Ticketmaster... something worth OLP fighting for?

[Sufjan Stevens]

May I just say that regardless of the Ticketmaster issue... comparing the fact that your disposable income doesn't buy as many concert tickets as it used to is hardly the same as people starving, being tortured, not having basic medical care and dying.

Perspective is needed when you start making those comparisons.

Alright, we understand where you're coming from with the whole "starving people in Africa" logic our parents used to tell us, and it makes sense.

But what it all comes down to is, people that want great tickets should be able to receive them for a reasonable price. I should have the right to wake up early, go online or get in line, and pray that my luck will get me great tickets. I am a college student that is unemployed at the moment and have been independant from my family for the better part of five years now. Music is my life. It's my release from reality. I enjoy many bands that play stadium-type shows, like OLP is doing as we speak. The fact of the matter is, I should be able to rely on luck to get me good seats to see music instead of going into a bidding war and spending like $100 for a decent seat to see OLP. I should pay the customary $20 and hope the seat is damn good.

I never want to pay $100 to see any of the bands I like play a show. That's insane. I am young, I still like to be up front and sing my lungs out. I shouldn't have that option taken away because I am still young and not able to afford absurd prices. If OLP plays a show and accepts this crazy ticket auctioning thing, I shouldn't be sent to the back of the stadium because I can only afford a typical $20 ticket. End of story.

[Stace]

I'm not arguing the fact or saying count your blessings because you CAN go to a show.

I'm responding to the opening comment saying that OLP spoke out about the war and this issue is just as important so they should support it. I just can't see any comparison whatsoever.

I've always though TM was gouging people and they have a stranglehold on the market that is ridiculous. This is just another example.

[Flea21212]

I'm not arguing the fact or saying count your blessings because you CAN go to a show.

I'm responding to the opening comment saying that OLP spoke out about the war and this issue is just as important so they should support it. I just can't see any comparison whatsoever.

I've always though TM was gouging people and they have a stranglehold on the market that is ridiculous. This is just another example.

Woa I never said this issue is just as important as the war, Nor did I even imply that it was. What I was saying is if they could stand up for something they knew wasn't going to change anything, as in standing up against the war. Why not do the same for your own fans the people that support them as a band. Which I believe OLP should do.



As another thought on my original post. I think ticketmaster might end up lossing at its own game. Just think, if you have say $150 to spend on tickets for a year. and you have to pay $75 to see 2 shows then thats all you're going to see. However if a show is only going to cost you $20-30 a ticket then you'll go to 5 shows.

In effect people aren't going to keep paying $75 and up for a ticket. Eventually people are going to start spending their money else where. Or going to see smaller bands that only charge $10 to get in.

To me ticketmaster is basing their theory on the thought that we have large disposable incomes and can afford to keep shelling out large sums of money to attend concerts. Which just because a few people have money an can afford expensive tickets. It doesn't represent the vast majority, that can only afford to pay $20 for a ticket.


Also I can just imagine the extra charges now:
Bidders charge: $2 a bid
Auctioneers charge: $3
Some made up charge that no one knows what is for: $4

[Stace]

I was at a talk about ticket prices at CMW a few years ago and some really good points were made

Basically it came down to the fact that people tend to have X number of dollars put aside for entertianment (concerts and what not). If it's one 80 dollar show at the ACC or 8 10 dollar shows at a club, they spend the same. So what that means is that smaller shows and local bands are losing out.

If you happen to be a huge Radiohead fan and they're playing a show near you and that's the only time you're going to get to see them, you'll probably save up and buy those tickets and write off going o see the local bands or smaller artists that you can see every month or so.

So basically what you've said is happening (and has been happening) already. So this will only make it worse.

But on the up side, how long have record labels been overcharging for CDs? Look what's happening now. Eventually enough people will get sick of it and if they all refuse to buy tickets or actually do something about it, things will change.

I apologize if I misinterpreted your opening post, it just seemed like that's what you were saying and I didn't get it.

[Sufjan Stevens]

No, there has to be something like an "Internet auction convenience" charge for like $8 too.

