ticketmaster sucks

[SkiDork]

As to One Direction- is it bad that I immediately wnat to slap each of those kids? What's up with the comb-over hairstyle? Are they all practicing to be a middle school PE coach?

You're not an 11 year old girl...

 

[Nick]

I've read that blurb from TR before. Always refreshing to hear someone from inside the industry and an established group take up the torch. Pearl Jam fought the system back in the day and even they couldn't do without Ticketmaster in the long run. Trent has made a lot of his production available for free online too. It is cool that he is in a position to do so and speak out the way he does but most bands are not.

The industry has moved away from the tour supporting the album to the album supporting the tour. With lower sales/profitability on the album side, they need every dollar they can make on tour. So I can see why a lot of bands would support the status quo.

I remember my introduction to the Ticketmaster and scalping system. Back in college (back when the internet wasn't reliable for buying tickets due to slow connections and systems unable to support high demand loads), I'd walk downtown to my local music store that was a Ticketmaster outlet. We would do the lottery system: everyone would get a number and then you'd line up for tickets based on the draw. Somewhat fair but not fair to the true fan willing to camp out over night for first grab (which of course was the whole point of the system, not to ruin the store's business due to early arrivals).

Any ways, right when the out struck for the ticket release, the line didn't move because the store keepers "friends" (scalpers) were right up front and grabbed his max of tickets. You'd see the same guy come out of the store first every time. From the perspective of a young 20 something wanting to see his favorite band, it was so infuriating, because you know it is happening at every location.

Trent's proposed model with asking for ID is a good idea. BUT it isn't always in the fan's best interest either. If a ticket holder gets sick or has something come up and can't go, he can't sell the ticket to his friend who might also be a huge fan.

Another way to fight off top value tickets for front row seat is GA. The highest limit someone is going to pay for GA is going to be a lot lower than guaranteed front row. Getting front row in GA is truly a fan passion requiring getting there first thing, being there for the opener, and not giving an inch while everyone else fills in and fights for your spot. I know a lot of people want a more mellow experience for their front row and are willing to pay for it. But it certainly reduces what someone is willing to pay on the secondary market for a ticket. Because there is no guarantee you'll get close, especially if you are not willing to put in the effort.

what about only one ticket per person and you can assign it a single time

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[deadheadskier]

what about only one ticket per person and you can assign it a single time

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

well, considering most people go to concerts with groups of friends, this would be a challenge. If it's one ticket per person, how do you assure you get a seat next to your friends?

 

[Nick]

well, considering most people go to concerts with groups of friends, this would be a challenge. If it's one ticket per person, how do you assure you get a seat next to your friends?

Sorry was on the phone earlier typing it out.

I was thinking, you can get named tickets, and transfer them 1 time. Every "name" can only get a single ticket.

That means that Bob Jones can't just go buy 50 tickets under his name. He needs 50 names. Those people can turn the ticket over a single time.

I smell a business opportunity :idea:

Basically this would prevent scalpers from hoarding tickets, and prevent reselling en masse, but still allow you to give a ticket to someone if you wanted to, or if you had a season pass as a corporate person you could still gift tickets by naming the recepient.

And yeah, I recognize there is a huge logistical issue at the gate for matching up people with tickets. Just a thought.

 

[gmcunni]

on the news tonight -

http://www.myfoxny.com/video?clipId=7111355&topVideoCatNo=230823&autoStart=true

 

[ScottySkis]

on the news tonight -

http://www.myfoxny.com/video?clipId=7111355&topVideoCatNo=230823&autoStart=true

That link only brings up unrelated news stories.

 

[gmcunni]

That link only brings up unrelated news stories.

worked for me, perhaps this is better?

http://www.myfoxny.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7111355

 

[deadheadskier]

Sorry was on the phone earlier typing it out.

I was thinking, you can get named tickets, and transfer them 1 time. Every "name" can only get a single ticket.

That means that Bob Jones can't just go buy 50 tickets under his name. He needs 50 names. Those people can turn the ticket over a single time.

I smell a business opportunity :idea:

Basically this would prevent scalpers from hoarding tickets, and prevent reselling en masse, but still allow you to give a ticket to someone if you wanted to, or if you had a season pass as a corporate person you could still gift tickets by naming the recepient.

And yeah, I recognize there is a huge logistical issue at the gate for matching up people with tickets. Just a thought.

There are basically three types of scalpers.

There is the initial contracted ticket agent, which is pretty much always Ticketmaster / Live Nation. They used to be separate, but merged and control the ticketing at pretty much every major arena or concert hall in the country. The VAST majority of scalping is done by them. They have their own in house scalping agencies where if they think the demand for a ticket is high, they will syphon off tickets to to sell at a higher rate. They benefit from increased profit and often the bands they are selling for do as well. If they guess wrong on ticket demand, then they re-release tickets at face value. It's essentially auctioning. They'd have zero interest in a one ticket / one name system.

2nd in line would be sophisticated scalping organizations that run bots at online points of sale. Most shows limit ticket sales to 4-6 tickets per transaction. These organizations have computer program bots with multiple credit cards that crash the online ticketing systems at the on sale time and buy as many tickets as possible and then resell the tickets on sites such as Ebay or Stubhub.

3rd are individuals. These are typically people who are planning on going to the show anyways, but buy as many tickets as they can realizing they can sell their extras for profit.

Interestingly enough, what Ticketmaster does is legal. What the "bot" or "individual scalpers" do is illegal in many states, even though they represent a far smaller portion of the problem.

I don't really see a fix to the "problem" (free market supporters don't think it's a problem) when ultimately one business runs the show and trying to establish "fair and honest" pricing would only hurt their bottom line. The fans are slaves to their system as are the musicians.

I don't see it as a system that can be fixed honestly. Ticketmaster is the problem and though there are frequent class action suits against them for scalping, I highly doubt anything will be done legislatively to prevent it from continuing to occur.

 

[ScottySkis]

worked for me, perhaps this is better?

http://www.myfoxny.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7111355

Maybe it's just my cheap mobile phone.

 

[mattm59]

example and agreement with op

joined the Janes Addiction fan club last night. Got pre-same tix through them, 14th row in Boston, for $60 each incl shipping. I get promo offer...presale through citibank/ticketmaster...best seats about 40th row...$85 before fees....

If ya' wanna' see the band, ya' gotta' be a fan.....:flag: