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Is Pearl Jam's Beef With Ticketmaster Officially Squashed?

demetriosdemetrios Canada Posts: 87,852
in The Porch

1/26/2018 by Dave Brooks


Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs at Wells Fargo Center on April 29, 2016 in Philadelphia.

The Seattle rockers are using Verified Fan for their seven-stadium tour run this summer.

Pearl Jam's public fight with Ticketmaster ended 20 years ago, and if there's any doubt that the two camps have moved past the dispute, Wednesday's announcement that Pearl Jam was using Verified Fan for its upcoming "Home" and "Away" stadium concerts this summer should finally put the matter to rest.

The Seattle rock band is asking fans who want to purchase presale tickets to the band's "Home" shows August 8 and 10 at Safeco Field in Seattle to register through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan platform. Same for the band's "Away" shows at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana (Aug. 13), Wrigley Field in Chicago (Aug. 18 and 20.) and Boston's Fenway Park (Sept. 2 and 4).

"I think that Pearl Jam is going out of their way to create a great experience for their fans at the same time that Ticketmaster is also working to improve the fan experience," said Dean Budnick, editor-in-chief for Relix magazine and author of "Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped."

Pearl Jam is using Ticketmaster's Verified Fan platform to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers and off the large resale sites like StubHub, but the two didn't always see eye-to-eye. In May 1994, after complaining that Ticketmaster had a monopoly on ticketing in the United States, the band hired  law firm Sullivan and Cromwell and filed a complaint with the Justice Department, asking for an investigation of Ticketmaster's practices.

A month later, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard testified before Congress, explaining that they wanted to cap tickets at $18.50 each with a fee no higher than $1.80. Ticketmaster said it needed $2 a ticket to break even and the company's former CEO Fred Rosen said I"f Pearl Jam wants to play for free, we'll be happy to distribute their tickets for free."

Pearl Jam didn't tour the summer of 1994 and tried to skip Ticketmaster venues the following year on it's Vitalogy tour, canceling a number of dates after Eddie Vedder got food poisoning and was hospitalized. In the end the DOJ dropped its investigation of Ticketmaster and the band, unable to convince other artists to participate in the boycott, eventually dropped the fight and played a number of Ticketmaster buildings on its 1998 Yield tour.

While the two sides have enjoyed a low-key truce over the years, Ticketmaster and Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis recently sided on to a plan by Tim Leiweke's Oak View Group to support a new design and management contract for KeyArena (over a rival plan from AEG). The decision to use Verified Fan — a platform used by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran — was made to minimize ticket resale for the seven-show tour, which could attract fans from all over the country.

"Our number one goal has always been to get Pearl Jam tickets into the hands of our fans," Curtis said in a statement to Billboard. "We are constantly working up ways to improve our ticketing options and level the playing field. Verified Fan is the best solution out there to beat the bots."

Another Ticketmaster rival, String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba, said he supports Pearl Jam's efforts to protect its fans using the Ticketmaster platform. 

"It's good to see Pearl Jam work with the ticketing industry to take positive steps that make things better for bands, fans and society in general," said Luba, who has battled Ticketmaster over fan club ticket issues in the past.

Luba said artists like Taylor Swift and Reputation tour promoter Louis Messina's efforts to use Verified Fan and price tickets higher — part of the "Slow Ticketing" strategy — was "moving the industry in the right direction." and said he hoped Pearl Jam's use of Verified Fan meant more concerts from the band in the future — "the more Pearl Jam shows, the better for everyone."

David Marcus, EVP and head of Music at Ticketmaster tells Billboard in a statement that "Ticketmaster is honored to partner with an iconic band like Pearl Jam on their summer concert tour. We have an enormous amount of respect for the band and understand how important their relationship is with their fan base."

Registration for the Verified Fan presale ends Feb. 4. Sign up and learn more here.


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    JimmyVJimmyV Boston's MetroWest Posts: 18,921
    edited January 2018
    I agree with this part for sure.

