TicketMonster Slain???

Cosmo

I just heard that Congress is introducing a bill that will require TicketMaster to list how many tickets will be put up for sale, how many tickets are being held back for Fan Clubs, Promotions and band. and will not let ticket brokers to buty tickets during the first 48 hours of the public sale.
Looking up details and confirmation.
...
The legislation is called 'the Boss act'... after Bruce Sprinsteen.

Stephen Flow

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/0 ... es_on.html

slightofjeff

I somehow doubt this will pass.

Or if it does, it will also contain an unrelated provision for also clubbing baby seals.

But we can be hopeful.

Stephen Flow

It would be great if they passed it for sure.

Cosmo

Thanx Stephen for the link...
I like the StubHub response...
'StubHub sold thousands of tickets to Springsteen's recent tour, with the two Izod Center concerts fetching some of the top prices. The average price for those tickets was $292, almost three times face value. However, Pate said resellers were unloading tickets at less than face value for other stops on the tour.

"We sold tickets for $1 in Raleigh, and floor seats in Arizona were going for $20," he said. "I had never seen prices this low. It was a fire sale on many of these shows." '
...
Yeah... UNLOADING tickets after the hundreds of fans had already paid grossly marked up prices because they didn't have a chance during the public Sale because the broker assholes got a hold of the tickets. One dollar lawn seats at show time... that's supposed to make it okay? Nice try StubHub spin-meister... asshole.

littlewingfridays

Semi-related news.
Live Nation is removing service fees from select shows, lawn seats only, on Wednesdays
kinda cheesey that its only lawn seats but its a step in the right direction,
T-Bastard might be looking closely at this to see how it plays out
Maybe some progress will be made this year on this issue as the consumers are the ones getting bent

pjsteelerfan

Cosmo wrote:

Thanx Stephen for the link...
I like the StubHub response...
'StubHub sold thousands of tickets to Springsteen's recent tour, with the two Izod Center concerts fetching some of the top prices. The average price for those tickets was $292, almost three times face value. However, Pate said resellers were unloading tickets at less than face value for other stops on the tour.

"We sold tickets for $1 in Raleigh, and floor seats in Arizona were going for $20," he said. "I had never seen prices this low. It was a fire sale on many of these shows." '
...
Yeah... UNLOADING tickets after the hundreds of fans had already paid grossly marked up prices because they didn't have a chance during the public Sale because the broker assholes got a hold of the tickets. One dollar lawn seats at show time... that's supposed to make it okay? Nice try StubHub spin-meister... asshole.

I also laughed at their quote that some people would rather not deal with the hassel of buying tickets right when they go on sale

given2fly23

I just dont see this passing, but of course I desperately hope that it does. I think the lobbyists for TM and LiveNation are just too big for something like this to pass. I think fans have to take solace in the fact that it's even getting this much attention.

You can certainly help by sending a letter, email or phonecall to your congressman or senator voicing your support for the legislation. I used to work at an Illinois Senator's office when I was in college and they really do pay attention to what the citizens are saying, but it takes many voices to get their attention.

Cosmo

pjsteelerfan wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

Thanx Stephen for the link...
I like the StubHub response...
'StubHub sold thousands of tickets to Springsteen's recent tour, with the two Izod Center concerts fetching some of the top prices. The average price for those tickets was $292, almost three times face value. However, Pate said resellers were unloading tickets at less than face value for other stops on the tour.

"We sold tickets for $1 in Raleigh, and floor seats in Arizona were going for $20," he said. "I had never seen prices this low. It was a fire sale on many of these shows." '
...
Yeah... UNLOADING tickets after the hundreds of fans had already paid grossly marked up prices because they didn't have a chance during the public Sale because the broker assholes got a hold of the tickets. One dollar lawn seats at show time... that's supposed to make it okay? Nice try StubHub spin-meister... asshole.

