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February 5th, 2009
12:13 PM ET
Ticketmaster, Live Nation and youYou may have heard: Ticketmaster is in talks with Live Nation for a possible merger. The impact of this union could be far-reaching. Ticketmaster is the 800-pound gorilla of the ticket business, often irritating fans with its surcharges but impossible to avoid. Live Nation is just as powerful in the concert business: it’s not only the country’s biggest concert promoter, but the company has recently struck deals with Madonna and Jay-Z to become, essentially, their music distributor. Together, the two almost certainly be the dominant force in the music business, dwarfing the retrenching record labels. Imagine the kind of fight Pearl Jam might have with that. What do you make of it all? Send your responses to iReport or comment below. - Todd Leopold, CNN.com Entertainment Producer |
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of course like your web-site but you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to inform the reality nevertheless I'll definitely come back again.
1. TicketNow sells tickets right on the ticketmaster page
2. how do we know ticketmaster is selling tickets to the public first befor they put them on ticketsNow
3. Ticketmaster says check back as the event nears as tickets may available. Sounds like TM will resell all the unsold tickets from ticketsnow
4. Technical difficulty on Ticketmaster that impaired us from making a purchase, and if you were lucky to get on the site you found out it was soldout
5. LIVE NATION AND TICKETMASTER TO COMBINE IN MERGER. Live Nataion owns most of the venues . This a monopoly. . aren't there laws against this !!!!
I say enough is enough so I started a website with info on who to call or write in congress to complain
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/207734?m
A couple weeks ago I tried to buy Phish tickets (Camden show) from LiveNation and like most people, I was hit with a barrage of errors and sent to "waiting rooms." About half an hour after the tickets went on sale, they were sold out, which I wasn't really upset about. I thought I had just missed out; luck of the draw and whatnot. Then a few days later I check StubHub.com for the same show to find the prices jacked up at least 100% with 900 tickets for sale. NINE HUNDRED!!!!!! Something is terribly wrong here. There needs to be a serious ticket business renaissance.
I don't buy concert tickets if I'm going to have to pay some outrageous "convenience fee." Ticket prices should reflect a band's cost of doing business which means offering tickets at face value either by website or at the venue where they are playing.
Ticketmaster is a typical Republican entity that feeds off the middle class and the poor while catering to the wealthy. Screw them!
ticketmaster is not the "only place you can buy tickets." simply go to the box office and buy your tickets directly from the venue. easy.
Until more than one or two musicians take a stand and support the fans on this, nothing will ever be done.
As far as Phish that haven't played since '04 not '06 and they will be touring more in the future.
what has recently pissed me off the most is hiked up ticketscalpar GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS right after the tickets go on sale.
i wish we had honesty from the only place you can buy tickets
and surcharges just rise and rise everytime i go to buy a ticket... what other proof of monopolization is needed!
Waiting in line overnight where the tickets were going on sale, before the wrist bands that could change you from #4 in line to #120, was actually fun. It was an opportunity to meet people who shared an interest.It beat interacting with your PC and cell to try to get an overpriced ticket, and then paying their inflated fees. The Sherman Anti-trust Act needs to be invoked to prevent this scheme/contract/deal/conspriracy to control an industry.
The entertainers need to be part of this outrage, or face losing their true fan base.
How is this happening....The selling of tickets on these sites DAYS before presale has even started. These groups have ruined the live music experiance for the younger generation. It's selfish of me but I'm glad I'm pushing 50 and had the opportunity to see many shows by all my favs!
I hold Ticketmaster responsible for the demise of the music industry. I WOULD RATHER BE ROBBED AT GUN POINT THAN BE RIPPED-OFF BY THIS SORRY EXCUSE OF A COMPANY. Shame on anyone who helps keep them in business. The government should have stepped in a long time ago. Neither Musicians nor consumers can bypass and survive w/o them. TICKETMASTER – You are an insult to humanity, one more example of extreme greed (not capitalism) that has turned our country and the world into an era of depression, "legal-theft", and wastefulness.
What really makes me mad that even when i try to buy tickets for a concert using ticketmaster presale, all the tiz are already sold out, having being bought by scalpers that sell the seats for at least double the original price on their websites!
This will be a MONOPOLY. We will not be able to get tickets at any venue unless you go through a combined TicketNation. They will dictate the prices, the seating and even the artists who play at what venue based on how much they can suck out of our pockets.
Calling Ticketmaster's surcharges "irritating" is like saying a root canal is "annoying". I consider them nothing short of legalized extortion. What other company could survive charging so much for so little service? Amazon and other on-line retailers would be out of business in a week if they charged the percentages Ticketmaster does. Hasn't anyone filed a class action lawsuit yet?
Ticketmaster's usury could be stopped in one of two ways:
1. If artists banded together and said en masse that they will not perform if Ticketmaster sells their tickets. Look at what Bono has been able to do for HIV and AIDS sufferers with his "Red" campaign. Imagine that kind of clout aimed at Ticketmaster's greed! Artists will never band to do it, though, because Ticketmaster means concert dollars in their pockets, and they won't bite the hand that feeds them.
2. If fans do what I do: if you can't get tickets directly at the box office, don't go to the show. If a show is worth attending, it's worth a few minutes to drive to the box office and perhaps stand in line for a bit. If Ticketmaster is the only way to buy tickets, give it a pass.
Mr Springsteen should step in and talk to the ticket sellers about their practices. He is a musician beloved by his fans and I am sure he can use his clout to straighten this mess out.
Protest by simply not going to the "big" shows. Is it really that much fun watching a big screen? Are we supposed to feel privileged that we can join "Your Favorite Rock Band’s" special fan club for $90, at the time of ticket purchase, that will then entitle us to then buy $200+ tickets …..plus all of the surcharges. Long gone are the days of Bill Graham when promoters put on shows for the fans and still could make an honest buck.
Here's what you do people: STOP GOING TO CONCERTS. Seriously, do not go to concerts anymore. Ticketmaster will eventually collapse. My guess is they merged because concert sales are already in the tank. Just quit going.
Remember when a kid could cut a law or babysit a few nights and be able to afford to go to shows? Thoses days are long gone. I refuse to pay to see shows anymore. Its gotten totally out of hand.
