Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Shocked! Shocked I tells ya!!! :rolleyes: Fuck you TM no matter how this pans out...


Story Here



From Rolling Stone:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...alpers-726353/

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

This doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s always seemed like somehow scalpers get a hold of a good chunk of tickets for any given event. Ticketmaster I would assume would have a way of policing the purchase of tickets better if they really wanted.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

No collusion!!!!

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Hey, maybe we will be getting more of those useless vouchers 10 years from now.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Hello $2.25 x 10! :banana:

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

The media is just now reporting on this? Christ.... this has been the fucking norm for years.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I was about to say great I can get a voucher for some indie, christian, cover band at a venue 2500 miles away from me in February of 2021, if I am one of the first 21 people to claim a ticket.

I am looking at a couple of upcoming shows and one is sold out (6 weeks away) and the other has nosebleed section left (3 months out), but both have tickets from secondary sellers and only $30-150 more than the original face value of tickets, not including fees. Weezer/Pixies go on sale this Friday (early sales started today) and already there are secondary sellers on ticketmasters.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I thought this Last Week Tonight main story, which aired last weekend, was outstanding and references this.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

If there is one company I would love to see burned to the ground it's Ticket Master. :grumble:

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

My only counter is this : I just got a presale offer to buy tickets to Phoebe Bridgers. Turns out it was from a non-Ticketmaster venue. When the presale started, I got right in and showed amazing seats available, which I grabbed. Then it asked for the Presale code, so I entered it. Then it said those seats were no longer available. So I selected the best seats that were available at that time. Then it again asked for my preorder code. So I entered it again. Then it again told me those seats were no longer available. We did this dance like four times before I was actually able to keep the not-so-great seats I had by that point selected. Say what you will about Ticketmaster, yes they've evil, but they're at least competent in distributing the tickets that they do offer.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Eddie Vedder tried to take on TM 30 years ago. It got a lot of publicity, but now it’s worse than ever.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

That's...even more wrong than we ever thought TM even was. I always wondered how the hell a show could be sold out, or virtually, within twenty seconds of tix being on sale.
Understatement of the year:
"ire toward Ticketmaster for expensive concert tickets may be somewhat justified". Wow, really? Trust me, it had been, even before this.
My last show - 34% service fee. Not even counting tax, which is, well, what are you gonna do about tax?
General Admission Ticket Sec GA-3, (General Admission) USD $39.50
Fees
USD $13.50 (Service Fee)
USD $0.98 (Tax)
Ticket Delivery Free (sending me an email. Lucky they're not charging for this yet.)

I don't expect anything, but I hope TM faces some real consequences from this (not the bullshit coupons). IANAL, but this definitely seems like collusion, racketeering, fraud, price manipulation, a lot of bad, illegal, unethical things.
Of course, if they do suffer financial consequences, they'll just add a "Legal Recoup Fee" to each ticket. We pass on the savings costs direct to you!

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

It's funny how the cost of the Ticketmaster surcharge goes up with the price of the ticket. As if the service that Ticketmaster is providing is any different for a $20 ticket than it is for a $150 ticket.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

That logic could be applied to tipping as well, don't you think? Like pizza delivery. You'll do a percentage of the cost, right? But does it take more effort to deliver a deluxe pizza with everything than it does a plain cheese?

I think the best counter to the TicketBastard issue is don't go to venues that use them. Go to clubs that feature live music instead. You'll probably be seeing a better band anyway.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

In the pizza scenario, the cost usually correlates more with the amount of food that's ordered. In a restaurant situation a place with higher prices should have better service.

I could see an argument that Ticket Master has to put more resources into a "hot" event, but that's only if they really do combat scalpers and such. If they don't do jack crap then I'm not sure what the higher surcharge is for.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I mean that's rubbish. You see live artists that you want to see. You might enjoy a live club act just fine, but it's by definition an inherently a different experience than going to see U2 or The Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen or Adele. Just like comparing going to a local art gallery to going to MOMA.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Different experience? Absolutely. Better? Hmmm....not always. Sure it may be a smaller scale show, but there's a lot to be said for watching an artist from right up close, performing live for a hundred or so people and putting everything they've got into it, vs. some mega-act a mile away on just another stop on the tour. I went to one of those huge shows last summer, had to watch the whole thing on the video screens because the performers were the size of ants from where I was sitting. Man, that ain't a rock and roll concert.

You and I have both expressed our admiration for the Go-Go's, and I'll be seeing them for the very first time next week. I had three local-ish choices: The massive outdoor amphitheater Humphries, a mid sized theater (~1000 seats), or the House of Blues. I went with HoB. Even if I stand at the very back wall of that place, I'll be closer to the stage than had I chosen the far more expensive other venues.

