Subject: Journey/Def Leppard
Date: Thu Feb 10 21:11:26 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Illuminati Hotties. Small venue — tiny!
$16.
.woohoo
Date: Mon Jul 25 14:24:44 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:I'll relate my recent experiences with TicketMaster. I am not defending TM, but neither am I joining the chorus of those who hate them.
TicketMaster has been absorbing smaller ticket distributors, which is never a good sign. But that also means that TicketMaster is the primary vendor for a few of the venues I frequent. I have seven pending concert tickets on my TicketMaster app. I would say that TM increased ticket prices by 15-20% since they took over. Annoying, but not horrible. TM also has the most sophisticated approach to ticketing of any of the primary vendors I deal with. Ticket purchasing is smooth and without hiccups; tickets arrive in your TM app instantly with the option to add them to your phone's wallet; and, they put an event on your calendar for the day of the concert. That is top end stuff and very cool. (My favorite small time jazz bar -- where I saw the Illuminati Hotties -- still uses paper tickets that you print at home and hand in at the door.) I have never heard of "dynamic pricing" that could lead a primary vendor to selling a ticket for some monstrous price.
Secondary ticketing agents (resellers) really inflate the price of tickets. VividSeats, StubHub, and others will add a minimum of 50% to the cost of an in-demand ticket, and I've seen them offered for 10 times the original price. I am guessing that the high prices are a result of the ticket holders wanting to make a profit and the resellers taking their cut.
TN's article from CNN isn't so much investigative reporting as it is the airing of complaints from angry ticket buyers. A colleague of mine bought tickets for Springsteen and opted to go through StubHub BEFORE the tickets went on sale. They bought the tickets for about $300 each. So... I went the the website of the venue where my friend will be attending. The concert is sold out, but TM is acting as an agent for resale; the people who bought the tickets are dictating the price, not TM. And, sure enough, tickets range from $237 for nosebleed sections slightly behind the stage up to $7,875 for seats adjacent to where my friend will be sitting. There are hundreds of tickets available in the $250 - $500 range. I also checked out StubHub: they are selling tickets in my friend's section for $968-$2200.
Bottom line: If you really want a ticket, you have two options: a) be ready buy tickets immediately when they go on sale at the normal price, or b) be prepared to pay a ridiculous price.
Date: Mon Jul 25 15:35:50 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:"As I recall" (caveat).........."dynamic pricing" was addressed in one of the earlier ticketmonster articles. When I saw it in this article, it rang a bell. Not gonna take time to dig it up again, but that's just evil because it's maximizing revenue above and beyond what's necessary to have a nice and 'fair' price with a respectable profit.
Did Springsteen or his camp set the ticket prices? Not likely, altho their performance fee led to a number that ticketmonster tacked on their usurious surcharge/profit. Do you know what the "face value" of the various ticket options were?
When did "scalping" cease to be a bad word and just become an accepted part of this 'process'???
I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO glad "I got mine" when the common folk weren't just priced out of things. When it was "more about the music" - which is knowingly a strong oversimplification but certainly it was much much moreso back then than nowadays. Concert ticket prices have GROSSLY (pun intended) outgrown the cost of living in general. And even *that* is an understatement.
Date: Tue Jul 26 10:14:38 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Date: Mon Jul 25 15:35:50 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message: "Do you know what the 'face value' of the various ticket options were?"
It's difficult to find a Springsteen concert with any of the normally priced tickets available, but I found some for the Tulsa show (Feb 21):
-- sections behind the stage: $89.50
-- floor seating: $400-$600
-- first section above the floor, left side: $125
With a bit of exploration, I found TM's explanation of their "dynamic pricing", which they call Platinum Seats: "Official Platinum Seats are premium tickets to concerts and other events made available by artists and Event Organizers through Ticketmaster. They give fans fair and safe access to some of the best seats in the house. The price you pay is the original price of the ticket. Official Platinum Seats were not purchased initially and then posted for resale; they are being sold for the first time through Ticketmaster on behalf of the artist or Event Organizer."
In Tulsa, the Platinum seats are all those on the floor and various seats off the floor in a direct line from the stage. For the floor seats, Platinum prices are from $800 to $2000.
Yeah, that's predatory.
Date: Tue Jul 26 12:14:02 2022
User: MrFixit
Message:I'm afraid this is the free market in action. If nutjobs are willing to pay those prices and fill the stadium, well heck. You either need to saddle up and ride with the nutjobs or stay home. I'm seeing a similar thing with sports tickets.
Date: Tue Jul 26 12:32:08 2022
User: outskirts
Message:Lot of places have song farmer chapters. If you don't have one you can form one. You can play with, or just hang out and listen or sing with others for free. Not a lot of led zep so maybe denny could start an old rockers chapter. Lol
I recommend the joni mitchell newport tapes from the other day (free at youtube) I'm still recovering from the one song I watched last night. I will watch one per evening, if I can take it. I watched Both Sides Now and just about died.
Date: Tue Jul 26 13:45:23 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Thank you for posting about Joni. I was going to but have been too busy to get it done. Moving stuff.
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:06:03 2022
User: outskirts
Message:Im sure this is the last place that the entire population of planet earth found out about that.
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:09:02 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:MrFixit is dead on, but it is sad. The idea the charging $1000 for a ticket is okay because somebody will buy it is pretty horrible.
Some non-TicketMaster venues have started delaying the distribution of tickets to avoid massive scalping/resale disasters. It was that way for the Phoebe Bridgers concert earlier this summer. I got the tickets about 36 hours before the event.
It's despicable that TM is actually encouraging and participating this crap.