At this point the artists hands are tied as well. They want to play the arenas booked and promoted mostly by Live Nation, they have to play by their ticket rules..
WHen Clear Channel ran the shows it was suppose to get better for the fans. Clear Channel got so bad and its name sickened so many people they had to change it to LIve Nation. You can call a greedy monster a puppy to make it sound cute- but its still a greedy monster.
I was in ticket sales for years- fought the service charges and fees for the real music fans and all that got me is fired. Sorry- I tired, but they are just too big.
i have tried to buy tickets to countless events (actually I tried 8...so I can count them) in my Atlanta area for the next several mths and NO tickets have been available to me. In my experience, for 30 hours the site has been DEAD. I have credit card in hand and had to purchase tickets by contacting a box office of an Athens club to secure tics.
What is going on?
Why have a website if no tickets can be purchase online?
Forgive the rant...it's been a long time coming...and if you can help us change the way things are run, let me know and I'll help you any way I can: I am an Iron Maiden fan, a PAYING member of the fan club which entitles me access to pre-sales... access to buying a ticket before the general public. Do you know what that gives me? NOT access to FRONT ROW SEATS! It's very frustrating, and it's not the band's fault, but when you pay money to be a member of an organization, I expect to have access to better seats. I actually have to budget ... SET ASIDE cash long in advance to make sure I get a ticket to see Iron Maiden, and wind up on the sidelines. Ticket prices are too high, the service fees are ridiculous, they're making tons of money off us fans... and you wonder why we call them Ticketb*****d ? But what choice do we have? Sell a kidney to a scalper on E-Bay?
I *hate* ticketmaster! Greedy, greedy, greedy. Terrible customer service, and an insane amount of fees – like charging you MORE for the "right" to save them money by printing your tickets yourself (instead of them mailing them out to you). Not only are they a monopoly, but they act in an anti-trust, anti-competitive way – I'd break them UP, not allow MORE mergers with them!
I'm 43 and have been to well over 300 concerts since I started going in high school. Back then the best tickets went to the people willing to sleep out for them- the diehards. Even when we went to a ticket agent in Philadelphia, we never paid more than $8 above the base price. Now, thanks to Ticketbastard and artists charging outrageous prices, I hardly ever go to shows. Concert prices are ridiculous to begin with. When you add on the Powerball winning probability of getting decent seats along with ridiculous surcharges, my wife and I have pretty much given up on big shows. I am very lucky to have seen some great shows when I was younger. I feel sorry for kids these days. How can they afford to go to shows? I also fail to understand how the surcharges have gone up so much back from when we waited in line with real people printing out paper tickets from machines. Using my computer and my own paper, I have no human interaction when purchasing tickets. What does this surcharge go for?
There are just too many "fans" of various entertainers and groups out there who are willing to pay the price, any price, to see their favorites. And there may be just too many "fans" out there who think they cannot have an impact on concert pricing. I would like to think they are wrong. Come on, now, if fewer and fewer people refused to pay the corporate scalpola, how long do you think the entertainers themselves will put up with the empty seats. Not a course of action that can result in any changes over a concert or two, but just imagine what a long period of dedicated "fan" response of this sort might bring about!
Finally someone is talking about this! I have been sickened by Ticketbastards for years. I tried to buy Jack Johnson tickets for a Red Rocks show last summer and the tickets were sold out before they went on sale. However, you could buy tickets at 10X the cost on the Ticketbastards auction site. This company needs to be shut down once and for all. Look at what happened to Pearl Jam after they opposed Ticketbastard policies, most thought they had quit the buisness; outside of us in the 10 club that is. Capitalism has mutated into this, and it must come to an end. Where is the FTC? And where is the enforcement of monopoly laws?
I agree with everyone above. I bought two ticket's that were worth $52.00 and I ended up paying $98.00 each for a total of $220.00 when FedEx shipping was included without our choice. This should be illegal. The tickets should reflect the actual cost, minus shipping!
Can a class lawsuit be issued in this case?
Jimmy
I've never liked Ticketmaster but the time I waited for the doors to open on the first day of sales for tickets to The Cure concert in Gainesville Florida finished me for good. I was the second person in the door and magically none of the floor seating was available, the closest I could get was the third tier up... I bit the bullet and paid for the tickets but on the night of the show there were many empty seats on the floor and the tier below me was almost empty. Did they let us move down since the O'Connel center was less than half full? No, of course they did not.
I've always admired Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam for taking Ticketmaster on years ago, though I guess it didn't work. It's a damn monopoly already now it's "fixin" to get even worse. GO Springsteen!
If Eddie and Bruce want warriors just call, we'll come running!
Flora from Gainesville
Pure insanity. Well, at least if this goes thru, I will be able to save all my hard earned money for REAL entertainment, and not some over priced 2 hour concert by someone who could do a heck of a lot more about this problem then say "I'm Furious!".
You want to make a difference? Do something!
Ticketmaster clearly hoards the best tickets for themselves or other ticket brokers, then sells them at a significant markup on other websites. This needs to be investigated.
I urge others to file a consumer complaint with the FTC, as I have. Here is the website: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Trying to buy tickets for spring training through Ticketmaster is more trouble than it's worth. After 4 unsuccessful tries, forget it. I have never had a good experience dealing with these people & refuse to ever buy tickets again for anything if they are involved
I have said on more than one occasion that, if it were not for my love of tax accounting and the internal revenue code, I'd be in law school trying to bring down Ticketmaster. I cannot figure out how on earth this company is not in violation of the anti-trust laws that have been around for almost 100 years.
After the Radiohead debacle at Nissan Pavilion last year, I was issued 4 tickets to see the band at another venue. Parking charges are included in the ticket price for a show at Nissan Pavilion – $5 charge per ticket. I asked for my parking fees to be refunded since we were never able to park at the venue and see the show due to the weather conditions. They didn't refund the money and I still had to pay $20 at the new site, since their ticket price didn't include a parking charge! Grrrrr.
