Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule change
Following a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.
But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money.
As long as they’re plainly stated. People deserve to know how they’re being screwed over so they can choose in advance to say “fuck it” and go do something cheaper. It needs to be easier to vote with your wallet, even if we have to force corporations to cooperate at flamethrower point.
That’s… expected? That’s fine?
The point of making those fees illegal is not that overall prices would reduce, it’s that you be able to fairly assess the price before you’re emotionally committed to the decision.
They should have forced the company to give away or sell discounted shares to the venues.
Between this shit company and AI, I feel like it’s high time to take back the arts and humanities. Go see some local bands or something, we shouldn’t be paying multinational corporations exorbitant amounts of money that they can then use for political donations just to see our favorite band, it’s not worth it.
The problem with this, if you follow it to its natural conclusion, is that the “best” local bands eventually popular enough that they’re playing Ticketmaster/Livenation venues.
Then you stop seeing them, I guess. And the artist can decide what to prioritize from there. If it makes enough financial sense to sell their soul and fuck around with ticketmaster/livenation then so be it if they so choose.
That’s just punishing both artists and long-time loyal fans for the artists being popular. It’s not their fault that there’s a monopoly on venues bigger than hyper-local clubs and bars.
No, but there’s not another option available to the consumer. Antitrust action from the government could solve the problem but that’s clearly not going to happen so boycotts are the only viable alternative.
My desire to see my favorite acts is greater than my desire to take trust busting upon myself. I can and do see shows at my local dives but I’m not going to abandon my favorite bands just because more people like them than before.
That’s fine if that’s your decision, but then don’t complain about prices being too high
I quit going to concerts over 20 years ago. About 10 years ago Judas Priest was coming to Charlotte and I wanted to see them. The shitty seats were 290 fucking dollars. I love Priest but fuck that. I saw them on the Screaming for Vengeance tour for 12 bucks. In today’s money that is 40 bucks. I would pay 50 but fuck if I am going to pay 290 for any fucking band.
My experience in recent years is that if you see ticket prices that seem outrageous, it’s probably because all the available tickets have already been bought and what you’re seeing are “resale” prices. Scalpers. If you search for tickets, their sites are the first ones that come up, too, because they pay for priority on google searches. Your best bet is to track the bands you want to see, know when tickets are going to go on sale, and get them as early as possible. Often you can register for a fan presale event where you get a code to get tickets before they are available to the general public. Scalpers will be doing that, too, but the number of tickets they can buy is limited per account, which slows them down a little. But even with all that, you’re not going to see a popular band for $50. That’s just not a realistic price anymore. It hasn’t been for a long time.
I can assure you that first-run sales and presales ticket costs are still outrageous. We’ve been to quite a few concerts over the last several years and even if you play the “sign up early and get the presale code and wait in the queue online as soon as you can” game the tickets for any popular band will not be below 3 digits for a seat from which you can see the band without binoculars, some venues won’t have any sub-$100 tickets at all. Best thing to do is see small-but-good bands at smaller venues if you can find it, those tickets are usually way more affordable. We’ve seen some older bands this way and it’s worth it.
The legalized double-dipping resale scalping provided by the likes of ticketmaster absolutely send prices sky high and out of reach for the majority of people.
There’s some variation. I just got tickets to Mumford and Sons during their presale last month. I’m in Seattle, and the closest they’re coming to me on this tour is in Vancouver. The tickets were actually pretty reasonable. I got floor seats for just over $100 US. Part of that might be because it’s on a Tuesday night, though, LOL.
I do agree that prices have gotten out of control, and I have limits for how much I’m willing to spend. It has very much become a cost/benefit analysis every time I go looking for tickets. But sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised.
I’ve found International venues far, far more reasonable than US. We saw Duran Duran a few years back and it was ~$200 for OK seats in a major city. My other half works internationally, and picked up seats to see them on one of her work trips for only €53. Since then we’ve vicariously eyed shows overseas only to note we could fly there and back, get a hotel, and have seats for cheaper than decent seats at a US venue.
Good to know. This is actually the first time in… Jesus, 30+ years?.. I’ve attended a concert outside the US. I might start looking at shows in Vancouver more often.
We did that, and tickets for Adele were still $600/seat on the primary market and not for front row. Those same seats ended up selling for $900/seat on the secondary market. Similar location tickets to Adele in Munich were $100 each. Tickets to Madonna were $400/seat in LA and $80/seat in Portugal on the main ticket website, not resale.
That is why I have not been to a concert ion over 20 years. 50 to me is a fair price for a band and if the cheap tickets are like 300 bucks then I am not the person that price is targeting. The last concert I saw was Tori Amos and it cost me, my ex, and her daughter 150 dollars and that included parking. Yes it was 2003 but like I said 300 bucks for on ticket in the shit seats is beyond the pale.
I did that and still paid $400+ to see tool in seats packed tighter than an airplane.
Boycott them, even it means resorting to smaller venues. You will likely save money and not feel guilty giving these guys any money.
Done, haven’t used TM in 15 years. I just don’t see events anymore.
Haha. It might be worth looking to see what’s playing at your local venues, and see where they bring you if you simulate buying a ticket.
I was absolutely fucking furious when my local soccer team switched from Seatgeek to TM for primary ticket sales. Ended up dropping my season tickets, partially because of that. Not that Seatgeek is much better, but they are at least not a monopoly.
I’ve been fortunate that my favorite band can’t finish an album and therefore haven’t been touring which makes the Ticketmaster boycott easier.
I didn’t know my band was anyone’s favorite band!
What are you doing posting here?! You said the album would be out LAST OCTOBER!!!
GET BACK TO THE STUDIO!!!
Still operating as a monopoly - don’t expect improvements for customers.
Good for them. They’ll never get a penny out of me. I refuse to use their evil service. Unfortunately that means I’ll never see my favorite artists play live, but that’s fine if this is how it’s going to be.
…duuuh?! How is this a surprise or news worthy?
