spanning over 70 independent venues, after two decades leading WME's global music division. Marc Geiger is chairman and chief executive officer of Gate 52, the independent-venue platform he co-founded with John Fogelman in 2020 as SaveLive, which rebranded to Gate 52 in 2025.

Quick facts

Current role
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Organisation
Gate 52
Primary category
Independent
Known for
Co-founding Lollapalooza; Leading WME's global music division for 17 years; Founding SaveLive/Gate 52

Executive summary

Marc Geiger is chairman and chief executive officer of Gate 52, the independent-venue platform he co-founded with John Fogelman in 2020 as SaveLive, which rebranded to Gate 52 in 2025. Billboard's rebrand coverage and Pollstar's contemporaneous report both confirm his role and describe the company's current venue network. [3](https://www.billboard.com/pro/marc-geiger-savelive-changes-name-gate-52/) [4](https://news.pollstar.com/2025/02/25/savelive-rebrands-as-gate-52/)

Before Gate 52, Geiger spent 17 years as partner and global head of music at WME (2003–2020), and earlier co-founded Lollapalooza with Perry Farrell and the early online music company ARTISTdirect. Those roles are historical relative to his current position at Gate 52.

Gate 52 was launched to support independent venue owners in secondary and tertiary markets during the pandemic shutdown; the company now operates 14 venues directly, including Chicago's Vic and Riviera theatres and Milwaukee's Rave/Eagles Ballroom, and maintains a wider booking network of more than 70 venues.

Why Marc Geiger matters in live music

Gate 52's model — pooling talent-buying, marketing and operational services across a network of independently owned venues — offers a structural alternative to the venue-consolidation strategies pursued by Live Nation and AEG, which Live Index tracks as a distinct path for independent venue survival.

Geiger's earlier 17-year tenure running WME's global music division gives his current independent-sector work unusual continuity with the major-agency side of the touring business, useful for understanding how relationships built in one part of the industry carry into another.

Career record

  1. 1991Co-founded Lollapalooza with Perry Farrell.
  2. 1996–2003Founded and led ARTISTdirect.
  3. 2003–2020Partner and global head of music at WME.
  4. 2020Co-founded SaveLive with John Fogelman.
  5. 2025SaveLive rebranded as Gate 52.

Sphere of influence

Levels are categorical — Core, Major, Significant, Limited — and each is stated with the evidence it rests on. No numeric score is published, because none would be defensible.

Independent venue networks
Core
He leads Gate 52's network of owned and partner independent venues.
Talent buying for secondary markets
Major
Gate 52's stated purpose is bringing scalable talent-buying and marketing services to independent venues in smaller markets.
Global touring agency history
Significant
His 17-year tenure leading WME's global music division is historical but shapes his continuing industry relationships.

Entity relationships

Current

  • Marc Geiger is chairman and CEO of Gate 52.

  • Marc Geiger co-founded Gate 52 (as SaveLive) with John Fogelman.

Historical

  • Marc Geiger was partner and global head of music at WME Entertainment.

  • Marc Geiger co-founded Lollapalooza.

Timeline

  1. 2020Co-founded SaveLive during the pandemic venue shutdown.
  2. 2022SaveLive acquired JAM Productions.
  3. 2025SaveLive rebranded as Gate 52, operating 14 venues and a 70-plus venue booking network.

Related Live Index research and records

References and sources

  • Marc Geiger's SaveLive Changes Name to Gate 52 — Billboard. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Confirms his role, the company's rebrand and its venue network size, and is the portrait source page.
  • SaveLive Rebrands As Gate 52 — Pollstar. Trade press. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Independent confirmation of the rebrand, founding history and venue-network figures.
  • Marc Geiger — Wikipedia. Verified profile. Retrieved 2026-09-16.Cited for: Background on his ARTISTdirect, Lollapalooza and WME career history.