Ticketmaster Has Always Sucked, But For Some Reason People Are Shocked By This Springsteen Fiasco
In college I supplemented student loans by working at an independent record store. We sold tickets through Ticketmaster, which was always a headache. A typical example: The second a sale opened, dozens of Deadheads waiting to get their slice of in-person Jerry, my co-worker and I would notice we were already locked out of huge blocks of tickets, tickets ostensibly never made available to the public. End result: Even the first guy in line got shitty seats. I never looked into it deeply or investigated it enough to blame Ticketmaster directly for foul play -- it could have very well been unscrupulous ticket sellers printing out tickets for friends and themselves before letting in the public -- but I still saw the system as one that needed a complete overhaul (surcharges, constant unavailability, etc.). Eddie Vedder agreed with me, until he didn't. I actually hadn't thought much about Ticketmaster until this recent controversy over Springsteen fans being directed to the company's in-house scalper site TicketsNow during the big sale this past Monday. Hence the following letters between a NJ government official, Wal-Mart's Bruce Springsteen, and Ticketmaster Irving Azoff.
First from a NJ lawman via nj.com:
A New Jersey congressman has asked the federal government to investigate allegations that tickets to two Bruce Springsteen concerts were diverted to a ticket resale agency moments after they went on sale Monday morning.Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.) said his constituents complained that Ticketmaster, the primary ticket seller for the concerts, said tickets were sold out and directed consumers to its subsidiary, TicketsNow, a secondary marketplace where tickets were being offered for resale at three and four times the cover price.
Pascrell wrote a letter yesterday to the Federal Trade Commission and the antitrust division of the Justice Department asking them to "investigate the relationship between Ticketmaster and TicketsNow to ensure that the procedure for purchasing tickets remains fair to the average consumer."
"There is a significant potential for abuse when one company is able to monopolize the primary market for a product and also directly manipulate and profit from the secondary market," he wrote. "The speed with which tickets were made available on Ticketmaster's official resale site raises questions about whether TicketsNow brokers were given preferential treatment."
Now we get the Boss and his team:
We know there was much confusion regarding Ticketmaster and TicketsNow during last Monday's on-sale dates. We were as confused as you were, as we were given no advance notice of the major changes in the Ticketmaster-TicketsNow world. (Bear in mind that we are not clients of any ticketing company, and that all those arrangements are between venues and ticketing companies.)Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice.
We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest. Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges. TicketsNow is supposed to be a secondary site where people who already have tickets may exchange, trade, and, unfortunately, speculate with them. We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.
We know the many cynical arguments some make in favor of the Ticketmaster system: There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges--we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow--we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect "scalping" those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow--we do.
While many of you have sent notes to us and your local promoters, you may also send accurate informational letters to Albert Lopez of Ticketmaster and he will try to address your questions.
A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.
The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours.
Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team
Finally, Ticketmaster Boss Irving Azoff:
An Open Letter of Apology to Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team:While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans.
We recognize that we need to change our course. We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce's shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions of fans.
If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket. (Please don't abuse this good faith gesture as we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets.)
We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward.
It's true, the reports suggest Ticketmaster and Live Nation are on their way to effectuating a de facto pricing monopoly via merger. If you're an optimist and think this might at least lead to a more efficient ticketing process, you should have a chat with Phish fans sometime.
Anyway, nothing like a bunch of rich guys arguing about money. Keep in mind that when tickets for Springsteen Bonnaroo performance go on sale, it'll be through bonnaroo.com. Let's hope the E Street Band isn't pre-recorded. Or, if they are, we'd better get a couple additional crotch shots.
Posted at 2:15 PM by brandon
Tags: Bruce Springsteen
Kind of ironic that the apology came from Irving Azoff--one of the greediest people in the history of the music industry.
Score = 7
Unfortunately people have just accepted that Ticketmaster sucks and there's nothing you can do about it besides not go to shows, which is a pretty shitty option. My most recent Ticketbastards rape was for two Animal Collective tickets, priced at $28, cost me $81 with all the charges. So basically I got 2 tickets for the price of (almost) 3 - quite a deal
Score = 9
"Use Ticketmaster or don't go to live shows"? Is it really that bad where you live? I just did a check of the eight venues I go to most often here in SF and only one of them uses Ticketmaster... and even that is only for about half their shows. I'm sure the larger venues use Ticketmaster, but in the 300-500 person range, they pretty much all use smaller vendors.
Score = -4
I just did a rundown of most of the Boston venues I frequent. All of 'em use Ticketmaster, except the Paradise. They use Live Nation!
