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Ticketmaster - a criminal organization......discuss


Syrinx
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I have had it. I think when I retire I will make it my life's work to expose these crooks. I have attended concerts for 40 years now and the ticket business has always been a big scam! I think back to lining up overnight for tickets at a ticket outlet in the 70's. I would be 3rd in line and get greens at Maple Leaf Gardens (second section from the roof). I think back to buying from a scalper and having him show me sections of the arena highlighted where he could get tickets for every event - whole sections! The countless times I got through over the phone or on line, seconds after tickets went on sale only to get offered nosebleeds. And now Ticketmaster while professing to be trying to get rid of scalpers in the interests of the ticket buying public of course, is THE biggest scalper of all! Every single concert now has Platinum and VIP seats for vastly inflated prices. Ticketmaster has basically kept all of the good seats for themselves in order to "legally" scalp them to the public. The latest episode was yesterday when I tried to get tickets for my daughter for Lana Delray. I don't know her, but I do know this is not the Led Zeppelin reunion as far as ticket demand. Got through right away and asked for two best available. The result? Nothing! They were gone, although TM in their gracious way suggested the platinum and VIP options. Bottom line is that the best tickets have NEVER been available to you and me. How has this been allowed to go on for so long??? The Police will bust the lowly scalper on the street corner but this huge corporate monopoly is allowed to get away with this SCAM on a massive scale. Discuss.....
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I guess I am a little slow slack jaw. I have no idea what you are trying to say with that convoluted statement. My point is that if I try and sell a ticket on the street for more than face value I will probably get a fine. They do it figuratively on every street corner on the planet and no one says a word. Is there another business that gets away with something like this so flagrantly?
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I also love their handling & delivery fees, it can add $10-$20 onto the price of a ticket sometimes. Edited by driven_to_xanadu
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Pearl Jam did a good job back in the late 90s, I think, of exposing the dirty business that Ticketbastard does. They refused to let tickets to their shows being sold through Ticketbastard because of the exact problem the OP elicited. Consequently they ended up playing in alternate venues sometimes, and certainly didn't end up selling as many tickets to their shows- for awhile, anyway.

 

In this day and age, I would say that outfits like Live Nation have only further exacerbated the problem.

 

It doesn't seem like all that long ago that you could get good seats at an arena show for around $25. But those days are long gone.

 

When I saw Rush on the Clockwork Angels tour in 2013, the two tickets I got were $110 each. And that was about 20 rows back.

 

The last time I saw them before that was in 1994. I'll have to look at my stub to see how much it was back then.

 

Granted, the increases are not just due to Ticketbastard, but yes, they are evil as hell.

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I guess I am a little slow slack jaw. I have no idea what you are trying to say with that convoluted statement. My point is that if I try and sell a ticket on the street for more than face value I will probably get a fine. They do it figuratively on every street corner on the planet and no one says a word. Is there another business that gets away with something like this so flagrantly?

Whatever they sell the ticket for is, by definition, the retail value. (I'll avoid the meaningless and misleading term "face" value). Plus, you are not providing a contracted service for the venue and/or performer.

 

That being said, anyone should be able to sell their property to anyone who wants to purchase it.

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Hey I agree. I have no problem with high ticket prices. I understand it puts concerts out of the reach of many, but I believe in free enterprise. The problem is that Ticketmaster is the antithesis of free enterprise. It is a sanctioned monopoly. If they just came out and stated the ticket prices starting very high in row 1 and getting lower the farther away from the stage, I would accept that. But to cloak their cartel under the guise of equal opportunity for all is a joke at best. Don't tell me as a lowly ticket buyer that I have a chance at even half decent tickets, when the fact is that the best tickets are not, and have never been available to the general public. How can I get on line right at the start of a sale and 13,000 tickets, including lawn seats at the back are gone?? The only answer is that the tickets are being funnelled through other channels. To advertise tickets from $64-120 is false and misleading advertising. Retailers get nailed and fined for that all the time.
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Hey I agree. I have no problem with high ticket prices. I understand it puts concerts out of the reach of many, but I believe in free enterprise. The problem is that Ticketmaster is the antithesis of free enterprise. It is a sanctioned monopoly. If they just came out and stated the ticket prices starting very high in row 1 and getting lower the farther away from the stage, I would accept that. But to cloak their cartel under the guise of equal opportunity for all is a joke at best. Don't tell me as a lowly ticket buyer that I have a chance at even half decent tickets, when the fact is that the best tickets are not, and have never been available to the general public. How can I get on line right at the start of a sale and 13,000 tickets, including lawn seats at the back are gone?? The only answer is that the tickets are being funnelled through other channels. To advertise tickets from $64-120 is false and misleading advertising. Retailers get nailed and fined for that all the time.

