The piece makes it clear that the secondary market sites make big fees, so there’s really no incentive to limit it.
Never has there been a better time to be a hermit. Pull the rock over the entrance and call it a day.
Worked in the ticketing industry briefly, and just about all events everywhere have ticket holds, whether it’s for the venue, the promotor, the record label, commercial partners/sponsors, or in the case of privately-held companies, the company owner.
As an example, the owner of a major performing arts organization in Canada reserves 40 front-row tickets to every show. Any tickets in that block that haven’t been issued 24 hours before the show are either released for public sale, or used by customer service to upgrade customers, provide seats to people showing up with last night’s tickets, etc…
Agencies like Ticketmaster are constantly trying to identify and circumvent scalpers and bots, but no one trick will be effective for long, and there’s always the danger that any strategy can keep real customers from being able to make their purchase. It’s like copy-protection in gaming, you have to still be able to use the service.
There’s an inherent problem with ticketing – it’s a finite product with large demand, and having a fixed price item creates an aftermarket with flexible prices. Believe me, if they could, Ticketmaster would rather auction the tickets and let the market dictate the price altogether.
As for the rent-seeking, TM itself has a fairly small surcharge they charge promotors – most of what you see added on has really been added on by the promotors, artist management, or the venues, but part of the TM service is to be the scapegoat for that fuckery.
Really? I just looked at Eagles tickets in Detroit for March 24th. I picket two tickets on the main floor. This is the official Ticketmaster website. Ticketmaster is promoting scalping but it’s not actually scalping if they are endorsing it.
When I went to check out I got this message.
The tickets you receive may be in the specific section listed here or in an equivalent or better location. This listing describes tickets that the seller does not own or may not know the exact location of the seats, but is offering to obtain for you. Once your order is confirmed, we guarantee that you will receive tickets prior to the start of the event for seats that are in an equivalent or better location or you will receive a full refund.
I’m led to believe I’m buying from Ticketmaster but the warning tells me the “seller” does not even have the tickets to sell.
How in the actual f*** is that legal? I fork over 800+ bucks to Ticketmaster and I am not even guaranteed a ticket to the show.
You need to watch the full John Oliver piece. The scapegoat angle was largely a bs excuse made up by their CEO. Especially since Ticketmaster owns LiveNation, they often are the promoter, management, and the venue, not just the ticket seller.
Oops, wait a minute. That wasn’t Ticketmaster but a clever knock off. How on earth did I get there when I typed Ticketmaster in the address bar? Wait, I know, because I’m an idiot but that should also be illegal, not me being an idiot, but forwarding me to sites pretending to be Ticketmaster.
The real Ticketmaster was a grand for two tickets and 180 bucks in fees.
My comment still applies though because Ticketmaster owns their own resale market and promotes those tickets on their website.
This is why I haven’t been to much live in decades. I’ll go to the box office if convenient and even then they often add a “convenience fee”.
One is screwed regardless of how one purchases. But as long as venues continue to sell out, people will pay whatever price is asked.
Don’t forget that this applies to sporting events as well as concerts.
And even if you go directly to the venue, they will often tell you that they no longer sell tickets that way, and send you to StubHub or Ticketmaster.
The only way many can ever pay face value for a pro sporting event is to buy the season tickets, and even then, “seat licenses” are making that ridiculously expensive, and directly favor the brokers.
It’s getting worse every year, and will not change unless the artists/teams do it themselves, and the financial incentive says they will f***ing NOT.
Off the topic of Ticketmaster (although I’m sure they got their cut, too):
I saw Sade in 2000 for, I believe, 70 or 75 a ticket… At the time I couldn’t believe how much ticket prices had gone up (and that was for an outdoor concert*). The last time I’d gone to a big concert like that was to see Bowie in '87, and I think I might’ve paid $30 or $35 apiece.
I understand that prices have gone up with inflation, but $35 in 1987 and $75 in 2000 were not large fortunes (nor, really, even small ones), nor can I believe they’re equivalent to $500 today.
Meanwhile I’ve just paid $15 to see The Cookers (though Instantseats took almost another 50% on top of that).
(Previously)
*Theretofore, my experience with outdoor concerts was that they were substantially cheaper than indoor shows, e.g. $10 per carload
Did you watch the video, because they are very much aiding and abetting such things…
@danimagoo, jinx!
No, I didn’t watch the video. I just know current and former engineers working on their tech stack, which includes working on code to find and exclude scalper accounts and detect bots. Also worked with their former CTO on another ticketing venture attached to a large venue owner and event promoter.
I do know that they operate a resale site now, kind of the ‘if you can’t eliminate them, compete’ strategy. Resale or reassignment has been part of sports season ticketing for a long time.
The real problem is that tickets are a limited product with a high demand, and even the absurd pricing coming from some artists doesn’t guarantee that nobody will scalp, or that nobody will pay scalper prices. No matter what ticketing agencies do, there are bound to be unhappy consumers, because there aren’t infinite seats and a way to guarantee everyone gets in at the price they want.
No it’s not. Go watch the video… he lays it out nicely.
Please don’t do that. If you expect people to take the time to read and respond to what you write, the least you can do is to have watched the thing everyone else is commenting on.
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