    "the more Pearl Jam shows, the better for everyone."
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
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    rick1zoo2rick1zoo2 between a rock and a dumb place Posts: 12,632
    The linked "Slow Ticketing" strategy article was very interesting in how Ticketmaster figuring out how to get the secondary market prices imbedded back into Ticketmaster primary sales.  Secondary markets have shown them that market-based pricing can generate more revenue.  Be grateful that PJ still sells 10Club members tickets through the lottery system and also has managed to hold prices steady with typically same price for every ticket in a venue through general sales too.
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    EddieredderEddieredder Posts: 694
    TM verified fan is a good thing. Anything that makes it more challenging and cuts into scalpers profits is not a negative. 

    It is also a little disingenuous on their part. They make money off their own reselling site too. If they were really against scalping then they wouldn't have their own marketplace. Its basically them saying "We are doing this to curb scalpers" (wink wink), but "But if you need to sell be sure to use our marketplace" (wink wink). They aren't going to completely cut off their secondary revenue. They are a corporation.

    If TM really wanted to help fix the problem for the good of the industry....

    1. Go paperless for all tickets (no transfers, no resale)
    2. Match ID and credit card with the tickets
    3. Shut down their reselling market

    Still doesn't fix the problem. There will always be ways around it, but they can do more. 

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    PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,543
    Hasn't it been squashed for over 20 years now?
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
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    EddieredderEddieredder Posts: 694
    TM is a necessary evil. There isn't an alternative for a band this size. 
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    rick1zoo2rick1zoo2 between a rock and a dumb place Posts: 12,632
    Funny for the Verified Fan tickets I bought for this summer's U2 shows, I ended up getting actual tickets in the mail, that I could easily re-sell.
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    tschavtschav Posts: 2,771
    rick1zoo2 said:
    Be grateful that PJ still sells 10Club members tickets through the lottery system and also has managed to hold prices steady with typically same price for every ticket in a venue through general sales too.
    ^ This.

    While they haven't "won" in changing Ticketmaster policy, they instigated an argument and found ways to maintain a fan relationship. The fact that we can still get front row for ~$100 instead of some $250+ VIP package deal amazes me at times. 
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    RP112579RP112579 Tinley Park, IL Posts: 3,359
    Was this article written in 1998?
    6/29/98 Chicago-United Center
    6/18/03 Chicago-United Center
    5/17/06 Chicago-United Center
    7/19/13 Chicago-Wrigley Field
    10/11/13 Pittsburgh-Consol Energy Center
    10/17/14 Moline-IWireless Center (No Code)
    10/20/14 Milwaukee-Bradley center (Yield)
    4/26/16 Lexington-Rupp Arena
    8/20/16 Chicago-Wrigley Field
    8/22/16 Chicago-Wrigley Field
    8/18/18 Chicago-Wrigley Field
    8/20/18 Chicago-Wrigley Field
    9/5/23 Chicago-United Center
    9/7/23 Chicago-United Center
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    mcgruff10mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 27,888
    PJ_Soul said:
    Hasn't it been squashed for over 20 years now?
    Correct. They ve used Ticketmaster since 1998. 
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
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    1upstate1upstate near Syracuse NY Posts: 201
    Eddieredder said:
    TM verified fan is a good thing. Anything that makes it more challenging and cuts into scalpers profits is not a negative. 

    It is also a little disingenuous on their part. They make money off their own reselling site too. If they were really against scalping then they wouldn't have their own marketplace. Its basically them saying "We are doing this to curb scalpers" (wink wink), but "But if you need to sell be sure to use our marketplace" (wink wink). They aren't going to completely cut off their secondary revenue. They are a corporation.

    If TM really wanted to help fix the problem for the good of the industry....

    1. Go paperless for all tickets (no transfers, no resale)
    2. Match ID and credit card with the tickets
    3. Shut down their reselling market

    Still doesn't fix the problem. There will always be ways around it, but they can do more. 


    I have a problem with no transfers/ resales- You're asking me to buy a ticket in February for an August show. Fine, I'll buy it and I plan on going.  But sometimes life gets in the way. You're suddenly unemployed, ill or injured. You should be able to transfer tickets, at cost only. Problem is ticketmaster upcharges like crazy to resell. Buyer and seller pay fees.  I'd pay $20 to not have to eat a pair of tickets. 
    "I know I was born and I know that I'll die. The in between is mine"
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    PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,543
    1upstate said:
    Eddieredder said:
    TM verified fan is a good thing. Anything that makes it more challenging and cuts into scalpers profits is not a negative. 