I just tried to order tickets to see Derek Trucks. Nevermind the exorbitant charges–I'd probably pay that, but I can't get through their assinine procedures in the allotted time. After several tries i gave up. I don't think I'll use the service again. Bye Ticketmanster
Ticketmaster is out of control. Last month I was online within 2 minutes of when tickets went on sale to purchase tickets for a concert. They were completely out of any seats that were next to each other (in 2 minutes). Ticketmaster then sent me to Tickets Now (which they own) which miraculously had tons of tickets in all areas and seating next to each other. I'm supposed to believe that people bought up most of the tickets, turned around and placed them on Tickets Now in a matter of 2-3 minutes. I don't think so. Something smells here.
Their profit margin has got to be 90%. The fees for the service offered is outrageous. With less competitors, it will only get worse. The stadium and the artists will get less and less of my money and TicketMaster will get more and more. Or perhaps not.....This is getting worse and worse. Somebody do something about this! This is pure mafia!
"Pearl Jam tried to fight the giant, “TicketBastard,” as one of you dubbed them…but no one else seemed to join the battle."
The reason it didn't work for them is because most of the larger venues in cities all over the U.S. have exclusive contracts with Ticketmaster to sell their tickets. Therefore, PJ found themselves having to play at Mr. Wilson's corn field because they were unable to sell their own tickets for those venues. I am positive that the "Facility Charge" that is now applied to almost every ticket is a kickback to these venues as a way to ensure that we will continue to be raped by Ticketmaster for many years to come.
I loathe Ticketmaster. I would love nothing more than to see someone put those buttholes out of business in my lifetime.
Down with TICKETMASTER, the price of going to concerts is ridiculous now. Bands, promoters and artists should BAN Tickemaster and have us fans spend our money on t-shirts and beer at the venues. There is absolutely no reason to pay a Surcharge and then pay $20.00 for parking at a dirt lot at the venue! Concerts should be Surcharge Free and FREE PARKING! This is the sound of the Death Knell for Ticketmaster and all the vultures, hyenas and scavengers who make a dime off of concert going fans.
I hate them. They overcharge by adding all kinds of rediculous fees. A ticket that was listed at $45 ultimately cost me $61 after they added all their fees. If they merger, that will pretty much make them a manopoly. Watch their "fees" increase aspecially when there's no competition. I'll bet they aren't worried about losing their jobs!!!!
This has been going on for a long; subsequently, I do not patronize any concert or artist that relies upon Ticketmaster as their slaes agent. I have not dealt with LiveNation, but it appears that they are even worse. I am content with hearing live music at smaller local clubs, coffee houses, etc... Most "big" acts aren't even worth hearing today, at any cost. I work too hard for my money, just to give it away to the greedy ticketing agent, overhyped musicians, etc..
Man, it was great back in the 70's and 80's.
One of the worst things about all the added fees is that you don't see them until after you've booked your order.
I got a pair of Ryan Adams tickets the other day and with the fees and "convenience" charges, it was almost the price of an additional ticket.
With so much taking place on-line, do there really need to be all the additional fees. I'm no longer talking to a rep on the other end of the phone. I'd wager to say that most people no longer call for tickets.
It's just ludicrous, but we have no other option – aside from skipping concerts all together or trying to buy them scalped or at the venue box office – neither of which can guarantee you seats.
My experience through many years with Ticketmaster has been a mixed bag. Sometimes I get good seats. But, my main gripe is that they are pretty much a monopoly, and the extra fees are ridiculous. They make it very hard to afford going to a concert. There is also this thing with theatres and certain credit card companies like American Express, that only their top customers with their cards get the first crack at tickets before they go on sale to the "general public". That is totally unfair to the public and this kind of business scheme should be outlawed.
Unfortunately, the only real way to rein in the greedy bastards would be a BIG BOYCOTT of ALL shows. Of course that's just unrealistic. The general (albeit fickle) public would never abide by it. Particularly when their spoiled 10 year old is jumping up & down screaming "oh mommy mommy I just have to go see Hanna Montanna or I'll just DIE". When one's favorite Star/Band/Team is having an event, people are willing to dish out big bucks. Promoters know this, just as they know by virtue of past scalping procceeds that people, especially, but not limited to, the puckered sphincters that will pay just about anything to see their favorite star perform, the nearer, the better(Aren't I SPECIAL, I was on THE FRONT ROW).
Aside from the psychological need that it fills, (OOH!!! SqueelSqueel!!!!!!!!....I was in the SAME BUILDING as _________(fill in name of favorite over-hyped prima donna), watching a live performance isn't always the best way to see your favorite lip-synching 'artist'.
Seems to me that a nation-wide boycott of ALL shows would make their greedy little hearts skip several beats. And, when Stars/Bands/Teams have no one to perform for, Ticketbastard, Jive Nation & their ilk would evaporate.
What a bunch of unmitigated crap
Ticketmaster, and Ticketron who they swallowed up years ago, and any of these professional scalpers are all scum and parasites.
Whatever benefit they initially offered to concertgoers who wished to purchase tickets from outside of an area were lost when they slapped their surcharge on ANY and ALL tickets sold for a particular show. It used to be that if you went to the venue directly you could at least bypass the Ticketmaster surcharge, but those days are long gone.
A classic example of the saying, "Don't (wet) down my back and tell me it's raining"!!!
1.) I would like to take a baseball bat to the head of the Ticketmaster CEO–he deserves it. 2.) There is no reason to charge more than $2.00 per ticket for the administrative charges for an online ticket. I know that because here in Los Angeles (an expensive city), some show and concert venues that have very sophisticated websites that sell their own tickets outside of Ticketmaster and charge just $2.00 per ticket. And they claim that $1.50 of each $2.00 goes into a fund to support struggling actors and the arts. I don't mind paying $2.00 a ticket extra to support the arts. 3.) We know Tickemaster is corrupt because they charge you to print your ticket at home. Why does it cost money to print a ticket at home? That is insane! 4.) The Ticketmaster CEO deserves a bat to the head my friends. “Swack…no I won’t lower the $8.00 service charge…my wife needs new diamond earrings and Mercedes every week…Swack…Ahhh..okay, how about $5.00 a ticket?…Swack….Um…okay…$2.00 a ticket…but you still have to pay $2.50 to print the ticket…..Swack….Okay…free printing of the ticket….Swack…Okay, Okay, Okay—STOP!…I know it only costs 50 cents per ticket for my IT guys and phone girls for the website we sell so many tickets, but what about the shareholders—they are going to kill me…Swack…..Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay….Screw them, they don’t go to concerts anyway…You got it—50 cents a ticket-Hey, now I can even afford to go to the concert without oppressive fees!—but please don’t tell my wife we are going to see the Pussycat Dolls and Britany Spears! She will take a bat to my head!