Score = 5
actually, most of the boston venues now use live nation, not that they are any better...in fact i think they suck too.
Score = 2
I hate all of the employees of Ticketmaster. Hate them all.
Score = 8
they're the worst but what are live music goers supposed to do?
Score = 5
ticketmaster can suck a fuck.
Score = 21
Nice use of Donnie Darko. It is hilarious that they ask people not to take advantage of their offer of paying the difference in the price if people are mislead when they have been taking advantage of people with the additional charges for years. I never understood why they added those charges on after the fact and not just make them a part of the total price. Also, I can't believe those charges are legal and Ticketmaster is not considered a monopoly.
Score = 10
nice use of the obvious.
Score = -6
I say that they can suck a bag of dicks
Score = 2
that's right pez - FUCK Ticketmaster™!
Score = 1
GRRR!!!!! I hate Ticketmaster. I hate them so much I didn't go to shows I wanted to because I didn't want to give them any money. Most of the time it is cheaper to get the marked up prices at the door for events that provide that then pay all the extra Ticketmaster charges. I hope this event will raise awareness amongst venues / artists / bands / whoever to stop using this service and use an alternate.
Score = 1
Two Muse tickets at 38 dollars have cost me 104 dollars total after fees, including one for printing them out. Same with Trans-Siberian Orchestra (40 dollar tickets- 115 total), and back when I was a freshman in high school, Fall Out Boy (20 dollar tickets, 65 dollars total).
Score = -1
Ugh, the "We're Gonna Let You Use Your Own Paper" charge is the worst.
Score = 12
I absolutely LOVE Ticketmaster. Their extra fees and charges make me scream with delight at the top of my lungs at every inopportune moment!
Score = 15
I am not an expert, but isnt selling tickets for more than face value illegal anyway? Anybody know the official rule on that?
Score = 3
I think there's some sort of loophole. It's the reason StubHub is still around, also.
Score = -1
Here's a fairly important thing that people don't realize about a TM/LN merger:
Venues contract with the ticketing services and ticketmaster (and presumably live nation) give exclusivity rights to non-venue sales to a single agency creating their own monopolies anyway. TM has always been the only game in town for the vast majority of venues because they're not going to split their sales off to 3-4 different ticketing agencies. Smaller venues don't play that way and let other companies sell tickets to their generally GA-only shows, but any time a seat with a number has been involved, TM usually controls those venues because they KNOW they can own the secondary market on them.
Nobody should ever believe a single word Ticketmaster says about not giving preferential treatment to large-volume scalping operations. Those are the groups keeping TM afloat on slow-selling shows and they eat the losses when some shows just wouldn't sell out at all. TM thinks they need them to survive.
Score = 5
These high costs made me start listening to lesser known bands. It's insane how much it costs to go see a show. At least now I can pay 10 bucks plus cover and that's all. Like someone else said, paying to PRINT out a ticket is a scam.
Score = 7
a GA ticket to a NIN show on the Lights in the Sky 2008 tour through Ticketmaster cost $84.
day of show i walked up to the arena, bought a GA ticket for $50.
Ticketmaster adds on so many surcharges they make it OBVIOUS they are stealing your money.
Boycott Ticketmaster!
Score = 3
"End result: Even the first guy in line got shitty seats."
So.fucking.true, dude.
I NEVER understood that. Total bullshit.
The most frustrating part is we all have had to just begrudgingly accept this type of shit forever because even the bands or people who have tried to fight it always seem to end up losing.
And when you're only option is to either pay the fees and get shitty seats or miss your favorite bands altogether, of course you're going to pay.
Fan pre-sales for good seats really seems to be the only way bands can control part of this insanity.
Score = 2
TicketMaster can eat a dick.
Score = 5
I hate Ticketmaster with a passion. I see a ticket for a show I want to go to, it costs $12 and I end up paying $35- $40 because of "certain "fees. But what can I as a person do? , ticketmaster is leading some kind of dictatorship where if you want a ticket, ticketmaster is the only way (monstrous laugh). Maybe this springsteen thing might lead to something like maybe they'll put how much tickets really cost with the fees included.
Score = 2
hey guys and gals! why don't we boycott ticketmaster? start a revolution!
" we are the children of the revolution!" - T. Rex.
but seriously ( or am I?), I don't know about u commentators from boston and SF saying how u get tickets, but here in l.A., Ticketmaster rules the world. There are some venues that use a beautiful ticket service called ticketweb, where when I went to see Klaxons at this underground venue when they were just starting out, tickets were $18, with charges, all I paid was $19. $1 ticket charge. I can take that.
and yes what the deal is what that "you have to print ur ticket, sorry no mail delivery), it really sucks. hate ticketmaster. revolution guys! or are we too busy playing our video games and finishing our blogs?
