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[Tim Hite]

As someone who still buys the occasional concert ticket, this is infuriating.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/a-public-relations-nightmare-ticketmaster-recruits-pros-for-secret-scalper-program-1.4828535

[Terry Martin]

Wow !

We go to Speedweek in Daytona each year.  I’ve often wondered how this scalping deal works.  There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of scalpers holding handfuls of tickets to sell - many are primo seats too.  I get the buy low sell high motto, but these guys have LOTS of tickets to sell.  I’d bet they are into a similar racket. 

Thanks for sharing the article.

As someone who still buys the occasional concert ticket, this is infuriating.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/a-public-relations-nightmare-ticketmaster-recruits-pros-for-secret-scalper-program-1.4828535

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Corey Scogin]

I've tried to avoid patronizing Ticketmaster/LiveNation for years. They've always had high fees, bad customer experience, and bad customer support.
Why have promoters continued to use them? Is there no decent competition?

[Tim Hite]

Ticketmaster pays venues big money in order to be their exclusive ticketing agent. Promoters are then required to use Ticketmaster ticketing for any events. This has been going on well back before the 90's when I was producing events in Los Angeles.

Now, there are outlets like AXS and Eventbrite but if the venue is locked into a Ticketmaster contract, promoters are stuck. All of these ticketing outlets also charge fees to the promoter for listing and advertising their shows.

I've tried to avoid patronizing Ticketmaster/LiveNation for years. They've always had high fees, bad customer experience, and bad customer support.
Why have promoters continued to use them? Is there no decent competition?

[Luke Geis]

There has been a bit of speculation about Ticketmaster basically running their own scalping program. It turns out after some stings and investigation that the speculation was true. They run a monopoly on ticketing and then have policies that allow a person with multiple usernames to clean out the available tickets. Then that person can resale them on Ticketmaster's resale site and places like Stub Hub ( which also resales the tickets ). Ticketmaster gets a fee on the initial sale and on the resale, so Ticketmaster in cleaning house either way. It stands to reason that greed would eventually win them over. They sell tickets essentially directly to the scalper who cleans out the available tickets. This drives the ticket cost up and then the tickets are resold on a resale site with another fee for them to make money off of.

I recently looked into getting tickets to see System Of A Down in the LA area for my wife and son. The tickets were available, but they wanted $400 for nosebleed seats and the venue was NOT a $400 a night type of place. This wasn't the Madison Square gardens. Let's also be realistic that SOAD is not exactly that hip right now. I knew it had to be that Ticketmaster was driving up the costs. I could see paying $100-200 for mid-range seats, but I wasn't going to pay $400 for nosebleeds......

I bought tickets many years ago and thought it was pretty bogus. A convenience charge of $25 each to buy tickets and have them will called...... It wasn't a very transparent way of saying we are making money off this sale in the 10's of percent of the ticket price. I won't buy tickets sold through an agency like Ticketmaster. If I can, I prefer to buy directly from a ticket window.

[Stephen Swaffer]

The Tickmaster model probably made sense n the 90's.  With the Internet access today not so much.

I would think that something along the lines of a Dutch auction for each tier/section of seats set up a timed sell date run by the venue would allow them to make enough money to pay for the IT work necessary to setup and manage a system like that.  That should result in more of the patron's money going to the talent/venue that are actually doing the work to produce the product-instead of 3rd parties just skimming off of someone else's work.

[Dave Garoutte]

Times have changed.
Tickets from my 13th birthday.
Note the price.

[John L Nobile]

Times have changed.
Tickets from my 13th birthday.
Note the price.

I'm impressed. Was that their last public concert?

[Dave Garoutte]

Other than the rooftop one we've seen in videos, yup.
Frustrated by the BS of stadiums, the sorry state of PAs and lack of monitors, they said No More!
Those darn screaming girls.
The cheap seats were $4.50 and the expensive ones were $6.50.

[Daniel Levi]

My dad went to see The Darkness is Bristol, despite proclamations from the lead singer that the venue was "sold out" only half the seats were filled, not to good when they were using the concert to film a live DVD.

There was also a BBC investigation that shown one of the re-selling websites has books full of credit cards to get around purchasing limits designed to prevent such practices happening.
Also, I believe, Ticketmaster in the UK are closing down their re-selling website but allowing tickets to be returned and resold at face value (minus a processing fee).

Ireland are going the right way making it that tickets can only be resold at face value, making it illegal to buy loads of tickets just to immediately resell them for lots more than they are worth.

[Luke Geis]

To me it is simple. Tickets almost always have a purchase price on them, or at least used to. The Beatles ticket has the price imprinted upon it. A company like Ticketmaster should be run more like the USPS. The price is on the ticket and there are runs of hard copies or digital e-tickets that cannot change their face value. When you buy the ticket, you are sold a ticket that cannot be transferred legally unless there is a paper trail with it. There should be buying rules that are more stringent. IP address logging, out of state or country purchases that are large should be reviewed and a waiting period before remanding the tickets and sale.

Several years ago I wanted to get some Beastie Boys tickets for a venue I live by ( before Mike D passed ). I went online minutes after they were " opened up " for sale and they were all gone already....... It is not fair that a local can't buy tickets that they would pay for and actually go, only to be beaten by the bots and brokers who are just scalping them anyway. There should be a reserved number of tickets for local ticket booth sale only.

[Ray Aberle]

I'm impressed. Was that their last public concert?

I'm just wondering who those guys are with Paul McCartney...?!?

[Dave Garoutte]

I'm just wondering who those guys are with Paul McCartney...?!?

Moe, Curly and Larry?

[Ray Aberle]

Moe, Curly and Larry?

Mannnnnnnnn Paul would have never made it if he'd stuck with those guys.

[Jason Raboin]

There is a really interesting Freakanomics podcast episode on the subject..

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/live-event-ticket-market-screwed/

[Jeff Bankston]

Other than the rooftop one we've seen in videos, yup.
Frustrated by the BS of stadiums, the sorry state of PAs and lack of monitors, they said No More!
Those darn screaming girls.
The cheap seats were $4.50 and the expensive ones were $6.50.

See , you should've got the fivefifty tickets in front ! Listen at time mark 4:39

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXoMQ6Dyz1A

[Steve M Smith]

I have never understood the idea of a booking fee. 


Steve.

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