Ticketmaster officials testify before the Senate

[brianrost]

Story from USA Today

Guess Mitch McConnell and Chuck Shumer couldn't get Taylor Swift tickets.

 

[getrhythm]

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Killing Floor]

Funny how nobody cares until their grandkids start crying.

The best part is all the mashups of politicians dropping Swift lyrics in their comments.

 

[4SG]

 

[Treblefree]

Their new algorithm and premium seat designations have caused me to lose more interest. I got presale code on a recent concert and every decent seat was gone by the time I could see what the price was. Finally had to just bite the bullet and grab some. Find out later the left overs were as cheap if not cheaper because the algorithm ran the prices up in the presale itself.

Have never had a good opportunity early at a good seat for decent price. I'm nearly done with going to arenas and ampitheators. Way too much money spent for okay seats at best and the headache of fighting traffic and large crowds.

 

[Corigan]

I do whatever I can to buy direct from the box office and skip ticketmaster.

People act like ticketmaster being shady is new. Who remember when pearl jam took up the fight?

 

[T Bassman]

Bob Levsetz has an interesting take on this in a recent mailout. Its definitely a nuanced business model in 2023, based on many active metrics.

 

[Lobster11]

Back in the day, the Grateful Dead used to sell half the tickets at a venue directly by mail-order lottery. They had a complex but well-designed system for ordering involving SASEs, 3x5 cards, and money orders. I spent a lot of afternoons with friends filling these things out. Good times.

 

[BadSanta1281]

It's great to be a boomer... I saw the good bands when tickets were $6.

Still... that six bucks was three hours pay when I was sixteen.

 

[Grinderman]

That Ticketmaster has been a problem has been obvious for more than 35 years, yet here we are, still. I don't expect anything meaningfully constructive to come out of this hearing.

The only one I'd trust to cut through all of Ticketmater's bull***t is House Rep. Katie Porter from Orange County; not a Senator, yet.

 

[Hasty]

I'm all for arguing with Ticketmaster. I'll no longer use them after the 2 year debacle it took to get $2k back for some tickets to a show that didn't go on because of the 'rona. I'll miss the live concerts but not worth it.

Same here. I bought tickets for my oldest and her best friend right before the pandemic hit... even bought their "insurance", which I've never done before. It took literally FOREVER to get my money back. Ticketmaster, Stubhub, etc... I hate them all.

But without being political enough to get in trouble here, is this really the all important issue that our government should be worried about?

That's why they have committees. They can split up the work and focus on different things. Multi-Tasking for the "win".

 

[Michedelic]

I “registered” to be in line in order to just be able to get tix when they go live on Friday for this…

https://cruelworldfest.com/?mkt_campaign=0W33JEXYMMPKCHSTNJ1VGLM4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImKP2hpbj_AIVRQLnCh2lHQAwEAAYASAAEgKBTfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

So we’ll see how that goes.

I went last year, after it had been postponed for obvious reasons, and that actually went smoothly.

 

[waveman]

I don't like their practices neither, and honestly, Arena shows suck to go to for a number of reasons, and there aren't to many of those shows I care to go to anymore. There are a few exceptions these days where I might bite the bullet, but not too many. I'd much rather see shows at smaller venues. They are just more enjoyable all-around.

 

[6-3-2]

Hopefully it's not all talk and congress actually breaks up this monopoly. Every day Ticketmaster invents new ways to rip off fans and rob from artists. They take a 20% of merch sales. They take 50% of ticket sales. They also bully venues that don't use Ticketmaster, since they also own Live Nation, which means they can stop artists from performing at non-ticketmaster venues.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Ticketmaster has been a pariah for decades, but I doubt anything will happen as a result of this hearing.

Go to local shows. See new artists. Avoid Ticketmaster as much as you can.

 

[Grinderman]

There's a good daily live program on YouTube that's interviewing some knowledgeable people about this right now. "Senate Skewers TicketMaster w/ Moe Tkacik, Krista Brown"

I won't share the link here because p*****, as if matters such as these ever have nothing to do with public policy and law, AKA, p*****.

 

[scuzzy]

i love paying a "handling fee" on an e-ticket that gets sent to my ticketmaster app.................

i try to buy at the box office as much as possible, but there are some local venues that must be in bed with ticketmaster, as they don't allow cash purchases at the box office......so why have a box office at all?

 

[Bullitt5135]

I do whatever I can to buy direct from the box office and skip ticketmaster.

If it's a Ticketmaster/LiveNation event, I'm pretty sure you pay the fees whether it's over the phone, online, or in-person at the box office. Since they have partnership agreements with the vast majority of venues, artists have almost no alternatives or leverage.

 

[6-3-2]

If it's a Ticketmaster/LiveNation event, I'm pretty sure you pay the fees whether it's over the phone, online, or in-person at the box office. Since they have partnership agreements with the vast majority of venues, artists have almost no alternatives or leverage.

This is true. I recently bought tickets for two shows from the box office, same fees as online.

 

[Jeff Scott]

It's great to be a boomer... I saw the good bands when tickets were $6.

Still... that six bucks was three hours pay when I was sixteen.

I went to see IABD and walked out as a huge Genesis fan!