Another Rant About Ticketmaster

Tickets for the local U2 show go on sale next Monday. I should be happy, thrilled, ecstatic.

Instead I feel nervous, anxious and angry because obtaining concert tickets is such a negative experience. In some ways its like playing the lotto - a few get lucky, but many will walk away with NOTHING. Its grossly unfair and the ticket industry’s greed is disgusting.

I’m not referring to the price of tickets (that’s for another day), what infuriates me is how ticket scalpers (aka ticket brokers or agencies) buy huge quantities of tickets than turn around and sell them for two, three or even four times face value. It forces fans that want choice seats to shell out big bucks. Its just plain wrong!

Its at times like this that I ask myself, where the heck are Eddie Vedder and Trent Reznor when you need them?

Remember back in 1994 when Pearl Jam addressed Congress? They clearly spelled out what goes on behind the scenes. They did an excellent job of showing the world how greedy and unfair it is to have one company, specifically Ticketmaster, controlling ticket sales for all the major events in the USA You can read the transcript here, its very informative. Peal Jam went to bat for their FANS and I will forever be grateful for their efforts and willingness to make changes (Eddie, I’d like to thank you in person, call me!)

Then there’s Nine Inch Nails. Those guys took things a step further and made sure their fans had a fair shot at getting GOOD seats at face value! Trent Reznor does a great job of summarizing how NIN deals with this issue (read the article for details of the hows and whys, I found it very enlightenting):

"We have essentially stopped scalping by doing these things - because we want true fans to be able to get great seats and not get ripped off by these parasites."

Once again, my personal thanks to Trent (you have my number, lets do lunch!)

I am seriously considering starting a grassroots movement to put an end to unfair monopolization of concert ticket sales!! Anyone want to join me? Lets do it!

Ticket Scalping

I am in a grouchy mood so I am going to write about something that really ticks me off. Ticket scalping. It's been going on for years, but it seems like these days its almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a ticket for face value. Most of us are forced to go through a "ticket agency" or bid for tickets on-line (I just saw Clapton tickets on eBay for $250 each - face value, $85).

A friend of mine started a "ticket agency" back in the 80's so I know the inside scoop. He will pay loads of people (usually high school kids or people desperate for cash) to stand in line and buy the maximum number of tickets allowed. So, he will pay some kid to stand in line for five hours, lets say he gives the kid $50. To the kid, $10 an hour for standing around in a party like atmosphere is great money. So for every one fan you see standing in line (or these days calling or going on-line) there are hundreds of paid people buying tickets for various ticket brokers across the country.

Lets say the tickets are for Eric Clapton and sell for $55 - 85 per seat. If a broker paid fifty people to buy six tickets each, he now has 350 tickets which he can turn around and sell for double or triple face value. So it cost him $500 but he just made a profit of $3000.00.

But who PAYS for this? WE DO. It cracks me up to hear someone say "buy from a reputable ticket broker..." That's an oxy-moron!

One year I decided to use my friend's "agency" for tickets to Bruce because typically his tickets sell out so fast that I am forced to go through an agency to buy them. So when I showed up, hoping to get a decent ticket from this guy, he he took full advantage of the fact that he knows how much I love Bruce and tried to gouge me for even MORE than he would a "regular" customer. I had known this dude for years and even dated him for awhile! Greed does ugly things to people.

Long story short - I did not buy the tickets from him I saw through his scheme and never did business with him again. Sure, I still had to pay way over face value for good seats, but at least I knew I wasn't being played for a fool and taken advantage of.

I miss the days when I would spend 8 hours in line to get the best ticket possible. It was fair game - if you wanted them bad enough you got your ass to the Ticketron or Ticketmaster at 2 am and sat there until 10 am the next morning when they opened.

It's not right. Its so unfair. I went into debt to see U2 last year (I paid $400 per ticket for 2 seats - $800!! I had NO CHOICE, they were sold out and that was the best deal I could get with a decent seat).

I appreciate performers like Tom Petty who are actively fighting ticket scalping to insure that their fans can see a concert at a fair price.

Ok, I am done bitching. I feel better now.