It seems weird, though, that an operation like ticketmaster wouldn't work to get rid of this middleman over time, by assuming themselves the risk they had been

It seems weird, though, that an operation like ticketmaster wouldn't work to get rid of this middleman over time, by assuming themselves the risk they had been paying (indirectly) scalpers to assume. Maybe it's that artists also like to appear virtuous by keeping nominal prices low, even if in practice everyone attending the concert pays substantially more.