I also laughed at their quote that some people would rather not deal with the hassel of buying tickets right when they go on sale

...
i think thay are called 'Lazy People with excessive disposable income'. How many fans of anyband that will NOT try at every pre-sale and prime their computers at 9:30 on a saturday for the public sale to get a ticket?
They are trying to play the benevolence card... ain't gonna work when there are hundreds of thousands of people who have been screwed.

peacegirl

pjsteelerfan wrote:

I also laughed at their quote that some people would rather not deal with the hassel of buying tickets right when they go on sale

Same here

PJStatTracker

i don't see this passing, but God I hope so.

Flagg

Cosmo wrote:

I just heard that Congress is introducing a bill that will require TicketMaster to list how many tickets will be put up for sale, how many tickets are being held back for Fan Clubs, Promotions and band. and will not let ticket brokers to buty tickets during the first 48 hours of the public sale.
Looking up details and confirmation.
...
The legislation is called 'the Boss act'... after Bruce Sprinsteen.

Rest assured the ticket brokers (scalpers) will find a way.

Cosmo

Flagg wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

I just heard that Congress is introducing a bill that will require TicketMaster to list how many tickets will be put up for sale, how many tickets are being held back for Fan Clubs, Promotions and band. and will not let ticket brokers to buty tickets during the first 48 hours of the public sale.
Looking up details and confirmation.
...
The legislation is called 'the Boss act'... after Bruce Sprinsteen.

Rest assured the ticket brokers (scalpers) will find a way.

...
I agree.
But, hopefully, not as freely and in as great a number as they are getting away with today.
as fans... I feel WE are responsible, too. Every time we buy a scalped ticket... we validate that tranaction as a legitimate business. No buyers... no scalpers.

quelquefois

Cosmo wrote:

...
I agree.
But, hopefully, not as freely and in as great a number as they are getting away with today.
as fans... I feel WE are responsible, too. Every time we buy a scalped ticket... we validate that tranaction as a legitimate business. No buyers... no scalpers.

i think this is such an excellent point... if we wouldn't pay 300% for a springsteen ticket (or any ticket) the market for broker tickets would shrivel up and die...

Flagg

Cosmo wrote:

Flagg wrote:

Rest assured the ticket brokers (scalpers) will find a way.

...
I agree.
But, hopefully, not as freely and in as great a number as they are getting away with today.
as fans... I feel WE are responsible, too. Every time we buy a scalped ticket... we validate that tranaction as a legitimate business. No buyers... no scalpers.

Agree with that too. I've bought from scalpers too, but I try to do it on the day of the show or game or whatever, when the price is at its absolute lowest. I hate ticket brokers.

Problem is your fandom sometimes gets in the way of rational thought.

Ok

Cosmo wrote:

Thanx Stephen for the link...
I like the StubHub response...
'StubHub sold thousands of tickets to Springsteen's recent tour, with the two Izod Center concerts fetching some of the top prices. The average price for those tickets was $292, almost three times face value. However, Pate said resellers were unloading tickets at less than face value for other stops on the tour.

"We sold tickets for $1 in Raleigh, and floor seats in Arizona were going for $20," he said. "I had never seen prices this low. It was a fire sale on many of these shows." '
...
Yeah... UNLOADING tickets after the hundreds of fans had already paid grossly marked up prices because they didn't have a chance during the public Sale because the broker assholes got a hold of the tickets. One dollar lawn seats at show time... that's supposed to make it okay? Nice try StubHub spin-meister... asshole.

+1

Ok

I am so glad you posted this information. I've been trying to follow along with this continuing story since the Bruce fiasco. I unfortunately don't think this bill goes far enough. Way just wait 48 hours? If these brokers that have the high powered computer systems to access the tickets as soon as they go on sale, they'll just sit on them for 2 days and then post them on eBay/Stubhub. It may eliminate some of the fiasco with the actual public sale, but I double there will be any significant drop in price for the average fan.

There is no other single issue that gets me more fired up that the whole Ticketbastard/Livenation situation. It is an absolute travisty.

megatron

slightofjeff wrote:

I somehow doubt this will pass.

Or if it does, it will also contain an unrelated provision for also clubbing baby seals.

