MERGED ----> Ticketmaster to start auctioning best seats + check this out asap

[zonelistener]

yes.

In Minnesota....there are ticket agencies just across the border that will load up on show tickets, and advertise in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market saying they have tickets. They are often at horribly high prices (I remember U2 tickets for more than $500 EACH). Just drive 25 minutes, and presto...tickets to a show.

Now, the Minnesota law is, you cannot sell a ticket above the face value. BUT, there are ways around that.

I could sell you a nice baseball cap for $200 bucks, and throw in a set of tickets for a playoff baseball game....right? Yes!

There will always be ways around the laws. I think it is more important to keep Ticketmaster from scalping, because what they will do is RAISE ALL OF THE TICKET PRICES. Joe Asshole on the street can't do that.

 

[Screaming Flower]

wow, i didn't think i could actually loathe ticketmaster more.

there is an interesting article in the recent rolling stone about how the string cheese incident is attempting to sue ticketmaster. i wish someone could finally take these bastards down.

 

[oktobergirl]

i don't know what to say.

I didn't think Ticketbastard could be any more greedy.

i was wrong.

 

[Fireball]

The best part about the article is where they say that if the average Joe wants to auction off HIS OWN TICKETS Ticketmaster will get 5-10% of the auction price. Greedy bastards.

 

[U2ITNOL]

Someone has started an online petition against Ticketmaster's monopoly and their plans to start auctioning tickets. Please sign it and pass the URL along to your friends.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Tkmaster/petition.html

 

[RickFly]

check this out asap

someone just sent me this article, please read. this is from a very credible source.


(CBS) Waiting In Line Won't Help You.

Keeping an ear to the ground, checking out Web sites and other news about your favorite musicians might still be of some use.

But in the end, for many concerts, it may soon be true that only cold, hard cash - and plenty of it - will get you the hot tickets you are seeking.

According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans later this year to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders.

The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay.

There is no indication at this point on whether Ticketmaster plans to have any rules to keep ticket brokers or scalpers out of the auction, or would allow all comers - individuals and businesses - to compete on the same basis.

"The band's biggest fans ought to have the best seats, not the band's richest fans," Tim Todd, 47, a Phish fan in Kansas City, told the Times.

An industry analyst is quoted as saying that prime seats at the hottest concerts are "undervalued in the marketplace" and auctions are likely to push prices up as a whole.

Tickets have long been resold in auction settings - particularly on eBay, which does a heavy volume in tickets of all kinds.

But in many states, the resale of concert tickets is subject to strict rules meant to protect consumers and give the small scale fan a chance to buy tickets for their favorite event.

Ticketmaster's plan, by contrast, involves the first time sale of tickets and does not appear to be subject to anti-scalper rules.

"The tickets are worth what they're worth," said Ticketmaster CEO and president John Pleasants, in an interview with the Times. "If somebody wants to charge $50 for a ticket, but it's actually worth $1,000 on eBay, the ticket's worth $1,000. I think more and more, our clients - the promoters, the clients in the buildings and the bands themselves - are saying to themselves 'Maybe that money should be coming to me instead of Bob the Broker.'"

 

[zonelistener]

Re: check this out asap

"The tickets are worth what they're worth," said Ticketmaster CEO and president John Pleasants, in an interview with the Times. "If somebody wants to charge $50 for a ticket, but it's actually worth $1,000 on eBay, the ticket's worth $1,000. I think more and more, our clients - the promoters, the clients in the buildings and the bands themselves - are saying to themselves 'Maybe that money should be coming to me instead of Bob the Broker.'"

Anyone want to start an E-Bay auction to see how much John Pleasants' head on a platter is worth?

 

[~LadyLemon~]

Yes!!!



This country is so fucked up. I am too angry to even begin to articulate all the thoughts that are running in my head right now.

 

[dsmith2904]

When is the musicians' rights organization that Don Henley and Sheryl Crow tried to get together going to get off the ground? This is another example of big companies coming into the music business and screwing artists and fans. The artists only get a flat take on ticket sales, they don't really have any say in how much tickets are, who gets them, etc., that is all decided by promoters and venues, many of which have long-term exclusive deals with TicketMaster. Say this auction thing did happen for U2 tickets, TicketMaster and people like Golden Voice, Clear Channel and House of Blues concerts would rake in most of the money and U2 would pretty much get the same amount as they would if the tickets sold for average face value. It's the same thing with CDs, any hike in price lines the wallets of execs, not artists.
Artists and fans need to find a way to get together on this because we're the only ones who are losing out. If I'm going to pay $500 for concert tickets or $20 for a CD, I want to know that the artist is getting the lion's share of my money, not a bunch of corporate people who have nothing to do with the final product.

 

[zonelistener]

If I'm going to pay $500 for concert tickets or $20 for a CD, I want to know that the artist is getting the lion's share of my money, not a bunch of corporate people who have nothing to do with the final product.

Right on!

Brings up an interesting argument...is "music" still an art? "Physical" art (paintings, sculptures, etc.) do not have major industry "watering down" the final product as much as music....and with this much interference in the music...can it still be considered art?


I almost feel that this thread would get better play in Bang and Clatter......mods? Anyone?

 

[IWasBored]

it does, zonelistener.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

Okay, this is suck crap I almost can't take it.
However, I think in Illinois there is a max on how much a ticket can be sold for. When I was looking for tickets on Ebay I noticed that bids could not exceed a certain amount. I think whoever posted earlier about contacting your congressman was right. The price needs to be fixed at a reasonable amount.

Is there an estimated date when this bidding will go into effect?

 

[bono_man2002]

geez, $150!!! thats like almost $300 if i have to go and see them in the USA using Aussie Dollars......not good!

 

[zonelistener]

Okay, this is suck crap I almost can't take it.
However, I think in Illinois there is a max on how much a ticket can be sold for. When I was looking for tickets on Ebay I noticed that bids could not exceed a certain amount. I think whoever posted earlier about contacting your congressman was right. The price needs to be fixed at a reasonable amount.

Is there an estimated date when this bidding will go into effect?

"Later this year....." is all the article said.

I should look into that Illinois law...that is interesting. I mentioned the "contact your STATE legislator." This (Scalping and now "corporate" scalping is something that needs to be controlled and enforced on a state level. Contact your STATE LEGISLATOR. Most states are set up just like the US Congress (two houses and a commander in chief/governor). Hell, contact your governor (except in Calif. where there isn't really one).

 

[Lemon Meringue]

Delayed Bump.

I'd like to know why Ticketmaster has such a monoploy anyway. I though monopolies were illegal.

 

[zoney!]

It's not a monopoly, unfortunately.

It is a situation where one company was doing it, and doing it succesfuly, and now has grown to a point that it would be worthless for anyone to try and compete.

The cost to start up an organization tcould compete with Ticketmaster would be cost prohibitive. And ticketmaster has built such a huge network of distribution channels that event promoters would not easily drop them for an upstart.

Sad.