I've never seen TM (or any ticket seller) advertise what you claim. The venue can sell whatever tickets they want to whomever they want for whatever price they agree to. Clearly, The Big Money buyers of luxury suites and season tickets in the venue (and many others) are probably going to have access before the general public. What idiot businessman would not allow that?
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Well we won't agree on this. I am surprised anyone would defend Ticketmaster. You are picking certain parts of my argument but avoiding others. Bottom line - tickets on sale to the general public - price range $64-120 (example) - broken down by section (floors the most expensive etc) - but invariably this ends up not being true. They can do what ever they want - please understand I agree with you. I also understand business very well - I have my own. You say clearly many tickets are taken up but they are certainly NOT clear on how tickets are distributed. And THAT is my main point.
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You say clearly many tickets are taken up but they are certainly NOT clear on how tickets are distributed. And THAT is my main point.

That seems like proprietary information that probably varies based on the venue and the act. They have no obligation or responsibility to make that information public.
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This is my pet peeve subject. The last show I went to, at a big venue, was NIN and Soundgarden. These bands were huge in the 1990s, so I thought the show would sell out quickly. I get on TM the second that the public on sale startes, and it gave me seats on the first row of uncovered seats and almost all the way to the right. Bummer, I thought, but it will be a big show, so I didn't want to Farr around too long. I tried and tried, but that's all it would offer me on "best available." On the day of the show there were at least 15 rows ahead of me with only 1 or 2 people on those rowsrowMy whole section was basically empty. Why wasn't I offered those seats?
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slack jaw you must work for TM. You seem like an apologist for whatever they do. Proprietary information...give me a break. Let me try once again to break it down. Ticketmaster should stop the charade of selling tickets in all price ranges to the general public. Make it a negative auction where the price starts high and when someone jumps in they get the ticket at that price - that would be true free enterprise. Or become Stub Hub and list all the tickets at the going rate. Become transparent as to what they are - just another ticket broker (albeit the biggest). I am pretty close with a scalper. He is one of the guys who stands on the corner - those guys don't make the big bucks. There are kingpins behind the scenes. He spent a day in jail over his charging a higher than face value price. But Ticketmaster keeps on keeping on.
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It's not just ticketmaster that plays that game. The Cubs have their own ticket scalping company. Just one of the hundreds of reasons that I hate the Cubs.
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You all are raging against a business model that you invented in your own mind, but does not exist in the real world.

I am pretty close with a scalper. He is one of the guys who stands on the corner - those guys don't make the big bucks. There are kingpins behind the scenes. He spent a day in jail over his charging a higher than face value price. But Ticketmaster keeps on keeping on.

...because they have contracts with venues to act as their box office. It's not that tough to understand. If you go lease a luxury box for 6 or 7 figures at No Name Wireless Arena, you'll have options to buy (or probably freebies) to the front row of any act you want to see. Those good empty seats you see probably are the discarded property of some company that has a luxury box to watch NBA games.

 

I'm not defending TM at all other than to point out they have, very obviously, every right to enter contracts to sell tickets with arenas. Every major arena in North America has gotten out of the box office biz, so I assume TM can do it cheaper than the arenas can. Create a ticket service that keeps more money in the pockets of the venues, and sell it to them. They'll buy it.

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I can understand both sides of the argument,

 

But what other choices are there? I remember the last time we saw Rush in Florida and had to use my girlfriend's Citibank card to get selected seats. They were great seats about fifty feet or a little more from the stage. Good price but why is it limited to one choice? I think it was a promo thing.

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Too bad more acts don't do what Fugazi did, and cut ticketmaster out of the equation.

 

This is related to my post earlier in this thread, about Pearl Jam. Although Pearl Jam may have recanted their philosophy later on, I don't know (and I've never seen them live, so I really don't know).

 

I didn't know that Fugazi had done that, but I'm not surprised by it.

 

:cool:

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Slack Jaw we agree and disagree. All I am saying is tell it like it is TM. We are interested in getting maximum $ (understandable) so general public, don't expect that you have a real chance at good seats unless you pay big bucks - much higher than face value. And let's stop charging the little guys who sell above face value so it is a relatively even playing field. And how about some more competition.
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