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Ticketmaster to Start Online Ticket Auction
Jason1729 writes "According to the NY Times, ticketmaster is going to begin auctioning off the best tickets to events online. They claim it's to eliminate scalping, but in truth it guarantees every seat will be scalped for the highest price with all the money going to ticketmaster. It also eliminates the possibility of getting a decent seat by waiting in line or being lucky."
It's great to look at things as entities that exist in some kind of purely economical abstract universe, but that's simply not the case.
Many artists don't want to sell their tickets to the highest bidder, simply because that highest bidder isn't the real fan. Having a bunch of 30 or 40 somethings in the front row of a rock concert, simply because they were able to outbid everyone else doesn't create the type of concert atmosphere that a band enjoys playing. Sure, some bands just care about the monies but for many their gig is more than just some job.
Furthermore, the idea presented in the summary that all the extra proceds go to TicketMaster is even more distressing. Luckily TFA says it is just a flat fee or percentage, but no doubt this translates (ultimately) into more money for TM, which is never a good thing.
All in all this is pretty heinous, it just results in less control over the concert/event atmosphere for the actual organizer, and more for TM. Scalpers are stupid, and a giant corporate scalper is even lamer.
It's a hoax!
Yes it is. My problem is that I'd much prefer to pay my favorite artist a whopping $100 to see their show rather than line the pockets of ticketma$ter.
You are perfectly free to create a competing ticket service and give Ticketmaster a run for the money.
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
Next thing you'll be demanding fillet steak for the same price as rump.
If you're going to be a tool, at least get an argument that isn't stupid. What I don't want to do is come in and buy a rump roast steak at the advertized rump roast price and walk out having paid fillet prices, and then some. Especially when I get charged a fee to do Ticketmaster the favor of printing my own ticket and saving them all of their printing and labor costs.
Really, don't like 'em, don't shop there. Personally, Ticketmaster events don't appeal to me very often, and when I've gone through and got the fees up, I've once been so disgusted, and it tipped what I was willing to pay, so that I abandoned the sale. Whilst the fees aren't up front, you see them during the ordering process. You have that choice.
No, you DON'T have a choice. If you want to go to just about any concert in any sized arena, or just about any sports game, you have no choice but to use Ticketmaster. At an venue that was likely paid for using your tax dollars. Ticketmaster is a monopoly that engages in blatantly false advertizing. If a concert ticket is advertized $45, it had better be $45 plus sales tax, not $45 plus another $15 in "fees".