Someone here needs to take TicketMaster down

[$iljanus]

Will be happy if I'm wrong about this but I foresee the breakup of Ticketmaster resulting in...the formation of smaller Ticketmaster like companies all charging the same service fees and inflated prices.

[El Guapo]

Will be happy if I'm wrong about this but I foresee the breakup of Ticketmaster resulting in...the formation of smaller Ticketmaster like companies all charging the same service fees and inflated prices.

If it works, then competition will drive down the fees and prices. The core problem is that even big name acts with a ton of clout have to do business with Ticketmaster, so they don't have any need to adjust their prices beyond whimsy.

[$iljanus]

Will be happy if I'm wrong about this but I foresee the breakup of Ticketmaster resulting in...the formation of smaller Ticketmaster like companies all charging the same service fees and inflated prices.

If it works, then competition will drive down the fees and prices. The core problem is that even big name acts with a ton of clout have to do business with Ticketmaster, so they don't have any need to adjust their prices beyond whimsy.

I would hope so. I guess I'm just not optimistic these days but at least I can enjoy seeing Ticketmaster go down assuming that they're broken up.

Nothing is stopping an act from partnering with a predatory mini Ticketmaster but at that point maybe a fan should reconsider throwing their money to that act.

[LordMortis]

It is my, probably flawed, understanding that the goal is not break up live nation in to competitive baby ticket masters but rather to break them up from owning venues, ticketing service, ticket management, and resales servicing, putting them in a position to enforce controls over every aspect of a system that provides live entertainment for anything larger than a large bar. So they collect from venues, cities, patrons, and performers while, in essence, also being their own scalpers.

As to if if this could save money or allow for more freedom of choice/expression for venues/cities/artists/patrons or if it's just a way antitrust flex from a department that likes to antitrust flex (see Kroger and Albertson's as an example), I got nothin'.

[hitbyambulance]

while, in essence, also being their own scalpers.

i feel this is not emphasized enough. they absolutely encourage and abet the scalper (excuse me, 'resale') market since they can also get a cut from it

[disarm]

while, in essence, also being their own scalpers.

i feel this is not emphasized enough. they absolutely encourage and abet the scalper (excuse me, 'resale') market since they can also get a cut from it

While they claim to take measures to combat scalping, it really makes no difference to them as long as the tickets sell. All they have to do is come up with some half-assed measures so it gives the appearance of doing something, then say "we tried" when fans can't get tickets. They pocket the money from the original ticket sale either way.

[hitbyambulance]

while, in essence, also being their own scalpers.

i feel this is not emphasized enough. they absolutely encourage and abet the scalper (excuse me, 'resale') market since they can also get a cut from it

While they claim to take measures to combat scalping, it really makes no difference to them as long as the tickets sell. All they have to do is come up with some half-assed measures so it gives the appearance of doing something, then say "we tried" when fans can't get tickets. They pocket the money from the original ticket sale either way.

if you use stubhub.com to resell tickets, TicketBastard takes _another_ percentage when they sell, on top of when they sold them the first time....

[LordMortis]

while, in essence, also being their own scalpers.

i feel this is not emphasized enough. they absolutely encourage and abet the scalper (excuse me, 'resale') market since they can also get a cut from it

I imagine they care tacitly allow the bots (while prohibiting them in writing) to grab tickets for resale because resale is more money in their pockets. I have no evidence of this, though. Perhaps it's because I can't imagine so many people jumping at the chance to pay so much for first hand tickets the instant they go on sale and then seeing the resale market pop up as quickly as the tickets went on sale. Though maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there are thousands and thousands of individuals that are that quick and individually organized, making a living being lucky at all of these pulls in all of these "presales" markets and LiveNation has absolutely no way to control their scalping ways.

[Rumpy]

How this was allowed in the first place is just bonkers. In any other industry, I don't think having so many facets being controlled by one company would be legal.

Even if they're technically not scalping, I could easily believe them to use the bots to hold tickets to drive the prices up to and to create a sense of urgency around buying tickets. And it's not like those timers even help any.