I stopped buying tickets when ticketmaster came along. I I want to go to something I go to the window. I'll wait in line, thank you. I've never done business with them and never will. Apparently enough people are willing to pay for this "convenience". I'm not. It is an unregulated rip-off. the more they get investigated and regulated the better. Better yet, I hope they all go out of business.
I hate ticketmaster! Truly the worst,
I used to be able to get front row tickets at list prices by getting Sunday's paper Saturday and getting in line early sunday morning. This was in the early 80s. In 1989, I was third in line for Who tickets and only one $500 seat was available when I got to the counter because the scalpers & agencies had scooped me by placing buyers in line at every location.
Plain and simple – I don't go to concerts anymore, considering myself lucky to have experienced what I did when I did how I did.
Same for sports events, etc. I ain't a banker getting big bonuses – now from the taxpayers.
This , for the obvious reasons is why I'm glad I am a musician.For the price of a 1/2 decent seat at any band thats even worth seeing, I can get a few guys together & we can play what everyone WANTS to hear,buy a keg of beer, 2 strippers, a comedian, free parking , a ton of food & snacks & have the party of the summer ! No pushing or shoving, young people who can't hold their liquor puking all over the place.I'd have to take out a 2nd mortage if I was to even attempt to go to a show now.I still have Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Iron Maiden & KISS tickets stubs that have a $7.50 face value price tag on them & for $40 , I had the time of my life.That included tickets, a program , a T-shirt that would last more then 1 load of wash, & plenty of food & drinks for the evening. Sorry, I guess using KISS is also a bad example, Gene Simmons , probably has a hand in this too & will probably schedule a 5th " farewell tour " .He oughta drop the bass guitar & play a damn briefcase.My advice is , buy the dvd, learn to play an instrument yourself & pose in front of the mirror or just wear loose fitting clothes for the screwing your gonna get .I can't speak for others' , but I'm when I'm getting screwed, I liked to be kissed ! ( & NOT by Gene Simmons ! lol )
Ticketmaster is ridiculous.
One of the last concerts I went to in Atlanta was the Black Keys. Tickets were $20. By the time all was said and with the fees, the cost of the ticket was $38. I'm not sure, but adding 90% to the face value cost of a ticket seems ri-gd-diculous!!!!
Ticketmaster is EVIL!!!!!
TicketMaster are a bunch of crooks, plain and simple. Hey Steve Jobs! Can't you come up with a revolutionary solution to this problem? You've transformed every other media delivery mode, how about this one? You could call it the iConcert Broadcaster, a pocket size device that would wirelessly broadcast a concert in compressed HD to peer-shared networks for a live feed of any show. Someone would have to buy a ticket though so everyone else could benefit and these people would get some special payoff through the peer network for their service and sacrifice.
Ahhh, dreams of future technical revolutions...for now I say we boycott TicketMaster completely and help support a sea change of this industry by voting with our wallets. This is the only thing that works.
It's simple: The days of the "average joe" being able to get a reasonably decent ticket for a concert at a fair price have been long gone. All you have to do is look at who the corporate sponsors are for whatever venue you want to see a concert at. These are the people who get all the premium seats. The vast majority (over 70%) of the premium seats are never actually put on sale to begin with. I used to work for a company that was a major customer of a corporate sponsor of a local arena. The owner and his pals could always count on getting great tickets to the big shows from the corporate boys.
My suggestion: invest in a nice flat screen tv and a good home theater system and buy the concert DVD. Think about it:, with the crappy seats you always end up with at a concert you end up watching the giant screens most of the time anyway.
Ticketmaster is such as scam. With all the fees they tack onto the already overpriced tickets, they are WORSE than the cable company! I went on Ticketmaster to purchase tickets for a John Legend concert and they made it nearly impossible to find the cheaper tickets. Instead, the website advertised tickets from LiveNation for triple the lowest cost of a regular ticket . Needless to say, I didn't go to the concert. If I were an artist, I would work out deals with promoters to allow small business owners sell tickets (without any fees, of course), which would give the businesses exposure and give people a chance not to get ripped of by Ticketmaster. I've bought tickets from local business owners for concerts before, and definitely it's a win/win for the artist and the business.
I bought tickets (4) for a AC/DC concert and got the WORST tickets that I have ever seen in my life, we were put under the balcony alcove at the Forum in Inglewood, CA which is at the very top of the stairs and when it was time to use the restroom I noticed that the over-all sound was much better once I descended into a somewhat normal range but this concert left a bad taste in my mouth not to mention my daugther was nearly groped just as we were leaving the venue. I remember buying the tickets within an hour that they became available to the public and yet I got these crappy tickets and paid almost 100 bucks per ticket. Not a good experience that I will repeat anytime soon.
Folks...After all this complaining and moaning. How about do something about it? I am hearing a lot of people spending loads on fee and this and that and still continue doing it. If so I guess it doesn't bother you that much to give them your money. Especially when they are not forcing you to do so...one of simple rules of capitalism, they can price whatever they want, and you don't have to buy it. If you do then don't whine about it. I don't like this kind of added fees either and so I don't support them. But when I decide I have to see a show, I bite the bullet, pay the fee and enjoy it.
It doesn't take much. The best way is to get together and stop going to concerts. Just don't buy what they are selling. It doesn't matter who merges with who. Believe me if there's enough people stop buying concert tickets, things will change. You just have to be that change.
But are you strong enough to do that? I seriously doubt it. So enjoy getting ripped off or enjoy the show.
Ticketmaster has been sucking the marrow from music ever since their existence. Does anyone remember Perl Jam trying to tour without them? The tour ended 1/2 way through. The world would be a much better place without this demon company.
don't go to the shows, don't buy the cd's, it is the only way to stop this.
If people would stop paying these ridiculous prices things would change. I said the same thing about a year or so ago about boycotting Christmas and overspending and stuff because of gas prices and then maybe gas prices would have come down. People laughed when I said it and now look where it got us. You can't change something if you don't change your habits.
my pet name for ticketmaster has always been ticketf***er.