But we can be hopeful.

well put

heather_honey

Typical government response. If states hadn't repealed their scalping laws nearly universally at this point, none of this would be a problem. I'm all for a 'real' solution but 'The Boss Act' doesn't look like it to me.

PJ Fan est. 1990

i'd like to know who bought that $1 ticket

BD122845

Yeah Right. Why would the promoter want to release the exact amount of tickets on sale and how many tickets are on hold by the band for VIP's? That is invasion of privacy because those seats are the bands and no one else. Ticket Brokers have a say in it because there are people who do not have fast internet access or are rich and do not mind spending above face value. Goes by supply and demand. I always stay around face value buying tickets unless its a VIP package for better seats and M&G. Ticket brokers will be around in many illegal ways. In order to stop them LiveNation, AEG and other concert promoters must hire groups of people taking pictures of scalpers posting their faces on the internet post where they live and run them out of business. Also concert promoters must watch ticketing companies going to all the ticketing outlets and monitor the day of show sales and will call pick up. The newest ticket scalping fab is changing up the envelopes and switching tickets around. Its going on mainly on the East Coast from DC all the way up to Boston at the major arenas. If you want me to take them out hire me. DC I can easily take apart the scalping scene in a split second. I'm always undercover.

CJMST3K

Cosmo wrote:

I just heard that Congress is introducing a bill that will require TicketMaster...

No real change will happen.

TicketMonster's board of directors includes Ari Emanuel.

Why does that matter? Ari's brother is Rahm Emanuel.

Who's that?

...only Obama's Chief of Staff!

"The White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President. The U.S. President’s Chief of Staff is a very powerful position, sometimes dubbed “The Second-Most Powerful Man in Washington”."

I can't see Ari getting Obama to proactively go against Ari's brother. I would love for TM to get what's coming to them, but the government loves a monopoly... especially when it's in the family.

heather_honey

CJMST3K wrote:

No real change will happen.

TicketMonster's board of directors includes Ari Emanuel.

Why does that matter? Ari's brother is Rahm Emanuel.

Who's that?

...only Obama's Chief of Staff!

"The White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President. The U.S. President’s Chief of Staff is a very powerful position, sometimes dubbed “The Second-Most Powerful Man in Washington”."

I can't see Ari getting Obama to proactively go against Ari's brother. I would love for TM to get what's coming to them, but the government loves a monopoly... especially when it's in the family.

Although you bring up a valid point, don't forget that this legislation would bring about more government jobs to administrate and carry out the 'oversight'. I'm sure the reseller registration will be some sort of revenue stream, as well in the way of fees and licensing.

I live in NJ, where the bill is coming from, and the end game to most legislation is to get more people on the government payroll. If there's a revenue stream to be made on top of the jobs, it's the perfect talking point for how the expanded staff will be funded.

All crap. Bring back the scalping laws, make them on a federal level so resellers in one state can't exceed another state's cap and places like StubHub, Ticketsnow and every other do-it-yourself reseller site are done.

CJMST3K

heather_honey wrote:

CJMST3K wrote:

No real change will happen.

TicketMonster's board of directors includes Ari Emanuel.

Why does that matter? Ari's brother is Rahm Emanuel.

Who's that?

...only Obama's Chief of Staff!

"The White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President. The U.S. President’s Chief of Staff is a very powerful position, sometimes dubbed “The Second-Most Powerful Man in Washington”."

I can't see Ari getting Obama to proactively go against Ari's brother. I would love for TM to get what's coming to them, but the government loves a monopoly... especially when it's in the family.

Although you bring up a valid point, don't forget that this legislation would bring about more government jobs to administrate and carry out the 'oversight'. I'm sure the reseller registration will be some sort of revenue stream, as well in the way of fees and licensing.

I live in NJ, where the bill is coming from, and the end game to most legislation is to get more people on the government payroll. If there's a revenue stream to be made on top of the jobs, it's the perfect talking point for how the expanded staff will be funded.

All crap. Bring back the scalping laws, make them on a federal level so resellers in one state can't exceed another state's cap and places like StubHub, Ticketsnow and every other do-it-yourself reseller site are done.