Score = 2
That's what you get for going to three horrible concerts.
ticketmaster can suck it though
Score = -3
THis has been happening forever! Just that now Ticketmaster is so flagrant about it that it automatically redirects you to their scalper sister site. But they have always blocked off tickets as soon as they went on sale. I am assuming for Radio promotion and for the elite band wagon fans. I first noticed the Sister Site redirect with Radiohead and the In Rainbows tour. It will take someone like Bruce to set them straight. Pearl Jam gave it a great try.
Score = 2
Fight the power facebook style. Join these groups...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30185919900
and
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30185919900#/group.php?gid=59178886319&ref=nf
Score = 2
I'd really like to know how much these companies make.
Here in NS, we have a few options which have only opened their doors a few years ago. And they are all almost as bad as Ticketmaster. I am shocked at the extra fees each and every time I buy tickets.
There's one (Ticketpro) that has no actual retail locations of their own. They only have one head office (in Montreal I believe). They use other locations (like coffee / newstand shops, a computer repair place, etc.), which have a computer and a printer.
The entire system is fairly basic, and I'm sure they make money hand over fist. The service charge on an event I may go to tomorrow is 16.7%. Then add 13% tax on top of that... eff sakes!
Grr it's bullshit!
Score = 1
my story: i went to go see radiohead over the summer. face value for one ticket: $48. but after all the fees it ended up at $98 plus the naming rights to my first born child. sucks. he's now going to be called Liveticket Nation Smith.
Score = 18
Ticketmaster has a surcharge for wishing you didn't have to use Ticketmaster.
Score = 14
ok so since YOU weren't surprised and had limited knowledge of the inner workings of ticketmaster, nobody else should be surprised because you're so smart
yeah i get it
Score = -9
What really sucks is recent announcement that Live Nation and Ticketmaster will merge. Just when, by all accounts, a real competitor threatens Ticketmaster, the company tries to be it out. How pathetic and sad. Live Nation seemed to have such potential, and I was thrilled to hear that Ticketmaster was starting to lose business.
I hope the FTC prevents the merger from taking place. Ticketmaster can suck it!!
Score = -1
Same thing happened to me when I tried to buy Leonard Cohen tickets recently - directed to TicketsNow. And the shitty seats thing happened a couple months before that for a different concert. All this mess just to sit or stand in front of talkers while it sounds like your favorite band is playing the same song over and over again.
Score = 0
Most of you are idiots. who cares if you have to use ticketmaster or other online ticketing options when you go to a show. Almost every venue in the world has a box office, and well if they dont, then wait. You are more likely to get better seats if you wait til the day of the show then you would buying on ticketmaster, unless you are on the first people to purchase. If you were insightful at all, you would of noticed that live nation and ticketmaster were selling the same tickets when they were seperate and you were could get all the best seats if you just purchased from livenation. it was even a little cheaper on the livenation site. well now unfortunately, you only have ticketmaster, so find out where the box office is to your local venue and purchase there. Usuaully there are no service fees and only cost face value, or on the day of the show its a smaller service fee. only use ticketmaster on important on sales and when you know the box office wont suffice your needs. i hope all you take certian things into consideration and stop givin a fuck over whose going to get your money since you can avoid it all together.
Score = -24
you say that with such supreme confidence, but as shocking as it may seem, it's not always convenient or even logistically possible to get tickets at the box office ahead of time/the day of a show. for one thing, you run the risk of the box office selling out, which they do rather quickly, since they have a pretty small amount to sell. second, and this happens to me a lot since i live in a mind-sized city, i often want to see shows in washington dc. i live 3 hours away from washington dc. i only want to make a 6 hour round trip into dc FOR the show, not fucking a week in advance, to try to make it to the box office's ridiculous noon-3 pm hours when i have a job to go to. thats the whole point of satellite retailers in record stores. thats what most people do. so, unless you live in a big city, IN the city, its usually a pain in the ass to get tickets from a major box office. and they sell out. so, thanks.
Score = 7
Oy vey. Say what you want about the evils of Ticketmaster, but they had (HAD) their shit together. Four lap tops and two phones and I never got though for my Phish tickets on LiveNation. Their site fucked up big time. I would take Ticketmaster surcharges over staring at a waiting room screen while having to speak 'buy tickets' clearly over and over again for no tickets any day.
So now I have to show up to Great Woods a ticketless wookie for the fist time in 35 shows
Score = -2
it is difficult to disagree with the fact that ticketmaster completely sucks. thankfully there are some better options, such as ticketweb, in chicago that actually are used at some really great venues.