Ticketmaster, Monsanto, Exxon: all are corporate spawn of Satan.
I was amazed last Monday when I went on Ticketmaster.com to get my Bruce Tickets. I started refreshing the site and got in at 10am on the dot. The first tickets available to me were in the back of the San Jose Arena. Nothing closer. I knew the tix would got fast so I took them. Just out of curiousity I checked the Ticketsnow site at 10:05am. It seemed like all the good seats closer than mine were available at 2 or three times face value. I was under the impression that the Ticketsnow site was for people to resell their already purchased tickets. How were all those seats better than mine already available for resale? Something stinks at Ticketmaster. There needs to be an investigation. This isn't right!
TicketsNow is a resale site like StubHub and Ebay. It is a subsidiary of Ticketmaster, but does not offer primary market inventory. If tickets get on that site, its from individuals who are reselling. Its fine if you don't like that, but you need to include Ebay, Stubhub etc in your list of villains.
Ticketmaster does not set prices. Artists, venues and promoters set prices. Ticketmaster is a full service ticketing shop – the fees are to pay for inventory, accounting, access control, website, software development and distribution. If there was no Ticketmaster, you would be paying for these services from some provider or management company, as you can't put on an event without them.
Some fees TM has no control over – facility and parking fees are set by the venue or municipality.
When you buy from Ticketsnow, you are 100% guarenteed that the ticket is legit and you will not have problems, because Ticketsnow can verify the legitimacy of the inventory. StubHub etc. can not do that.
The Phish concert and the problems with LiveNation had nothing to do with Ticketmaster. They were because LiveNation has begun acting as its own ticketing agency, and failed to handle the consumer load on their website.
Don't go to concerts or and events these deadbeats (ticketmaster/Livenation) put on.
Hey everyone!
Here's an experiment: do a web search of ticket brokers and look for Springsteen (or othe artist of your choice) tickets on one of them for the date of your choice and prive. Now, search for another broker with the same information (artist, date price, etc); you'll see the SAME tickets being available.
My theory – Ticketbastard had the prime block of tickets out there up for the highest bid with the brokers. You don't really think that Ticketbastard makes any money on a piddly service charge, do you?
Tom Petty has the right idea: you can only pick up the tickets at the venue with the credit card used to buy the ticket and your ID for the credit card. Then, you are escorted into the venue. He also limits the tickets by name and credit card. God bless Tom Petty: he tries to make sure the fans get the tickets and not the brokers – you can't get a Tom Petty ticket through any brokers!!!
They both suck....
I was discusted by the recent experience I had trying to get a Phish ticket form LiveNation. They suck!! TicketBastard is not much better but at least the system works well enough to get logged in and have a fair shot.
What ever happended to just being able to buy a ticket and go to a show? when did it get so hard, that you have to spend over an hour trying to get a ticket only to have the system online crash repeatedly!!???
NOTE TO BANDS, sell your own tickets thru your own website and screw the big giant heads!!!
After reading all of these comments, I am deeply and horribly moved by all of the things people have gotten off their chests....it is blatantly clear we are being screwed by this industry. We are the ones that make these artists rich s-o-bs...I love music, and live music at that, from punk to funk...and I sadly still pay ridiculous amounts of money to see my favorite bands/performers because I'm frivolous maybe, or just lucky enough to have the extra dough to spend. I completely agree that the artists need to take the stand against this bs, it should be their responsibility and on their conscience to do so...Pearl Jam tried to fight the giant, "TicketBastard," as one of you dubbed them...but no one else seemed to join the battle. These people relish in the fact that we would fork over, on average, 80 bucks to see a show through binoculars....and that, as Sports Ilustrated always says, "is a sign of the Apocalypse!" I'd say boycotting is the best message, but then again, I just spent $170 on two tix to see Ryan Adams and the Cardinals in Jax, row VV....I'm just as much to blame for fueling the beast I suppose...
Ticketmaster – Overpriced, service charge here, convenience charge here, it's like buying an airfare – so many unnecessary and inflated charges to be able to purchase tickets to concerts and live events. It's a scam and one that needs to be addressed. Music and theater should be affordable for everyone – it would appear that ticketmaster holds on to the best tickets – sells them to the scalpers and Live Nation and now has been caught in the act.
The arts are for enjoyment and expanding of our horizons – there is nothing better than live music from great music artists. Why inflate art and creativity......
I tried to get tickets to Bruce for the 5/18 show in DC & the ticketmaster site automatically switched me to the ticketsnow site. I couldn't get back until it was too late.
They say that most of the tickets go to the season ticket holders prior to the sale & then we get the rest. The bottom line is greed. Nothing else. Get this ticketmaster said that only a few people complained. Ticketmaster can take it & shove it up their ASSES!
Blade... and anyone else killing themselves for tickets...
save yourself the trouble... if you were lucky enough to get any tickets to anything then go, be happy, and appreciate what you have that many others could not obtain. Chances are the idea of going and your memory of time spent with the band in the past are much more exciting and fun than the real thing nowadays. Aside from astronomical ticket prices... Phish sucks now. I have seen them at least 60 times and they are not a fraction of the band they were 10-12 years ago. Each show now is like a summary of what a good show used to be or is supposed to be with less effort and less musical enthusiasm. They should stay retired if they werent so greedy... i saw them the last time they played and saw a musically awful show.
Dont believe the hype... there isnt a band out there now that is worth everything you are putting yourselves through.
Greed Greed Greed.
I'm surprised that Bush and Cheney found new jobs so quickly.
I dont know about all this merger crap...but what I want to know is how come when I go on ticketmaster, I search for a concert and I can see that the tickets are face value, lets say $70...so I click on "best available" and all that comes up is nosebleed seats on the side of the stage for $200 EACH???!! how is this possible? how come general admission was $70 and then crappy seats go up to $200....seriously can someone explain this to me??
furthermore, who is going to these concerts at these rediculous prices? who can afford this? is everyone at that concert filthy rich?
This will be a disaster. As it is Ticketmaster's "convenience" for almost half the price of the ticket Not to mention you get a "convenience" fee charge whether you buy the tickets in person at a ticketmaster outlet or online and you print the ticket out yourself.