The legalizing of scalping still burns me. I think of it like you have a handful of people buying all the milk from all of the grocery stores everywhere for $2 just so they can put it for sale in their stores for $9. A mom feeding her kids is gonna pay the $9 rather than buy powdered milk. ...it's just so corrupt. And don't get me started on the TM fees.

IamMine

non-entity wrote:

.

You can certainly help by sending a letter, email or phonecall to your congressman or senator voicing your support for the legislation. I used to work at an Illinois Senator's office when I was in college and they really do pay attention to what the citizens are saying, but it takes many voices to get their attention.

That is an excellent idea!

Would someone be willing to write a "draft" letter along with basic information on how to find the contact person(s).

I've learned that is pretty effective in getting more people involved because they are not comfortable with their writing or how to make their points across.

Please PM me if someone does this outside of this thread.

Even if it seems impossible the bill would not be passed, we can't say we didn't try...right?

CJMST3K

IamMine wrote:

non-entity wrote:

.

You can certainly help by sending a letter, email or phonecall to your congressman or senator voicing your support for the legislation. I used to work at an Illinois Senator's office when I was in college and they really do pay attention to what the citizens are saying, but it takes many voices to get their attention.

That is an excellent idea!

Would someone be willing to write a "draft" letter along with basic information on how to find the contact person(s).

I've learned that is pretty effective in getting more people involved because they are not comfortable with their writing or how to make their points across.

Please PM me if someone does this outside of this thread.

Even if it seems impossible the bill would not be passed, we can't say we didn't try...right?

What about letters? If a particular legislator was sent 20+ letters for a proposal such as this would that attract attention?

heather_honey

A friend stumbled on this as a great approach to curbing the secondary market, if not eliminating it completely. Amazingly it was done without the government's involvement.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/mileycyrus

megatron

heather_honey wrote:

A friend stumbled on this as a great approach to curbing the secondary market, if not eliminating it completely. Amazingly it was done without the government's involvement.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/mileycyrus

a friend?
i think we have a closet miley fan

benjs

heather_honey wrote:

A friend stumbled on this as a great approach to curbing the secondary market, if not eliminating it completely. Amazingly it was done without the government's involvement.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/mileycyrus

Tom Waits did this on his tour last year, I believe... it's a GREAT idea, however, wouldn't Ticketbastard still have the right to sell tickets directly to Ticketsnow, and since they're enforcing the rules, tell Ticketsnow ticket buyers they don't have to use the paperless ticket method?

heather_honey

benjs wrote:

heather_honey wrote:

A friend stumbled on this as a great approach to curbing the secondary market, if not eliminating it completely. Amazingly it was done without the government's involvement.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/mileycyrus

Tom Waits did this on his tour last year, I believe... it's a GREAT idea, however, wouldn't Ticketbastard still have the right to sell tickets directly to Ticketsnow, and since they're enforcing the rules, tell Ticketsnow ticket buyers they don't have to use the paperless ticket method?

Ticketsnow does not get direct sales from TM. Individuals still buy the TM tickets and then list them on TN, like they would on StubHub or their own do-it-yourself site. Are some of those people TM employees or agents? I'm sure but I don't think it's ever been published anywhere that TM directly sells to TN.

The Miley Cirus (my friend has kids, cut her some slack - ) and Tom Waits set up is artist driven. TM benefits by getting the heat off of them for facilitating the secondary market and it saves them money in printing and shipping costs. I wonder if the 'convenience' fees are lower for the paperless tours? I'm sure there's bedlam at the venue unless they have a lot of self-service machines, like the movies, but since you need to show ID, maybe not. I'd rather wait in line at the venue to get my face value seat than pay the markup from a broker. It'll be interesting to see how many other artists do this and I wonder why PJ didn't for their tour.

NYbenben

the worst part about buying from Stub Hub is that on top of the ridiculously high prices being charged there is another Service Charge on top of that and then shipping... they kick you, beat you and leave you for dead...