9 ms·

This is completely unsurprising. Ticketmaster's entire business model seems to be monopolizing ticket sales and then gouging the consumer, so one last stick in

This is completely unsurprising. Ticketmaster's entire business model seems to be monopolizing ticket sales and then gouging the consumer, so one last stick in the eye from them seems in character.

brianwawok 6y ago
Ticketmaster going under would be a good thing for users.
- alexfromapex 6y ago
  I would say it would be a great thing. It’s insane that monopolies like Ticketmaster have been allowed to control entire markets and charge whatever they want and do whatever they want because consumers have no alternative.
  - pravda 6y ago
    You could not go to concerts. That is the alternative.
    - etrabroline 6y ago
      Yea, and if you didn't like Standard Oil, you could just not own a car (or factory).
      - pravda 6y ago
        That's not the same. The price to get into, for example, a Drake concert is determined not by Drake, but by how much people are willing to pay to see Drake. If the total cost, including all fees and taxes, is more then you want to pay, then don't buy tickets. Don't blame Ticketmaster for the high price to see Drake in concert, blame Drake fans! But if the Drake concert is cancelled, or re-scheduled, then do a chargeback.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    You won't have an alternative with whatever replaces Ticketmaster because they don't have a monopoly on anything. Any venue putting on a show has no particular reason to use TM outside it providing value to them. There's no lock-in. Hell, there's anti-lock-in. If a venue bucks the trend and doesn't use TM customers will cheer. Well they'll cheer until they realize why everyone chooses TM. Their competition isn't any cheaper and has an even worse customer service. Seriously, I got tickets to a Luke Bryan concert and had to use some no-name ticket service and their "customer service" was a phone number with a full voicemail and was only open Tues-Thurs 8-4 PM. I just checked again and they have since switched to TM. Honestly just call the box-office. It's rare for TM to have an exclusivity contract and most places will just charge you the sticker price and mail/will-call the tickets since it's all the same to them.
    - treis 6y ago
      >There's no lock-in. Hell, there's anti-lock-in. If a venue bucks the trend and doesn't use TM customers will cheer. That's not true. Live Nation runs many big name tours and will (allegedly) avoid venues that don't use Ticketmaster.
    - girvo 6y ago
      If you as a venue use something other than TM, you can lose future TM run shows if there are comparable venues in your area.
    - jariel 6y ago
      They are a mafia monopoly in the most classical sense. For starters answer the question 'why everyone uses Ticketmaster'? What's the value again? Because there is no obvious value-creating reason. Live Nation owns 200 venues, and 300 major artists. With enough control over the value chain, you have to pay their tax, or go out of business as the artists they control - or other artists they can bully - avoid your venues entirely. Their power is entirely based on anti-competitive practice - they don't actually do anything of real merit. Plainly 'selling tickets' is not hard.
      - etrabroline 6y ago
- HenryBemis 6y ago
  Well, we (the people) are the ones who keep those thieves in business. They could as well be printing money. Once this covid19 blows over, we (the people) need to remember who was naughty and who was nice, and send the naughty to oblivion. Because if we forget Ticketmaster (what an asshole of a name) will go back to its routine, overcharging etc. I have never purchased a ticket from them and never will. It is a matter of principle. If we all do the same they will either go bust (let's remember to treat similarly the Ticketmaster 2.0 that will spring up under a different name)(same tactics, different front cover).
TAForObvReasons 6y ago
Ticketmaster's business model is to take the reputation hit and allow venues and performers to increase fees. This specific move is probably driven by greedy venues. https://stubcrew.com/the-ugly-truth-about-ticketmaster-fees/ https://stubcrew.com/the-ugly-truth-about-ticketmaster-fees/ talks about it more. EDIT: and the downvotes here is probably evidence that they succeeded
- cletus 6y ago
  Not sure why you're getting downvoted (unfortunately people seem to use this as a proxy for "I disagree with you" or, worse, "you contradict my position"; here have an upvote) but you are 100% correct. All those fees Ticketmaster charges, the artist (and venue?) gets a cut off. Ticketmaster is the lightning rod here but everyone is complicit.
- Someone1234 6y ago
  Agreed, they're one of several "lightning rod" organizations. They exist to deflect hate, while everyone profits. Same thing with academic textbooks. Book publishers are lightning rods, allowing collages/departments/professors to avoid the reputation hit. If you want to know who is responsible for a bad thing just answer one question: Who has the power to fix it? For example performers/venues could use a non-ticketmaster intermediary, and college professors/schools could assign a non-$300 textbook, but neither do because they gain substantially from the arrangement (either financially or in terms of free labor in the textbook example). So if you "hate" ticketmaster or textbook publishers, you're playing right into their game and the problem will never be fixed. You have to pressure actual decision makers, not lightning rods.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    You can’t fix people, only incentives.
  - Teever 6y ago
    > For example performers/venues could use a non-ticketmaster intermediary, It's not so easy. Doing so can lock them out of business with ticketmaster.
chiph 6y ago
It wasn't always this way. My college job in the early 90's was at a record store that had a Ticketmaster machine. This was a CRT terminal with custom impact (not dot-matrix!) ticket printer, talking to their central computer over a leased line. They paid for all of that with a $2.25 charge on each ticket sold. And somehow today, they're charging you even more to print the ticket yourself at home, on your equipment, on your internet connection, on your paper.