Ticketmaster is a greeder corporation and with the power of a merge with LiveNation it will only get worse. Ticketmaster doesn't care about the fans. It cares about raping their wallets
It’s going to take some time, but this industry is slowly killing itself. The Boss and Neil et al will be out before that happens, but it will happen. The powers that be are taking these guys and putting them out there and milking it for all it is worth. Then they take it a step further and start scalping tickets… The next generation won’t pay more than $40 for their shows and some won’t pay anything at all so the record companies, promoters, younger acts are f’d. Some of the established artists are guilty of the milking as well, but the appetite is out there and their time is running short so who can blame ‘em? Some of ‘em would be out there anyway, regardless and don’t need the money. I just pay the cost and begrudgingly accept it and try to limit the number of shows I attend. If I could get a $70 ticket, I’d go and see the Boss, but it ain’t going to happen this time around.
I was one of those Bruce fans shut out on Monday.
Here in L.A., the TicketsNow tickets were available immediately when the tickets when on sale.
Those seats were never available to the public to begin with.
"Reputable brokers" means "really just us using a different name."
At one point in time, using the Internet to get tickets leveled the playing field a bit...every once in a while I got lucky...now they went and changed the rules on us...
...NO one can get lucky now.
Lets not forget, besides being a major promoter and distributor, the blurry relationship with Clear Channel [spun off mainly to avoid regulatory & legal issues] and the vast number of venues [and venue box offices] & radio stations involved in that relationship. Already they are an anti-trust monopoly nightmare....Add the leviathon of Ticketmaster to their arsenal and truly we'll be dealing with a beast.
Ticket master has been a thief for as long as I can remember. This is part of the greedy crap that Obama is beginning to try to get people to stop. Many groups are sellng their own tickets now days. They know that these companies hurt their bottom line. A Ticket advertised for $50 goes for $60 or more. Legalized scalping. One day you knuckleheads gotta stop screwing the American people.
I tried to get a single ticket for Metallica the minute they went on sale from ticketmaster and the best available was upper deck... I decided not to buy the ticket and wait and see if I could scalp one the night of the show. By chance I looged onto ticketmaster 2 days before the show because the venue didn't sell out and low and behold an 11 row, lower level, center stage was available. Where was this ticket when I initially logged on when they went on sale??? Ticketmaster is a joke. I am very disappointed because I thought livenation was a good source of information. the government needs to stop this merger. Or we will be paying $150 service charges.
Working in the music industry, I have to deal with these companies all the time and they are awful and incredibly greedy. Seriously, something needs to be done to bring these companies down (and something should be done about the clear channel monopoly as well). The record industry failed, and the live music industry doesn't have to follow suit, but it surely will with the merge of these two!
Just try to get good seats to an event, it's a joke. When you get through 1 minute into a show going on sale, you can only get nosebleed seats! It's sad, I used to enjoy shows, but I'm not paying $75-$125 to sit in the back 40 and I'm not paying the $200 or $500 or even over $1000 to the Ticket Pimps, so I just don't go.
Ticketmaster does supply ahead to the brokers. Recently tried to buy tickets to Dave Mathews in Vegas. Ticketmaster had only nose bleeds at advertised prices, others never showed up in search, low and behold ticketsnow, owned by ticketmaster had good tickets, being sold at 150 up to 4000 dollars, way more than the advertised $70. How was this possible with the tickets having just gone on sale???? Ticketmaster is destroying music and we as a people are letting them. Ban ticketmaster, support local venues.
The only way to stop it , is to quit buying from these people.
Ive been around since the late 60s.
When there was no ticketmaster you want to your local record store or box office to get tickets.
Ive seen tickets go from 2 dollars to what they are today.
These type of brokers have brought big time greed into it.
Better off waiting for the DVD and watching it in the comfort of your own living room. much cheaper
Deal directly with the artist if you can, you are better off.
I say boycott all concerts until prices of tickets and the rediculious "handling fees" that come with them come down to a reasonable price. No performer is worth what their tickets are going for. I just can't understand how the public is still attending these over priced, poorly performed concerts. Performers hardly ever sing anymore. Food and beverages are a small fortune all on there own. We are fed up with it and should make it known. Stop going to events, stop lining the promoters pockets with cash and make them change their greedy ways. Imagine, if we all just stopped, what would they do?
Boycott them both. Write to your favorite bands on their respective websites and bring the matter to their attention. Bands make the bulk of tyheir income from touring and if we stop buying the tickets they will have to address this. Remember the good ol days, when drugs and alcohol riuned bands? Now it's the tickert agencies. BOYCOTT!
these fees are nothing compared to what ticket re-sellers charge..often tripling or quadrupling ticket prices. i was hoping all the soccor mom's who got mad with the miley cyrus fiasco would have put an end to it. This merger will certainly be bad for the fans, but we've already got a huge problem with the re-sellers.
My husband and I purchased tickets from LiveNation over the weekend. Still tons of surcharges. As far as I'm concerned both charge just as much in fees, but I'd rather deal with ticketmaster anyday. The website is much easier to maneuver than Live Nation. I am not a Live Nation fan
Ticketmaster is the freakin' Devil's spawn. Those rat b@st@rds also run Tickets now. Next time you try to buy tickets for a show, and can't get them due to Live Nation's servers being brought to their knees, take a look at Ticket's now. They'll have all the tickets you just tried to get at 100-1000% markup...All because they have the power to saturate Live Nation with their OC12 Data links and their 500 reps buying tickets at once. Live Nation needs to ban these jerks from purchasing tickets out from under all of us normal simpletons who just want to see our favorite bands for less than the price of our monthly mortgages. I hope and pray they're the next victims of the economic collapse in this country.
Ticketmaster is a scam anyway. They let all the good tickets go to scalpers and their own employees, and the real fans of these bands have to pay through the nose on ebay and stubhub. Scalpers and professional e-bayers use programs to get past the so-called "security" procedures they have that ensures everyone has a fair chance at tickets. Fair chance? Yeah right!
There should be an investigation into their business practices.
My brother called up for Phish tickets 10 minutes before they went on sale. he got 2 for the 1st show and none for the 2nd show. But the brokers and ebay have lots of tickets. I'm going to have to pay the markup if I want to go to the friday show. I remember paying $13.00 to see Iron Maiden in 1983. I rarely go to concerts anymore but Phish has not toured since '06 and probably won't for a while. I wanted to go see The Dead but I'm spending my money on Phish.