    It is also a little disingenuous on their part. They make money off their own reselling site too. If they were really against scalping then they wouldn't have their own marketplace. Its basically them saying "We are doing this to curb scalpers" (wink wink), but "But if you need to sell be sure to use our marketplace" (wink wink). They aren't going to completely cut off their secondary revenue. They are a corporation.

    If TM really wanted to help fix the problem for the good of the industry....

    1. Go paperless for all tickets (no transfers, no resale)
    2. Match ID and credit card with the tickets
    3. Shut down their reselling market

    Still doesn't fix the problem. There will always be ways around it, but they can do more. 


    I have a problem with no transfers/ resales- You're asking me to buy a ticket in February for an August show. Fine, I'll buy it and I plan on going.  But sometimes life gets in the way. You're suddenly unemployed, ill or injured. You should be able to transfer tickets, at cost only. Problem is ticketmaster upcharges like crazy to resell. Buyer and seller pay fees.  I'd pay $20 to not have to eat a pair of tickets. 
    Don't TM tickets normally have a free transfer option? I've done that plenty of times.
    I agree that 10C should have a transfer option. Or just do buy backs, and then resell them to other members who entered to access any buy back tix or something. How hard could it be, if it's all electronic?
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
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    EddieredderEddieredder Posts: 694
    rick1zoo2 said:
    Funny for the Verified Fan tickets I bought for this summer's U2 shows, I ended up getting actual tickets in the mail, that I could easily re-sell.
    Think about it from a scalper's perspective though. They have to have multiple phones/numbers. Register a bunch of different accounts or buy access codes. Doesn't stop them........slows them down a bit
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    darthvedderdarthvedder Posts: 2,478
    mcgruff10 said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    Hasn't it been squashed for over 20 years now?
    Correct. They ve used Ticketmaster since 1998. 
    Yeah, what a dumb article. Doesn't even mention Eddie's partnership with Live Nation.
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    bootlegger10bootlegger10 Posts: 15,540
    Yes.  Was done a long time ago.

    Fairly certain the cost of their tour t-shirts are not $35, so they have comes to terms with making an obscene profit off their customers. 
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    fall by the waysidefall by the wayside Jericho, VT Posts: 753
    PJ_Soul said:
    Hasn't it been squashed for over 20 years now?
    This.
    9/13/98, 10/4/00, 4/29/03, 6/29/03, 7/2/03, 9/28/04, 9/29/04, 9/15/05, 9/16/05, 5/12/06, 5/13/06, 6/27/08, 6/28/08, 6/30/08, 10/30/09, 10/31/09, 5/15/10, 9/11/11, 9/12/11, 10/19/13, 10/21/13, 10/22/13, 10/25/13, 10/27/13, 9/26/15, 4/28/16, 4/29/16, 8/5/16, 8/7/16, 8/13/18, 9/2/18, 9/4/18, 9/26/21, 9/1/22, 9/2/22, 9/14/22, 9/18/23, 9/19/23
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    lowbudgetlushlowbudgetlush Posts: 609
    It’s been squashed since 1998. They lost and moved on.
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    iwasatpj20iwasatpj20 Rockford, IL Posts: 3,300
    lowbudgetlush said:
    It’s been squashed since 1998. They lost and moved on.
    Exactly
    2000 - Chicago, IL
    2003 - Champaign, IL
    2006 - Chicago, IL 1 & 2
    2007 - Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
    2009 - Chicago, IL 1 & 2
    2010 - St. Louis, MO
    2011 - East Troy, WI 1 & 2 (PJ20 Destination Weekend)
    2012 - Atlanta, GA, Missoula, MT
    2013 - Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field), Dallas, TX, Oklahoma City, OK
    2014 - St. Louis, MO, Tulsa, OK, Moline, IL (No Code, IL), Saint Paul, MN, Milwaukee, WI (Yield, WI)
    2016 - Greenville, SC (Vs, SC), Raleigh, NC, Columbia, SC, Boston, MA (Fenway Park 1), Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field 1 & 2)
    2018 - Seattle, WA (Safeco Field 2), Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field 1 & 2), Boston, MA (Fenway Park 2)
    2020 - Nashville, TN, St. Louis, MO, Oklahoma City, OK, Phoenix, AZ, ??
    2022 - Nashville, TN, St. Louis, MO, Oklahoma City, OK, Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV
    2023 - St. Paul, MN 2, Fort Worth, TX 2, Austin, TX 1, and Austin, TX 2
    2024 - Portland, OR and Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field 1 & 2)