Ticketmaster is absurd. It is truly a monopoly, there's no way around it, yet the government is too busy giving more money to itself and not caring about the general public. Here's a fun example.

I bought myself two tickets to see Alkaline Trio play in Detroit in November. Here's the breakdown in the prices I paid for tickets.

Price per ticket - $15.50
Total ticket price - $31.00
Convenience charges - $13.10
Order Processing Fee - $3.90
-----------------------------------
Total = $48.00

I was charged $17 in absurd charges. That's more than an entire ticket. I have to buy my tickets online because the show would have sold out the floor quickly.

So here's how I was charged for the tickets.

Convenience Charges - These charges are for those insanely difficult things for Ticketmaster like taking an online order and printing the tickets. I am sorry I inconvenienced you so much by having to make you print my tickets out, Ticketmaster. I accept your $6.05 charge just to print my ticket out. Thanks!

Order Processing Fee - Well, I suppose you need to charge me $1.95 per ticket because I made the order. Seems to me the order fee should be covered in the price of the ticket. I mean, that is what I am ordering, and it isn't cheap, so why am I forced to pay even more because I ordered it?

This time I was lucky, but most of the time, there's another $1-2 charge for builing fees. That is great.

So tell me how charging me an extra $8.50 per $15.50 ticket is fair business practice? That is clearly more than an extra 50% per ticket to go see a concert. That is fucking price gouging.

The government made a point to attack price gougers this August during the blackout, so why can't they attack a corporation? And how is this not a monopoly? They have no real competition, yet they keep raising prices through absurd new fees, just to make more money. I am pissed about this.

They already charge me an extra 55% per ticket, so how much will they charge me per ticket if I purchase tickets through an auction? Will it still be the same 55%?

[Sufjan Stevens]

And I just wanted to make a point to Stace. See, the fact of the matter is, with CDs, people have an option of hearing the music without having to pay for it, so companies are forced to lower prices for higher sales or not sell many cds.

People don't have the option of going online and downloading a band into their living room to play a show. Sure, we can download a bootleg video, but that isn't the same. There's no competition for Ticketmaster, so there's no way we can get tickets for a cheaper price than what we pay now. We either take the option of paying an insane amount to see the bands we love, or we don't see the band at all. Like I said, we have no way of seeing the band for free, so we're fucked into accepting these charges.

[nikki4982]

People don't have the option of going online and downloading a band into their living room to play a show.

Oh, if only...



But yeah, I agree with everything you said.

Ticketmaster = teh suck.

[Henrietta]

The next step in technology will be that...downloading holographic bands into you living room...voila...personal concert!!

[Soozy]

I am sorry I inconvenienced you so much by having to make you print my tickets out, Ticketmaster. I accept your $6.05 charge just to print my ticket out. Thanks!

I read somewhere how Ticketmaster have a new scheme going where you can print your own tickets - but they still charge you to do that! So you pay for the paper, the printer ink etc. and yet you still have to pay for the privilege!

[Sufjan Stevens]

I honestly wish someone would start another business just to compete with Ticketmaster. Maybe prices for tickets would be insanely lower, and not have to worry about a 55% charge for buying a ticket. That would be nice.

I know bands like Alkaline Trio offer you something on their website where you can buy tickets without the excessive charges Ticketmaster put on each ticket, but going through them is risky. The link to buy tickets from them usually goes up late, and by the time it's up, floor tickets are gone and you're left with nothing but balcony seats, which I don't want. So I am inevitably forced to pay the extra charges or get crappy seats when I want to rock out with my cock out on the floor. It's a shame too, because Alkaline Trio really tries to help out their fans, but they don't react quickly enough.

[Henrietta]

I bought my tickets for Lollapalooza through their site, and I got the best tickets in the house. I was pleasantly surprised. But that's Lollapallooza. The same thing happens with Dashboard, sometimes the site is days behind ticketbastard or whatever, so you don't get tickets at all. They did use 24tix last time, which worked ALOT better for me.

[Tattooed Angels]

I hate to say it, but the problem with ticketmaster has been going on for years. I am much older then a large percentage on here. I can remember when at one time there actually was two different ticket agencies. At one time(mid 80's) there was actually ticketron. Ticketmaster has become such an monoply in the field that if you fight it you are almost blacklisted.

