Monday, January 05, 2009

Tickets, who needs tickets...

It's as fair a system as we've been able to come up with short of having people wait around the block in the freezing cold, as used to happen in the good old days.

Ticketmaster has been in the news lately after complaints by consumers who try unsuccessfully to buy tickets online at Ticketmaster, only to be automatically redirected to an outfit called TicketsNow, which happens to be owned by Ticketmaster, where they can buy the tickets they couldn't get at Ticketmaster for highly inflated prices.

Ticketmaster received complaints after an AC/DC show in Vancouver sold out in minutes, only for tickets to be quickly available for higher prices on TicketsNow. The resale site also charged up to $1,199 for a $44 face-value ticket to a recent Killers concert in Toronto - roughly a 2,500 per cent markup.

According to the article, Ticketmaster denies holding back tickets for TicketsNow.

Is Ticketmaster operating within the letter of the law? I don't know. Does the whole thing smell like a can of anchovies left in the sun too long? You tell me.

A simple act of collective will would solve this problem. If nobody bought tickets at inflated prices from outfits like TicketsNow or from scalpers on the street, their business model implodes. Let's just agree to stop paying inflated prices for tickets.
Agreed? Promise? OK, lookout you ticket re-sellers, you might as well just close up shop right now.

6 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I had the same thing happen to me when I tried to buy Bloc Party tix from Ticketmaster. I did not buy the highly inflated tix from TicketsNow and not many other people did either from what I have heard about the concert attendance.

How is that even legal?

mister anchovy said...

I don't know. These days I don't go to big stadium shows. I really like a more intimate music experience. I do occasionally go to Massey Hall here in Toronto and I can't complain about my ticket experience there. A couple years ago I was able to get very close to the front of the house for a show by jazz great Ornette Coleman.

I like going to the folk shows at Hugh's Room here in town. It's very civilized. When they publish the schedule, you simply call them up for tickets (you talk to a real live human) and reserve a dinner table at the same time. All the seats are good (if not very comfortable). We'll be going back there in March to see Tom Russell.

Candy Minx said...

Sucks. They have sucked for ages.

I like all kinds of variety of venues. If a band is popular there isn't much choice but to see them in a huge stadium. I choose the music or performer first...the venue is way secondary, basically incidental. I like to be as close to the performers as possible and preferably not anywhere where people don't dance.

Once at a James Brown concert...some squares were yelling at us because we were dancing. Are you kidding me? It was James Brown.

mister anchovy said...

I guess that's the good thing about enjoying music which is out of the main stream. Most of the performers I like could never fill a stadium.

I think what soured me on the big concert experience was seeing a Van Morrison show at Ontario Place a couple years back. The performers were little specs of dust off in the distance. The venue broadcasted the show on monitors here and there, so effectively we were watching Mr. Morrison on tv and hearing him live. I guess the show was OK but the experience wasn't so good. There was a time when I valued experiencing shows by certain performers enough that I thought this kind of thing was OK, but to be honest I can't think of a single performer that could entice me to to fork out all that coin to see a stadium show. I'm OK with venues as big as Massey Hall or the Ryman down in Nashville, I'll take a pass on shows in hockey rinks or football stadiums.

The Preacherman said...

I can say 'unisoronic' to people now and they'll think I'm smarter than I am.....er...unless they want to know what it means..;-)

Happy New Year old bean

The Preacherman said...

oh...yeah...unisonoric...thingy