    2012 - Temple of the Dog East Troy, WI (PJ20 Destination Weekend)
    2014 - Soundgarden Tinley Park, IL (with Nine Inch Nails)
    2014 - Alice in Chains Davenport, IA
    2016 - Chris Cornell Solo Madison, WI and Peoria, IL (official hometown show)
    2016 - Temple of the Dog San Francisco, CA (both shows)
    2017 - Soundgarden Dallas (cancelled) RIP Chris Cornell
    2018 - Smashing Pumpkins Chicago, IL (first show)
    2019 - Alice in Chains Milwaukee, WI
    2022 - Jerry Cantrell Chicago, IL
    2023 - Jerry Cantrell Milwaukee, WI

    RIP Andrew Wood, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, and Chris Cornell

    RIP Mom (may your star shine the brightest in the sky, our family loves and misses you very much, we'll meet again)

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    ZodZod Posts: 10,168
    You can't really tour without TM/Live Nation anymore.   PJ lost the fight.  Ticketmaster and LN got even bigger, absorbed even more venues, and has made it impossible to launch a tour of decent sized venues without using TM (at least in north america).   They almost killed themselves in '95 trying to run their own tour of non TM venues (which meant they had to run the show.  They had to handle ticketing, security, etc..).   The tour kind of imploded.   I can't image every pulling of such a feat now.

    They lost, and if you're a musician who plays bigger venues, it's pretty much impossible to avoid using them.
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    mcgruff10mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 27,888
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
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    ZodZod Posts: 10,168
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
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    RiotZactRiotZact Posts: 6,206
    Zod said:
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
    You are correct, the problem is the laws that surround the ticket industry and insane lack of regulation that there is. It is the only industry I can think of that can get away with such blatant bullshit in open daylight for all to see. 
  • Options
    darthvedderdarthvedder Posts: 2,478

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    ZodZod Posts: 10,168
    RiotZact said:
    Zod said:
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
    You are correct, the problem is the laws that surround the ticket industry and insane lack of regulation that there is. It is the only industry I can think of that can get away with such blatant bullshit in open daylight for all to see. 
    Probably because it's one of the few industries where the price of the goods are sold way below their fair market value.    How many other industries have a good, where you can buy it from the store, and then resell for way more than you just bought it for? lol.

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    timdwillitimdwilli Los Angeles, CA Posts: 294
    Zod said:
    RiotZact said:
    Zod said:
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
    You are correct, the problem is the laws that surround the ticket industry and insane lack of regulation that there is. It is the only industry I can think of that can get away with such blatant bullshit in open daylight for all to see. 
    Probably because it's one of the few industries where the price of the goods are sold way below their fair market value.    How many other industries have a good, where you can buy it from the store, and then resell for way more than you just bought it for? lol.

    I would venture it is well below 10% of events that sell for a premium on the secondary market. The majority of concerts don't sell out and, except for premium seats, you can almost always find secondary market regular season sporting event tickets for less than face. Sometimes even events you think will end up being a high resale ticket are not, i.e. Temple of the Dog at the Forum had tickets for less than $10 on Stubhub leading up to the show. Some big acts (the Stones, U2) go with a dynamic pricing approach to keep more of the pie for themselves, whereas PJ does not...good for us when we score 10c seats, bad when we don't. It is what it is, and hard to say what the perfect system looks like.
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    bootlegger10bootlegger10 Posts: 15,540
    darthvedder said:


    This could be a trainwreck.
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    ZodZod Posts: 10,168
    timdwilli said:
    Zod said:
    RiotZact said:
    Zod said:
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
    You are correct, the problem is the laws that surround the ticket industry and insane lack of regulation that there is. It is the only industry I can think of that can get away with such blatant bullshit in open daylight for all to see. 
    Probably because it's one of the few industries where the price of the goods are sold way below their fair market value.    How many other industries have a good, where you can buy it from the store, and then resell for way more than you just bought it for? lol.

