Ticketmaster officials testify before the Senate

[Bullitt5135]

One thing I haven't seen discussed is that most shows nowadays are complete spectacles. I'm amazed at the scale and grandeur of the lighting, video, and production values. Somebody has figured out that there is money to be made by adding lipstick to the pig, and it's probably not the artist that's getting the biggest cut.

 

[MrLenny1]

This is an old issue never addressed properly. Corporate America gets in and ruins it for the
average guy. i.e. in the 1990's I went to see Clapton. Face value of ticket was $28.00 but
TM charged $75.00. That means TM made more money than Clapton and the venue.
My buddy bought 2 tickets to see the Patriots @ Foxboro. TM surcharge was $205.00.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Story from USA Today

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

Hilarious! I’m surprised they have time to go to concerts with this 9paper chase business going around….

 

[dbsfgyd1]

View attachment 4947564

Ok, let’s see what the fingers are doing on the other hand…

 

[Altitude]

Not sure how we fix the situation. Ticketmaster charges egregious fees but people line up to pay what they ask. I suppose we could regulate their fees, given that they have no real competition. But is that a precedent we want to set.

My biggest issue with Ticketmaster (and Live Nation) is that no matter what lists I get myself on or how early I try to buy, tickets are always sold out, seemingly within seconds, and then just after that they are all up for sale on the resale sites at markups.

Seems obvious to me that people have figured out ways to get hold of more tickets than they should be able to, sooner than they should be able to, and few of them plan to actually go to the show.

 

[Altitude]

I guess if anyone asked me, I'd start with a proposal to disallow resale of tickets where ticket brokers like Ticketmaster are involved. It would certainly solve a lot of problems I outlined above, mostly that the bulk of people who buy those tickets intend them for resale.

Much would change in the market, I wonder if demand would still be high enough to sell out arenas and peole would still buy tickets if they knew they were stuck with them.

 

[brianrost]

I have you geezers with your old ticket prices beat. My first arena show in 1970 was only $3. I paid $1 for a university on-campus concert a year later.

I then joined the army and left the country for 4 years. When I got back I found arena tickets were up to $7. Boy, was I pissed about that

 

[coy garcia]

Once Niel Peart passed I retired myself from ever attending another arena concert. If prices ever become reasonable I may reconsider.

 

[Liam Wald]

I think that it is great that Kevin and the crew decided to work on the Ticket Master issue since everything else is going great and there are no other real problems facing America.

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

I flat out refuse to purchase tickets to any venue other than the Birchmere.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Ticketmaster/LiveNation is an absolute monopolistic and evil empire. I personally believe they should be broken apart. Like how telecommunications companies are. So there’s more competition. It’s absolutely unfair to consumers and artists.

 

[jerry]

I have you geezers with your old ticket prices beat. My first arena show in 1970 was only $3. I paid $1 for a university on-campus concert a year later.

I then joined the army and left the country for 4 years. When I got back I found arena tickets were up to $7. Boy, was I pissed about that

The Schaefer festival in NYC tickets were like a buck and quarter, with tons of great shows. Even if you didn't have a buck, you could sit on the rock above Wollman rink and hear great shows.
These days I have no idea how kids get to see even a fraction of the great shows I saw.

 

[scuzzy]

"dynamic pricing" is simply a way to bend-over the consumer.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

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

Most of the venues in my area no longer HAVE a box office. Most that do only sell tickets to sporting events in the building.

 

[Medicine Man]

I have less problem with the monopoly and outrageous service charges than I do with the fact that purchase preference is given to "resellers." Anyone remember when scalping tickets over face value was a crime? They straight up reserve huge ticket blocks for these jerkweasles.

 

[CTW68]

My biggest issue with Ticketmaster/Live Nation is that they don't actually own a venue in my hometown (Portland, OR) so many major acts are prevented from playing here. The closest Live Nation venue is in Bend, 3 1/2 hours away, so I've skipped a number of shows that I'd attend were they in town.

They manage the bands and/or tours, have a monopoly on ticket sales, and own many of the venues. Not cool.

 

[Waltsdog]

artists have almost no alternatives or leverage.

Let's not forget that the artists get a cut of those fees (a significant one at that), you have an excellent point that they have no alternative or leverage due to ticketmaster being a monopoly. But it is worth remembering where those fees really go and that most artists have very little incentive to change this system.

 

[shastaband]

Boomer here.

Beatles in 1966: $5.50 (most expensive show I attended for many years)
Doors in 1967: $2.50
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1969: $3.00
Led Zeppelin in 1969: $2.50
Allman Bros. in 1970: $2.50
Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, too many times to count: $2.50 or $3.00
And many, many others.

The Bay Area was a wonderful place to live and experience live music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. You got your tickets at underground bookstores and head shops. Or bought them at the door. I’m so glad I was there.

 

[SouthLatitude]

My understanding is that the majority of artists are in favor of dynamic pricing. They don't care for seeing the scalpers taking a big slice of the pie, so.... artist has become scalper.

 

[Grinderman]

This issue, along a myriad of so many of the top problems we see, get screwed by and complain about, is rooted in extremely lax antitrust enforcement by the federal government over the last 45 years. Ticketmaster and it's subsidiaries were allowed to exert too much control over too many venues.