One thing people don't realize is tickets that you see before the onsale or presale date are speculation tickets posted by brokers. Think of tickets like a stock. The ticket is posted before the date of sale at a very high price. If someone is "dumb" enough to purchase them, the broker knows the price of the ticket will go down. Once the price goes down the broker fills the order with the depreciated ticket.
I dont deal with ticketmaster or livenation anymore... I refuse to pay the outrages fees they charge.
These people have a monopoly on the entertainment business and they know it.
Better off saving your money. Maybe if people quit buying from them and the artists dont see anyone showing up anymore they will change there bogus charging. ..
these companies are the real scalpers.
Save your money
I'm not surprised, and I won't be bullied, either. My wife and I don't see the big shows put on by big promoters who lease big venues and charge ridiculous prices. We go to smaller shows and see up-and-coming acts up close, and we get dinner, two tickets to the show and a couple of drinks for the price of one ticket to a U2 show from one of the greedmongers. Ticketmaster can eat it. Forever.
In response to:
Carlos Sandoval February 5th, 2009 1:53 pm ET
Put “going to a rock concert” on your list of “Things you used to do, but can’t anymore”, along with watching free television, seeing a double-feature with a cartoon, and riding a train cross country. Oh the good ole days.
........................................................................
You hit the nail on the head. Exactly my feelings too. Concerts are already getting way overpriced, I pretty much just have to say no and move on. I wish it was the other way. Greed has populated this country into a near wasteland. No wonder we are going through an economic crisis. Greed. Greed. Greed.
I'm done with mainstream rock concerts and anyplace I need to buy tickets through Ticketmaster. The amount of money charged to see your favorite band from a mile away (or on a video screen) with ten thousand+ others has lost its' novelty. I even had to pay an additional $25 to park when I recently saw Metallica. Voting with my wallet...you all can do the same. 😉
Just when I thought it couldn;t get any worse for those of us who enjoy live music..........
I'm just thankful I can access Ticketmaster online. I remember all too well those days of standing in line for hours at Dillards to get to their Ticketmaster outlet, and still getting lousy tickets. I'll be glad for the day when all tickets are available from one single outlet online.
Matt – Perhaps the venue at Jones Beach which I am not at all familiar with has seasob ticket holders and with this new avenue to sell via Ticketmaster that may be why the tickets are there before the sale to the public, fan club or the joke of an American Express sale. I am waiting to see Fleetwood Mac and the pre-sales and ticketmaster were a joke.
I can only hope that some good seats get released the week of the show
Musical acts and ticket companies should be begging people in this economy to come to a show. Jimmy Buffet's ticket prices are outragous, as usual, but what's worse is the "Ticket Fee" from Live Nation. ($21 per ticket in my town for any pavilion seat.) What does the ticket fee go for? You also pay for parking per ticket regardless of whether you drive, hand glide, walk, take a taxi, etc. to the show. If you go with 4 in a vehicle, they get $24 for that vehicle to park on a usually unpaved lot. Nice. I'll stick to NFL games, they're cheaper... and that's scary.
I agree, the surcharges and fees are rediculous. But they're like that for both Ticketmaster and Livenation's new ticketing service. At least Ticketmaster can handle the site traffic during popular onsale dates. If you live in the Philadelphia area you also might have to go though Comcasttix.com (depending on the venue). Both Livenation's and Comcast's websites are HORRIBLE in terms of handling high traffic.
If you're going to pay the fees either way, I'd rather be confident in Ticketmaster's well oiled machine as opposed to the others.........
So they look into Major League Baseball, maybe we can get Congress to take a look at this?
Either that or pretty soon you'll have the Jonas Brothers and Pussycat Dolls asking for a bailout.
Absolutely disgusting. TM already charges ridiculous fees on tickets and they certainly route a lot of the best tickets to brokers and scalpers before the public even has a chance to buy them. Giving that company more monopolistic control will be bad for consumers.
Ticketmaster is a dream compared to Live Nation. Did anyone else try and get Phish tickets last week? Who cares if it is a merger. As bad as Ticketmaster charges are, it's certainly "better the devil you know". Live Nation is short sighted and infantile.
The internet ruined ticket sales. Used to be able to stand in line overnight at a department store. First come, first served. Now the servers go down, and hundreds of tickets end up on stubhub for 5-25 times the face value.
I am 30 and have been to very few concerts in my life because I can't rationalize the purchase, nor do I have time to fight to get tickets that go sold out in a matter of minutes. My parents and people who were growing up in the 70s and 80s got to *experience* live concerts, whereas I am lucky enough to watch the HBO version.
I just recently bought tickets through Ticketmaster's sister company, and they charged me a $100 service fee, just because it is at this other "premium" website. I can't imagine that this $100 is anytihing but profit for them as the transfer of the tickets was a matter of transferring numbers to a different company account.
I wish the artsist would take a stand. Their fans want to see them, but in this economy one can't rationalize paying the sorts of money that a decent seat is going for.
I hoped LiveNation would provide competition for Ticketmaster and the outlandish surcharges and service fees. Unfortunately, when I went to buy a "30 dollar" lawn ticket to see the Avett Brothers and Dave Matthews Band, the LiveNation surcharges bumped the ticket up to 52 dollars! So much for that hope.
This would certainly be a monopoly. If it took Sirius and XM as long as it did to be allowed to merge, this merger should take twice as long and should be looked at very closely. There would be no avoiding this monopoly for music acts. The band Phish attempted to avoid ticketmaster by signing exclusively with live nation, a huge mistake that is leading to the outrage of fans nationwide at the impossibility of acquiring tickets. Not only were they releasing tickets to Jimmy Buffet and the Grateful Dead simultaneously which cluttered their system, they in no way possessed a server remotely capable of handling the volume of customers trying to purchase Phish tickets alone. Tickets by phone could only be purchased one at a time without the guarantee of others being together, and online sales were a complete debacle as milions experienced errors, freezes, and time expirations despite the computer showing available tickets in their possession. Absolutely the worst ticket purchasing experience i've ever had. If this inefficiency can be expected to translate through a merge we are all looking at one terrible mess of a monopoly. Say goodbye to the pleasure of excessive surcharges and say hello to the disappointment of not getting tickets at all unless you pay a broker (who is able to manipulate the system regardless) between 2 and 3 times the ticket price. If this should happen to you, save your breath, your complaints fall on deaf ears, and just go to a movie, buy a cd, or exercise.