====================
I just re-read this thread, and buying concert tickets for less than $20 has pretty much disappeared. Tiny venues might sell you a ticket for about $20, but $35-$50 is far more common. I was kinda stunned to see that my one-day pass to ACL a few years ago was $100. Single day passes are now $140 and three-day weekend passes are $320.
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:19:28 2022
User: outskirts
Message:Yeah they're boneheads for buying them.
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:47:45 2022
User: MrFixit
Message:The artists in turn need to make more off concerts because the bottom has dropped outta the market for actually selling copies of the recordings. It's all streaming now, baby. From the department of unintended consequences, you want your music to be free but then wait, what?
Date: Tue Jul 26 15:11:01 2022
User: outskirts
Message:SongFarmers® is once a month, and they accept anybody of any age or level of musicianship. They meet in churches, libraries, parks, to jam. Covid stopped them for awhile but they are cranking back up. There's one in cork ireland it's actually world wide. Front porch music.
Date: Sun Jan 29 12:45:29 2023
User: BuzzClik
Message:>>Date: Tue Jul 26 12:14:02 2022
>>User: MrFixit
>>Message: "I'm afraid this is the free market in action."
Within the confines of a single event, bidding up the price of seats is free market, but TicketMaster seems (actually, their parent company LiveNation) is buying up the competition and daring anyone to complain. And, complain they did:
"Ticketmaster Cast as a Powerful ‘Monopoly’ at Senate Hearing"
The Judiciary Committee, responding to the bungled sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets, heard the company apologize and its critics trace the problem to the industry’s lack of competition.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/arts/music/ticketmaster-taylor-swift-senate-hearing.html
The problems go beyond LiveNation/TicketMaster, but these guys are slowly amping up the predatory nature of their ticket sales. It's one thing for SongKick, Vivid Seats, or others act as brokers for the resale (i.e., scalping) of tickets; it's quite another when TicketMaster sells the tickets repeatedly for a tasty profit each time around.
I am attending three super cheap shows this week (face value $20, with minimal fees), none of which involve TicketMaster. My last TM show had a face value of $40 but TM added 56% in fees to bounce the final price to $62.
TM will eventually start turning off patrons, and tickets will go unsold. Perhaps then the venues will consider alternatives.
Date: Fri Mar 17 03:20:48 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Bad week for drummers. I post this here for the obvious reason (see link), but one part would more properly fit in the "old music" thread. This one:
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1164142924/jim-gordon-a-famed-session-drummer-who-killed-mother-die
Jim Gordon is on probably 50-75 albums I own. Heck maybe more. Like so many of those who are going away lately, he "played with all the greats". I mean, really, a "who's who" list of A-listers. Such a sad life was thrust upon him by mental illness.
Earlier in the week.............(see link).......
Link: Def Leppard's drummer attacked in FL
Date: Sun Apr 9 13:05:24 2023
User: BuzzClik
Message:Wherever there is a perceived market....
This morning, my cup of coffee is accompanying me in my search for theater tickets. A friend and I are looking at some unique shows at a nice venue. In my morning fog, I starting skimming through the available dates and prices. Er... what? Broadway prices for a traveling performance? As much as $350 and no lower than $160 for upper upper balcony? Thanks but no thanks.
Refusing to believe my lying eyes, I backed out of the website only to discover it is a resale site. The actual tickets have yet to go on sale, despite the fact that previously visited website had never-ending warnings that "Tickets are going fast!" or "250 seats sold in the last 45 minutes!" I cleared my brain and found the theater's website, and the tickets are not on sale unless you want to buy season tickets. Scrolling around, I found that this month's performance of Hairspray has tickets available from $45 to $120.
Caveat emptor, kids.
Date: Mon Apr 10 03:53:13 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:What quotes are you seeing for the Brooklyn Bridge?
Date: Wed May 24 20:08:55 2023
User: BuzzClik
Message:Just bought a ticket for a weekend festival. The website gleefully and proudly pointed out how there would be "no surprises" as you check out -- the price they quote includes all fees. I was pleased to hear that, but it's about time.
Date: Thu Oct 5 19:40:27 2023
User: BuzzClik
Message:I received notice about presale of Sleater Kenny tickets, and was eager to buy a couple. The magic hour arrived, and I busily clicked my way onto the website. The seat prices were double those claimed by the venue. And the seats they were offering were in the top balcony. That was a hard pass for me.
I will return for tomorrow for the normal prices.
(The vendor handling the tickets for the venue was AXS)
Date: Tue Apr 16 17:55:56 2024
User: BuzzClik
Message:As usual, the first victim is the truth: "Joe Berchtold, president and CFO of Live Nation, has previously defended the company’s practices, saying at the 2023 hearing that that Ticketmaster does not set ticket prices, does not determine the number of tickets put up for sale and that 'in most cases, venues set service and ticketing fees,' not Ticketmaster.
Live Nation took over ticket sales for my favorite venue in the universe, and their ticket prices doubled immediately. They never disclose their fees until the last step in the purchase, and the percentage is staggering.
Live Nation/TicketMaster has a really good website, and the ability to seamlessly transfer tickets is wonderful. But, the consumer is not getting their money's worth. Period. The old method of storing a pdf of the ticket on your phone or walking to the door with a paper printout worked just fine. And it's not like transferring a pdf is a big deal.
I'd really like to see these parasites pay some serious penalties for their endless greed.
Date: Wed Apr 17 04:24:50 2024
User: TNmountainman
Message:Like you......I blanched at that quote by Berchtold. Best I can figure out................they've decided that if the giant software personal info aggregators can achieve new levels of evil, there should be no big impediment to them also reaching analogously loftier graft levels.
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