Clubs are just the place to see a band, period, and more of a true rock and roll experience.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

As someone who can count the number of concerts I have attended in my lifetime (and I turn 51 this year) on maybe 1 hand, I still clicked on the Oliver link and found it to be educational. I had not thought about those credit card buy tickets through them at a discount promotions, etc., but I immediately said to myself yup, that tracks. Someone had to scoop up those tickets being offered to CC holders, members of a fan club, etc.. Oliver is right that the artists/acts could exercise much more control over the process to tamp down on exorbitant ticket costs, made even more ridiculously exorbitant when b ought on the secondary market, but not enough of them do.

To go on a bit of a thread drift, I also love that Oliver does stuff like find a wacky eBay listing for a Mickey Mouse shaped potato and actually bought the darn thing, too funny. On that note, back to the subject of the thread, as it was also eye-opening to learn what some people were trying to get for Adele tickets, yikes. The listing Oliver highlighted is way more than my rent!!

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I got those Pearl Jam tickets when they were going to play San Diego. Very cool design on the ticket. Wound up not going so had to sell them.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

As I recall, lots of people made fun of Pearl Jam for trying to take on Ticketmaster. Oops.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Fully agree.
When I was in high school/college I liked my favorite artists to play arenas/stadiums. I was interested in them putting on a big show - huge stage with a complex light show.

By the time I was 30, my attitude towards shows totally flipped. Not only do I prefer a small venue, but I won't even see a show at a big venue. Of course none of the artists I listen play big venues anyways as they're not popular enough.
The whole big show thing is cringe to me now - it feels so superficial. I want it to be all about the music and I love actually being able to see the artists play their instruments up close in venues that hold anywhere from 100-2,000 seats max. It's also nice that they charge reasonable prices for their concerts - even if tickets to some of their shows are only available via Ticketmaster. The best concert experience for a good price - you can't beat that.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I’m largely the same. Arena/Stadium shows were awesome, then I made the mistake of seeing the same tour twice expecting to see a completely different show. Once you realize how rehearsed and choreographed everything is, it loses a lot of the appeal.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I was browsing an event and just noticed this:
"Official Platinum Tickets"
That sounds pretty fancy! Maybe even better than the VIP tickets which get you anything from a souvenir to a meet and greet.
What, exactly, is a Platinum Ticket?
Wow, "They give fans fair and safe access to some of the best seats in the house", that sounds great!
They are "are dynamically priced up and down based on demand."
Basically, hey, we can't sell ALL the tix to scalpers - so we'll scalp our own.
This event has Platinum tix at $602, $502, $402, $350. Standard tix max at $99.50.
The only open seats in the first 9 rows of the middle section are Platinum.

Anyway - I still like the occasional epic arena show, sometimes I like the pageantry and the performance aspect - but I don't like the crowd, and I don't like paying multihundreds of dollars for a ticket. And since many of the shows are the same, once is enough.
I much prefer the smaller venues too. A couple of my favorite venues have capacities of 750 and 1200 (and that because there's an upper section.)
It's shut down now but there was a cool hole in the wall that had a capacity of about 200. I saw a show there, there could not have been more than 20 people in the audience. The main guy in the headliner act stood next to me and we talked through half of the opener (talked before opener went on, then just enjoyed the show together, not 'talking' through the performance other than 'this song's awesome') until he had to go get ready.

My son couldn't borrow my car one day, so my wife and I dropped him off at a venue for a show he was going to that night. Capacity was about 1400. He wanted to get dropped off like six hours early, we were like "Whatever". Anyway, he parlayed that, being at the right place at the right time, to running errands with another fan for the performer, then going out with the performer for coffee and donuts, and getting upgraded to VIP for free. He sent me texts and pics throughout the day, of him and the performer in some guy's car. He said that was one of the best days of his life.
That probably couldn't have happened at the Massive Puke-O-Plex arena.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

I can't believe the price of tickets for major artist in general. I'm a metalhead, and rarely pay more than $25 to see a show, but Elton John is finally playing somewhere I'm actually located and was pumped to see him. Tickets came and went in a second and the cheapest I can find now is $200 a piece for the nose bleeds. I paid $250 for my 4 day Maryland Deathfest tickets, I just can't justify paying $200 to see one band. I don't see how people who listen to popular bands/singers afford to go to concerts often.

Re: Ticketmaster accused of colluding with scalpers
 

Basic rules of supply and demand. The demand for a popular, well known artist is much higher than that of a group of lesser-known ones. If a ticket to a show can fetch $400 on the secondary market, is it really wrong for the artist to ask for half that much when selling a ticket? One one level it does suck to gouge fans, but on the other I'd rather my favorite artists get rich from their touring rather than a bunch of scalpers with bots. Garth Brooks did an impressive job of keeping his tickets to his intimate solo residency shows at the Wynn cheap by making it impossible to sell them and requiring ID checks when you arrive at the venue. It was a lot of work and eventually they dropped it. But that's the only time I saw an artist that dedicated to giving his fans a show at an affordable price.
I don't know what the answer is, but if an Adele ticket goes for $1000 on the secondary market, how much should she be selling them for?