A monopoly and a Cartel, where is the legal mind to take tnem down?
Its not so much the surcharge & handling fees that make me so angry...its the sheer non-availability of good seats the minute the tickets go on sale....Is it ANY WONDER that every ticket holder in the front rows of any high demand concerrt like U2, Bruce, Billy, Elton, Dave Matthews Band, etc. has paid many times the face value of the ticket??? Those tickets are never put into the general marketplace for everyday concert goers who dont want to pay scalpers prices. If you want to buy a scalped ticket, do it the old fashioned way....head out to the concert and look for scalpers trying to unload tickets right before showtime! It seems that EVERY front row seat is allotted to secondary sellers like StubHub, Tickets Now, etc.. Some of these companies are subsidiaries of Ticketmaster. But, tell me, isnt there something slighltly illegal here? A monopoly perhaps? WHO sets the ticket prices anyway? Is it the artist? the promoter? the venue? I remember years ago before Ticketmaster even existed, tickets were sold at individual outlets such as record stores and you just took a gamble on which outlet had better seats that the "other guy." You paid face value, nothing more!
Ticketmaster is already nearly a monopoly in the ticket game. Live Nation is built on greed. Might be a marriage made in heaven for them, but it's a marriage made in hell for the concert-going public. The real kick in the teeth being given a list of tickets available through TM's scalping brand, Ticketsnow, when regular-priced Springsteen tickets were sold out. Amazing that TM's own scalper arm had tickets available in every seating category at vastly inflated prices within minutes. Gee, I wonder how that's possible. I'm really dreading when U2 announces their tour, it's going to be just as bad, if not worse as they've already climbed into bed with Satan..err, Live Nation. Even though live concerts are my life blood, I think this merger will put an end to those days. I'll have to curl up with my old bootlegs and dream of the good old days.....when a night out at a big venue for a major act cost all of $50 including the ticket, tshirt, program, hot dog and soda!
This has monopoly written all over it. Lets hope the government puts as much thought into allowing this merger to go through as they did with Sirius and XM. If they are allowed to merge i don't think there will be any benefits for the consumers only jacked up prices because there will be no other place to buy tickets. I also agree with Dukes, that ticketsnow site is a crock of s***. I always thought scalping tickets was illegal. I guess they have some lobbyist.
Ahh the beginning of yet another monopoly.
I hope the feds nix this one.
It is bad enough to be robbed blind by all the "fees" that TicketBastard charges.
Now this!
This is absurd and beyond shady. Ticketmaster already has such questionable practices – indicating a show is "sold out" but hey, you can go buy from the "reputable brokers" we support. Here, just click this link. Hope you don't mind the ridiculous mark up. Hmm...I wonder who bought all the tickets in the first place? Their brokers maybe? And just a few weeks ago I logged onto Ticketmaster at the date and time tickets were SUPPOSED to go on sale for show only to find out, surprise, they were sold out already. I went on the fan website for the band and, to my absolute shock, people had posted DAYS before saying ticketmaster had already started selling tickets! Wonder who got most of them. Their brokers perhaps???? Now Live Nation wants in on that action. Can't say as I blame them, but it bad business for the fans....
we just need to quite buying tix from them - that will fix it. I cant afford the concerts any more - just buy the DVD performances.
No way! These two were in colusion for the recent Phish ticket sales. Even before tickets went onsale for Phish's show near Boston in June through Live Nation, Ticketmaster's "re-sale" site TicketsNow were selling great seats an elevated prices.
This would be amarriage made in hell.
This is just ridiculous when will the government wake and smell the monopoly both of these companies have on the entertainment industry.
My question is this... if these companies merge, does that mean there will be more bodies on board to investigate why fans can't purchase tickets to events, yet have to go through online ticket brokers, or subsideries such as Ticketmaster owned, Tickets Now? I was recently at a concert where I sat at the top of the stadium...READ: The WORST seats. And I was surrounded by people who had bought their tickets through a Ticketmaster Pre-Sale. So lemme get this straight.... Ticketmaster rewards it's customers and loyal fans by providing them with the worst seats in the house (even when selecting "best available")... during a Pre-sale??? Forget about irritating fans with surcharges – A fan these days is lucky to get tickets for face value!
This proposed merger is another set back for the music lover to enjoy live shows. Ticketmaster has cornered the market on tickets,sets its own fees and availability of tickets. The sales methods are deplorable making ticket availabilty almost non existant to general consumer buyers either on line or the telephone. Popular events are allowed to be sold out to scalpers (or TicketsNow) to susbtantially drive up the price of performances (which are already too expensive). How I wish we went back to the days of first come first serve and local purchases at ticket windows rather than be subject to the monoply practices of Ticketmaster. Live Nation should remain independent and allow for some competition in the marketplace.
Put "going to a rock concert" on your list of "Things you used to do, but can't anymore", along with watching free television, seeing a double-feature with a cartoon, and riding a train cross country. Oh the good ole days.
This is the continuation of greed in America. Everyone at the top cashes in and "main street" continues to pay the price. Does anyone out there in Washington remember what to do with a monopoly!?!?!?!?!!!!!!! Why do we, citizens, allow elected officials (by us) to not be accountable when 2 businesses like this team up and inflate prices for everyone!!!!!?????
This has the appearance of being a monopoly, The venues do sell the tickets but usually they wait a few days after the Ticketmaster sale, and of course by then the good seats are gone. Of course, Live Nation owns some of the venues so you cant escape the service charge either. My problem is with Ticketsnow, which is a "scalper" owned by Ticketmaster. I have been waiting for Kenny Chesney tickets to go on sale for the 6-24-09 show at Jones Beach, NY. They are not available yet, and the date isn't even posted on Kennys website. But somehow, tickets are available at a huge markup on the ticketsnow site. I find this a bit disturbing, is Ticketmaster supplying tickets ahead of time to the brokers?
Thats just great – Already the service fees charged by each for the poor service they produce are outrageous. I will more bands would do the direct ticketing deal.