Score = 1
I have an extreme hate for ticketmaster and its monopolizing ways.
Score = 3
You'd be hard pressed to find regular Austin venues that use Ticketmaster. I don't even think that the Erwin Center, the biggest, uses it. It's more often Ticketweb or Front Gate Tickets.
Score = 0
I heard some people are suing ticketmaster for like 500 million people, we should have like a class action suit against ticketmaster for all the trauma and stealing they have done to us. That or boycott, or some genius invents some way of selling tickets the way they should be sold.
Score = 0
I really ABHOR these greedy jerks.....and IF ALL OF US PULL TOGETHER, WE CAN TAKE THEM DOWN....AND THE BIGGER THEY ARE??? THE HARDER THEY FALL!!!!!!
Score = 2
I've bought tickets for shows within 5 min of the opening sale time--but have ended up being forced to buy "best available" 15 or 20 rows back. Then we get to the show and there are dozens upon dozens of empty seats in all the rows ahead of us. After the second time that happened we realized that big chunks were sold first to brokers then when they didn't resale, those tickets were wasted and the fans who really deserved to have those great seats were left far far back. Total bastards. Definitely some hardcore lobbying/paying off to avoid scrutiny for their completely unfair practices.
Score = 2
I love the assholes from SF and Austin who think just because they live in hippy-run cities where venues actually care enough to stick it to the man, that everyone else is just whining. Guess what: if you don't live in a liberal haven, Ticketmaster and/or Livenation probably runs every single venue in your city. So, we would appreciate it if you lucky fucks would butt out of our complain-a-thon.
Score = 3
TicketWeb is owned by Ticketmaster.
Score = 2
I was excited to buy tickets from Livenation for a Ryan Adams concert--since I hate Ticketmaster--and then LN charged me almost double what Ticketmaster charges in "convenience" fees. Barf.
Score = 0
Wow. I knew the situation for ticketing in the US was bad, but not this bad. In comparison, when I buy tickets for, say, Bon Iver in Australia, I pay AU$50 (so roughly $28 or so for you folks) and a $4.50 booking fee. And that's it, unless you want them to send the tickets to you via registered post so they don't get lost.
Score = 0
If you are good with a computer you can get great tickets from ticketmaster
Score = 0
Looks like it's all happening again, if indeed it ever stopped - Just tried to get Faith No More tickets for their Brixton date, filled in payment details and was told the tickets were on hold, pressed the confirm button and was given a system error notice and told that the tickets were no longer on sale???...Immediately tried the Ticketmaster owned Getmein.com (motto: "Tickets for true fans guaranteed") and they look to have quite a number of tickets left for the same show, of course, you have to buy them in multiples AND they are double the price so I did what every true fan would do, gave them the finger. I'm a little confused as to how this 'conflict of interests' can be skirted around lawfully so easily, whatever they may say about "Tickets for true fans being guaranteed", there's nothing to suggest that their practice is actually nothing short of being another nail in the coffin for the heavily milked live scene. I personally would like to pay the band straight off with the ticket prices and whatever charges (and in this case it was another £7 for a box-office pick-up!!) - unfortunately, anyone who tries to bring this method in gets 'corporated'!...Small gigs here in the UK have a system where you just show your card at the door, quite why this can't be factored in at large shows is a bit of a mystery...actually, on second though, maybe it's not.
Feeling pretty sick right now!
Score = 0
More misery from these bastards...Just tried to get Faith No More tickets for their Brixton date, filled in payment details and was told the tickets were on hold whle I filled the form, pressed the confirm button and was given a system error notice and told that the tickets were no longer on sale???...Immediately tried the Ticketmaster owned Getmein.com (motto: "Tickets for true fans guaranteed") and they look to have quite a number of tickets left for the same show, of course, you have to buy them in multiples AND they are double the price so I did what every true fan would do, gave them the finger. I'm a little confused as to how this 'conflict of interests' can be skirted around lawfully so easily, whatever they may say about "Tickets for true fans being guaranteed", there's nothing to suggest that their practice is actually nothing short of being another nail in the coffin for the heavily milked live scene. I personally would like to pay the band straight off with the ticket prices and whatever charges (and in this case it was another £7 for a box-office pick-up!!) - unfortunately, anyone who tries to bring this method in gets 'corporated'!...Small gigs here in the UK have a system where you just show your card at the door, quite why this can't be factored in at large shows is a bit of a mystery...actually, on second though, maybe it's not.
Feeling pretty sick right now!
Score = 0