This is completely unsurprising. Ticketmaster's entire business model seems to be monopolizing ticket sales and then gouging the consumer, so one last stick in the eye from them seems in character.

brianwawok 6y ago

Ticketmaster going under would be a good thing for users.

alexfromapex 6y ago
I would say it would be a great thing. It’s insane that monopolies like Ticketmaster have been allowed to control entire markets and charge whatever they want and do whatever they want because consumers have no alternative.
- pravda 6y ago
  You could not go to concerts. That is the alternative.
  - etrabroline 6y ago
    Yea, and if you didn't like Standard Oil, you could just not own a car (or factory).
    - pravda 6y ago
      That's not the same. The price to get into, for example, a Drake concert is determined not by Drake, but by how much people are willing to pay to see Drake. If the total cost, including all fees and taxes, is more then you want to pay, then don't buy tickets. Don't blame Ticketmaster for the high price to see Drake in concert, blame Drake fans! But if the Drake concert is cancelled, or re-scheduled, then do a chargeback.
- Spivak 6y ago
  You won't have an alternative with whatever replaces Ticketmaster because they don't have a monopoly on anything. Any venue putting on a show has no particular reason to use TM outside it providing value to them. There's no lock-in. Hell, there's anti-lock-in. If a venue bucks the trend and doesn't use TM customers will cheer. Well they'll cheer until they realize why everyone chooses TM. Their competition isn't any cheaper and has an even worse customer service. Seriously, I got tickets to a Luke Bryan concert and had to use some no-name ticket service and their "customer service" was a phone number with a full voicemail and was only open Tues-Thurs 8-4 PM. I just checked again and they have since switched to TM. Honestly just call the box-office. It's rare for TM to have an exclusivity contract and most places will just charge you the sticker price and mail/will-call the tickets since it's all the same to them.
  - treis 6y ago
    >There's no lock-in. Hell, there's anti-lock-in. If a venue bucks the trend and doesn't use TM customers will cheer. That's not true. Live Nation runs many big name tours and will (allegedly) avoid venues that don't use Ticketmaster.
  - girvo 6y ago
    If you as a venue use something other than TM, you can lose future TM run shows if there are comparable venues in your area.
  - jariel 6y ago
    They are a mafia monopoly in the most classical sense. For starters answer the question 'why everyone uses Ticketmaster'? What's the value again? Because there is no obvious value-creating reason. Live Nation owns 200 venues, and 300 major artists. With enough control over the value chain, you have to pay their tax, or go out of business as the artists they control - or other artists they can bully - avoid your venues entirely. Their power is entirely based on anti-competitive practice - they don't actually do anything of real merit. Plainly 'selling tickets' is not hard.
    - etrabroline 6y ago
HenryBemis 6y ago
Well, we (the people) are the ones who keep those thieves in business. They could as well be printing money. Once this covid19 blows over, we (the people) need to remember who was naughty and who was nice, and send the naughty to oblivion. Because if we forget Ticketmaster (what an asshole of a name) will go back to its routine, overcharging etc. I have never purchased a ticket from them and never will. It is a matter of principle. If we all do the same they will either go bust (let's remember to treat similarly the Ticketmaster 2.0 that will spring up under a different name)(same tactics, different front cover).

TAForObvReasons 6y ago

Ticketmaster's business model is to take the reputation hit and allow venues and performers to increase fees. This specific move is probably driven by greedy venues. https://stubcrew.com/the-ugly-truth-about-ticketmaster-fees/ https://stubcrew.com/the-ugly-truth-about-ticketmaster-fees/ talks about it more. EDIT: and the downvotes here is probably evidence that they succeeded

cletus 6y ago
Not sure why you're getting downvoted (unfortunately people seem to use this as a proxy for "I disagree with you" or, worse, "you contradict my position"; here have an upvote) but you are 100% correct. All those fees Ticketmaster charges, the artist (and venue?) gets a cut off. Ticketmaster is the lightning rod here but everyone is complicit.
Someone1234 6y ago
Agreed, they're one of several "lightning rod" organizations. They exist to deflect hate, while everyone profits. Same thing with academic textbooks. Book publishers are lightning rods, allowing collages/departments/professors to avoid the reputation hit. If you want to know who is responsible for a bad thing just answer one question: Who has the power to fix it? For example performers/venues could use a non-ticketmaster intermediary, and college professors/schools could assign a non-$300 textbook, but neither do because they gain substantially from the arrangement (either financially or in terms of free labor in the textbook example). So if you "hate" ticketmaster or textbook publishers, you're playing right into their game and the problem will never be fixed. You have to pressure actual decision makers, not lightning rods.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  You can’t fix people, only incentives.
- Teever 6y ago
  > For example performers/venues could use a non-ticketmaster intermediary, It's not so easy. Doing so can lock them out of business with ticketmaster.

chiph 6y ago

It wasn't always this way. My college job in the early 90's was at a record store that had a Ticketmaster machine. This was a CRT terminal with custom impact (not dot-matrix!) ticket printer, talking to their central computer over a leased line. They paid for all of that with a $2.25 charge on each ticket sold. And somehow today, they're charging you even more to print the ticket yourself at home, on your equipment, on your internet connection, on your paper.