    I would venture it is well below 10% of events that sell for a premium on the secondary market. The majority of concerts don't sell out and, except for premium seats, you can almost always find secondary market regular season sporting event tickets for less than face. Sometimes even events you think will end up being a high resale ticket are not, i.e. Temple of the Dog at the Forum had tickets for less than $10 on Stubhub leading up to the show. Some big acts (the Stones, U2) go with a dynamic pricing approach to keep more of the pie for themselves, whereas PJ does not...good for us when we score 10c seats, bad when we don't. It is what it is, and hard to say what the perfect system looks like.
    Yup.  That's how stubhub earns over a quarter billion in revenues every quarter.   Earning transaction fees on all these people who sell their tickets at a loss..... lol!
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    RiotZactRiotZact Posts: 6,206
    Zod said:
    RiotZact said:
    Zod said:
    mcgruff10 said:
    do any of the venues from this tour use ticketmaster?  I know fenway and wrigley do not.
    I think the mariners/safeco do?  When I went to Grizzly stadium in '98 it wasn't TM (and it was crazy how easy it was to get tickets.. lol).  20 years have passed though.. who knows now.

    To be fair we lump it all in with TM, but the ticket practices tend to be similar whether it's TM, or another similar ticket agency.  High service fees, promoters selling tickets directly to brokers, bots etc... We shit all over TM, but the problems aren't exclusive to TM.
    You are correct, the problem is the laws that surround the ticket industry and insane lack of regulation that there is. It is the only industry I can think of that can get away with such blatant bullshit in open daylight for all to see. 
    Probably because it's one of the few industries where the price of the goods are sold way below their fair market value.    How many other industries have a good, where you can buy it from the store, and then resell for way more than you just bought it for? lol.

    Yeah but it’s not just you at the store competing with other people, some of the other people have robots that can grab the stuff off of the shelf way faster than you can, and the manager of the store is sitting right there and watching it happen but isn’t doing anything to stop it. And no one higher up is forcing that manager to do anything about it because they’re all in bed with one another in some way shape or form. 
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    moozeekfanmoozeekfan Posts: 194
    Dynamic ticket pricing is definitely the way the industry should be heading.  Get rid of the Stubhubs and resale places, and price each ticket as to what its truly worth.  Everyone wants front row seats?  Charge $500 or more per ticket.  No one wants to sit in the "nosebleed" sections?  Make them all $20.  Or less.  Supply/Demand.  Free market.  Reaganomics!  Blah blah blah...you know what I mean.

    The way it's done now with everything in secret and artists getting a huge cut off the resale price (The Industry's dirty little secret....TM being authorized by the artists to hold the best seats so they can be sold directly on StubHub) is terrible for consumers.  I don't go to arena shows anymore because of this.
    Target Center - Jun 30, 1998
    Allstate Arena - Oct 09, 2000
    Xcel Energy Center - Jun 16, 2003
    United Center - Jun 18, 2003
    Fort William Garden - Sep 09, 2005
    Xcel Energy Center - Jun 27, 2006
    United Center - Aug 23, 2009
    Xcel Energy Center - Oct 19, 2014
    Xcel Energy Center - August 31, 2023
    Xcel Energy Center - September 2, 2023
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    rb173565rb173565 Posts: 102
    whatever happened to going to the venue and buying a ticket as you go in. do people not know how to form an orderly queue these days. all ticket problems solved..... no?
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    tschavtschav Posts: 2,771
    rb173565 said:
    whatever happened to going to the venue and buying a ticket as you go in. do people not know how to form an orderly queue these days. all ticket problems solved..... no?
    YouTube "Black Friday Sale" and that answers any questions about human decency and orderly queues. :)
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