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Dating myself by mentioning this, but when I was in college Pearl Jam (huge at the time) tried to go around Ticketmaster and got their asses handed to them. The

Dating myself by mentioning this, but when I was in college Pearl Jam (huge at the time) tried to go around Ticketmaster and got their asses handed to them. They basically had to end up cancelling and offering refunds. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearl-jam-taking-on-ticketmaster-19951228 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearl-jam-taking-on-t...

bogomipz 10y ago
It was a really noble effort on their part. They were arguably one of the biggest bands in the world at that time and sadly they failed to make any impact on this issue. Since then Ticketmaster has only grown more powerful. It's interesting to read this article in from that time in NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/15/arts/pearl-jam-bows-to-ticketmaster.html http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/15/arts/pearl-jam-bows-to-tic...
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  Somewhat more recently comedian Louis CK attempted it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/louis-ck-ticketmaster_n_1627430.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/louis-ck-ticketmast... I can't find a good copy of his conclusions from that experiment in my searches right now, but I remember his emails from around that time were not always the happiest.
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    He is still selling direct to fans on his site and from the looks of this he has taken this a step further by actively invalidating resold tickets; https://louisck.net/tour-dates https://louisck.net/tour-dates
    - flavor8 10y ago
      Ironically enough, when you click "buy tickets" it takes you to Ticketmaster.
xn 10y ago
I bought tickets to the San Diego show on the Vitalogy tour from ETM. They went out of business in 2000: http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/20/business/fi-42758 http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/20/business/fi-42758
rasz_pl 10y ago
Louis CK was successful in 2012, although he admitted it meant playing smaller obscure theaters.
- syphilis2 10y ago
  I bought tickets to his tour when he did that, it was as good a ticket buying experience as there could be, and even included a download of the show. It was disappointing to hear that he has since stopped doing his own ticket sales. Previous comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837453

bogomipz 10y ago

It was a really noble effort on their part. They were arguably one of the biggest bands in the world at that time and sadly they failed to make any impact on this issue. Since then Ticketmaster has only grown more powerful. It's interesting to read this article in from that time in NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/15/arts/pearl-jam-bows-to-ticketmaster.html http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/15/arts/pearl-jam-bows-to-tic...

WorldMaker 10y ago
Somewhat more recently comedian Louis CK attempted it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/louis-ck-ticketmaster_n_1627430.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/louis-ck-ticketmast... I can't find a good copy of his conclusions from that experiment in my searches right now, but I remember his emails from around that time were not always the happiest.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  He is still selling direct to fans on his site and from the looks of this he has taken this a step further by actively invalidating resold tickets; https://louisck.net/tour-dates https://louisck.net/tour-dates
  - flavor8 10y ago
    Ironically enough, when you click "buy tickets" it takes you to Ticketmaster.

xn 10y ago

I bought tickets to the San Diego show on the Vitalogy tour from ETM. They went out of business in 2000: http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/20/business/fi-42758 http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/20/business/fi-42758

rasz_pl 10y ago

Louis CK was successful in 2012, although he admitted it meant playing smaller obscure theaters.

syphilis2 10y ago
I bought tickets to his tour when he did that, it was as good a ticket buying experience as there could be, and even included a download of the show. It was disappointing to hear that he has since stopped doing his own ticket sales. Previous comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11837453