http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/01/tech/main570971.shtml

Waiting in line won't help you.

Keeping an ear to the ground, checking out Web sites and other news about your favorite musicians might still be of some use.
But in the end, for many concerts, it may soon be true that only cold cash - and plenty of it - will get you the hot tickets you are seeking.

According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans later this year to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders.

The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay.

There is no indication at this point on whether Ticketmaster plans to have any rules to keep ticket brokers or scalpers out of the auction, or would allow all comers - individuals and businesses - to compete on the same basis.

"The band's biggest fans ought to have the best seats, not the band's richest fans," Tim Todd, 47, a Phish fan in Kansas City, told the Times.

An industry analyst is quoted as saying that prime seats at the hottest concerts are "undervalued in the marketplace" and auctions are likely to push prices up as a whole.

Tickets have long been resold in auction settings - particularly on eBay, which does a heavy volume in tickets of all kinds.

But in many states, the resale of concert tickets is subject to strict rules meant to protect consumers and give the small scale fan a chance to buy tickets for their favorite event.

Ticketmaster's plan, by contrast, involves the first time sale of tickets and does not appear to be subject to anti-scalper rules.
"The tickets are worth what they're worth," said Ticketmaster CEO and president John Pleasants, in an interview with the Times. "If somebody wants to charge $50 for a ticket, but it's actually worth $1,000 on eBay, the ticket's worth $1,000. I think more and more, our clients - the promoters, the clients in the buildings and the bands themselves - are saying to themselves 'Maybe that money should be coming to me instead of Bob the Broker.' "


fucking ridiculous. i hate ticketmaster.

For those of us with more money then brains, I find this delectable.

fuck that shit.

ticketmaster must die.

i always wondered when this would happen. i'm surprised it's taken so long.

thats sick. its fucking repulsive. whats so bad is that theres no way around it. if you want to see a radiohead or whatever band has high demand, you pretty much have to go through them. if i was a big band id boycot those shitheads and sell all tickets through an alternate source. be able to control the sales, reduce prices because no service charge, and give not a cent to those parasitic vermin

Originally posted by sleeper
if i was a big band id boycot those shitheads and sell all tickets through an alternate source. be able to control the sales, reduce prices because no service charge, and give not a cent to those parasitic vermin pearl jam tried that and it didn't work

this is the reason why I never go to concerts.

figures a phish fan would complain about money

Originally posted by killed radio star
figures a phish fan would complain about money


Phish fans each have a Mercedes and beach house in the Hamptons

yeah that makes me unbelievable angry. i still refuse to believe that somebody somewhere won't find a way around them though.

That's fucked up. Who are they to decide who the 'best concerts' are? Assholes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/01/tech/main570971.shtml

Waiting in line won't help you.

Keeping an ear to the ground, checking out Web sites and other news about your favorite musicians might still be of some use.

But in the end, for many concerts, it may soon be true that only cold cash - and plenty of it - will get you the hot tickets you are seeking.

According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans later this year to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders.

The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay.

There is no indication at this point on whether Ticketmaster plans to have any rules to keep ticket brokers or scalpers out of the auction, or would allow all comers - individuals and businesses - to compete on the same basis.

"The band's biggest fans ought to have the best seats, not the band's richest fans," Tim Todd, 47, a Phish fan in Kansas City, told the Times.

An industry analyst is quoted as saying that prime seats at the hottest concerts are "undervalued in the marketplace" and auctions are likely to push prices up as a whole.

Tickets have long been resold in auction settings - particularly on eBay, which does a heavy volume in tickets of all kinds.

But in many states, the resale of concert tickets is subject to strict rules meant to protect consumers and give the small scale fan a chance to buy tickets for their favorite event.

Ticketmaster's plan, by contrast, involves the first time sale of tickets and does not appear to be subject to anti-scalper rules.

"The tickets are worth what they're worth," said Ticketmaster CEO and president John Pleasants, in an interview with the Times. "If somebody wants to charge $50 for a ticket, but it's actually worth $1,000 on eBay, the ticket's worth $1,000. I think more and more, our clients - the promoters, the clients in the buildings and the bands themselves - are saying to themselves 'Maybe that money should be coming to me instead of Bob the Broker.' "



© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

uuuhhhh.... so how does that stop Bob the Broker from pushing up the bid and buying them himself, only to turn around and sell those tickets at an even higher price?

people are so fucking greedy. jesus christ.

Originally posted by Caine Walker
uuuhhhh.... so how does that stop Bob the Broker from pushing up the bid and buying them himself, only to turn around and sell those tickets at an even higher price?

people are so fucking greedy. jesus christ.

It doesn't, but it means Ticketmaster get a bigger cut of the inflated price. There must be a law against this kind of thing though - using what's basically a monopoly to push prices artificially high. Imagine if this happened with every item that was produced in limited numbers

ahem: http://forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33271

Not more than 10 threads down from this one and almost exactly the same title.

Sorry, I fell like anal... erm.. being anal today.

Originally posted by failure
pearl jam tried that and it didn't work took the words out of my mouth.

Originally posted by AndySlash
ahem: http://forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33271

Not more than 10 threads down from this one and almost exactly the same title.

Sorry, I fell like anal... erm.. being anal today.

My deepest apologies. I even looked before posting this to see if it had already been posted. :o

Originally posted by Tessellation
Phish fans each have a Mercedes and beach house in the Hamptons

What the fuck? You say the stupidest things.

Anyway--yeah, Ticketmaster blows. This is a repulsive idea, but I can't see any way to fight it beyond some sort of massive anti-trust suit.

<font color=33FFFF> I just merged this thread, so if it reads confusedly then that's why</font>

so i wonder if the artist is to be paid a percentage of the 'auction tix'. this is very important b/c should they be making more money off auctioning tix, what reason would any artist have to not use ticketmaster. ticketweb and the likes would have even less a chance than they have now, of competing. however, if this is solely to benefit ticketmaster...perhaps many artists will consider using those alternatives?

Originally posted by failure
pearl jam tried that and it didn't work

what happened? what was the situation? im curious

^ same here. I know(think?) they took them to court and stuff, but I'm confused as to how that kind of thing wouldn't work.

what they're doing sucks, but it's reality. the tickets are just getting sold on e-bay for their real value, as previously stated.

the thing is the people who profit of selling on e-bay are only a fraction of the actual valued tickets in question. it doesn't say if TM is going to auction ALL the valued seats (which would be unnatural and unfair) or just some of them (which is what's happening anyway and essentially wouldn't change anything).

Originally posted by failure
pearl jam tried that and it didn't work Actually the ticketing system was ok, the problem was with the venues. Ticketmonster has exclusive contracts for all tickets sold at almost every large venue in the US.

No, what it means is that the seats sold on eBay won't be the front row ones, they will be the best seats NOT auctioned by Ticketmaster.

I think this is a great idea. Now my Zwan ticket will cost less than the convienence charge! Hurray for on-line auction pricing!

I'm not saying underground shows are better, but when I read things like these, it certainly doesn't make me feel the need to go to bigger shows.