As I wrote in a privous post, PHISH is fighting the service charges(much like Pearl jam did years ago) Problem is TM owns alotof venues the bands paly at with Clear Channel(the big concert promoter in teh States). What also kills me now with TM and tikcets is pre-sales. It seems unless you are part of TM, etc, or ACCESS you can't get good seats. Also alot of shows are sold out before they are *offically* on sale. I will never understand that. I know that there are very few services besides TM, but they only are in small area. I know in the New England area-I know that alot of shows go through Ticketweb-not as much servce charges. it does kill me that serviec charges are half a price of ticket. Most tickets end up costing close to 10-20 in Service charges. I knwo in NYC-we have no choice anymore. You have to use TM the first day of sales. Box Offices are closed first day of sales. When you do buy from the Box Office you are charged 2-3 dollars for venus charge.

The only way to stop all of this is to just not go to the shows. Then the bands we love will really lose cause the *FANS* aren't showing up. I forgot who said it(I think Stace said it) YOu can pay $80. for a band like Radiohead or go to 8 locla acts for about $15.00. It is sad. I use to go to shows more frequently then I do now. THey were so much cheaper then. Now I choose the ones I really want to see, and don't go to the ones I only have slight interest in. .

We really don't have achoice besides not going. Unfortunately that isn't a good answer.

[Sufjan Stevens]

It's horrible. There's no way around it. No one should be subjected to paying 55% on top of a ticket to see a band. That's just not fair. I wish I could go to a show, pay for the ticket, and not have to worry about paying a corporation like Ticketmaster an insane amout of money for my ticket. They already make money off of a typical ticket, so why do they need to jack the prices up even more? It doesn't make sense.

My mom is a part of that Get Access pre-sale thing, which is another pile of bullshit. You have to pay something like $100 a year to have a chance to get good tickets through a pre-sale. And when the pre-sale ends, the whole floor area is usually sold out, which is shit. Fans that don't have $100 laying around to join a club have to sit in seats so far away you need binoculars to see the stage. That is shit.

For the upcoming Alkaline Trio show in Michigan, they aren't even allowed to sell tickets through a different group besides Ticketmaster because of the venue they're at. Thanks again goes out to Ticketmaster for owning everything involving music. I hate this shit.

I've stopped going to large shows because of the ticket prices. I'd have loved to go see Aerosmith, but to get a seat on the floor, I'd have to pay $125 before charges, then however much they charged me for printing the tickets out. That's not fair to fans. I shouldn't have to spend that much money just so I could be close to the action. It shouldn't be this way.

[Henrietta]

That's how it was for U2, it sucked so bad.

I was talking to my dad (not a big concert fan) and he was saying that if they CAN get that much money for a ticket, then by golly they will and should be able to. It's all about business. I almost blew a gasket! That topic is now blacklisted in this household.

[nikki4982]

I went to Aerosmith... freaking lawn seats before charges were $45 (just in case the term "lawn seat" isn't universal, that means behind the seated audience, and outside the physical venue, but the entire back of the Tweeter Center's open and you look in). I don't know how much they wound up being with charges, cos my boyfriend got the tix, but I bet it was close to $70. It's ridiculous. Things need to change. If more bands would stand up to them, maybe something could happen. Too bad most bands out there today just don't give a crap about fans.

[Sufjan Stevens]

OK, the charges are still ridiculous when you get to higher ticket prices, but they're no 55%.

I just looked at my mom's tickets to see REM. Here's the price breakdown.

Price per ticket: $59.00 (That is a lot for a band like REM)
Total for two tickets: $119.00
Convenience Charges: $17.80
Order Processing Fee: $3.55
-----------------------------------
Total: $140.35

It still sucks, but it's about a 17% increase on ticket price. It still baffles me it costs so much to print a ticket out and send it in the mail. I can't fathom it costing that much. Seriously, that is insane.

[xoNoDoubt69]

yea i just bought two tickets from there yesterday and with all their damn charges iyadded up to almost an extra 20 freakin dollars!