It reminds me of the time Elton John played his one and only concert here in 2008. It created what was locally known as 'Ticketgate' or 'Scandal in the Wind'. Mayor and Councillors were able to jump the line to buy up to 8 tickets each. Meanwhile, the regular public could wait in a long line in the cold to buy tickets or play a waiting game online for tickets, it reportedly sold out in 45 minutes of being available. The Mayor ended up not even attending.

[Pyperkub]

And the week got worse for them - hacked!

n a forum listing today by the threat actor and forum owner known as ShinyHunters, the data was described as consisting of 1.3 TB of data including:

560 million customers full details (name, address, email, phone)
Ticket sales, event information, order details.
CC detail – customer, last 4 of card, expiration date.
customer fraud details
much more

The sale price was listed as $500,000.00 for a one-time sale. Information on table sizes and a sample of data were included in the listing.

[$iljanus]

And the week got worse for them - hacked!

n a forum listing today by the threat actor and forum owner known as ShinyHunters, the data was described as consisting of 1.3 TB of data including:

560 million customers full details (name, address, email, phone)
Ticket sales, event information, order details.
CC detail – customer, last 4 of card, expiration date.
customer fraud details
much more

The sale price was listed as $500,000.00 for a one-time sale. Information on table sizes and a sample of data were included in the listing.

Sigh worse for customers like me who had to use these assholes for some concert tickets. There should be a class action suit for the data breach. Tired of companies who can't safeguard customer data.

[Zaxxon]

If only they were able to charge fees sufficiently high enough to cover proper cybersecurity protections.

[Carpet_pissr]

If only they were able to charge fees sufficiently high enough to cover proper cybersecurity protections.

Good God. Will no one think of upper management salaries?! You can’t just go slashing those half million $ salaries just to make sure some poor schlubs’ data is secure.

Or are you suggesting cutting back on the annual billion dollar company gala?!

[LordMortis]

Sigh worse for customers like me who had to use these assholes for some concert tickets. There should be a class action suit for the data breach. Tired of companies who can't safeguard customer data.

If all the hospital systems who coughed up my payment info, social security, and HIPAA protected information and a damned credit bureau holding my info hostage have no real liability beyond them offering free credit monitoring for a year then I rather doubt LiveNation will have any culpability. Heck, Sprint and ATT offered me nothing when they let all my account info get stolen. At this point, I can't see who any one doesn't have their credit frozen. I get several notifications a year to say nothing of long dead accounts at places like Yahoo... I do wonder if there is a point where they can peice together enough info to do some sort of ID theft that gets past my frozen credit and MFA. I figure it's coming sometime. I still watch all my financial accounts weekly when possible.

If only they were able to charge fees sufficiently high enough to cover proper cybersecurity protections.

I mean all of the cyber security protection money is put to good use already keeping bot farms from attacking ticket sales for instant resales to set a market that would cut out the artist and hurt the fans and generally make the market rush a smooth, easy, transparent way to purchase tickets when the window opens.

[Kraken]

At this point, I can't see who any one doesn't have their credit frozen.

I temporarily lifted the freeze on my and Wife's files when we applied for our new HELOC; it took some doing because I'd lost the logins for her accounts. That lift expires on 6/1...just as we're about to apply for a mortgage. Dammit. Gotta go back in and unfreeze them again.

[Pyperkub]

Will be happy if I'm wrong about this but I foresee the breakup of Ticketmaster resulting in...the formation of smaller Ticketmaster like companies all charging the same service fees and inflated prices.

What you are talking about is price-fixing - also illegal, and would likely be a part of the breakup requirements to ban.

[Zaxxon]

Yeah, that's the thing. Just out of curiosity, I went to see how much tickets would be, and I noticed service fees on top of that. For a 4-day festival pass, it's currently $135CAD+$11 Fees. So other services are doing it now too.

That's actually instructive as to how bad Ticketmaster/LiveNation are. Your example is ~8% in fees. My Ticketmaster example is ~30%. Ticketmaster isn't competing, because it doesn't have to.

Today's example: $37.50 tickets to the Misterwives here in Denver. Sweet, methinks; a show that I can take my daughter to and we'll both enjoy, and it's reasonably-priced!

Add tickets to cart: fees add 34.6%. This at a smallish Denver mainstay venue, the Ogden Theater. Through AXS.

[Isgrimnur]

Through AXS

Owned by AEG, second only to TM in terms of vertical monopoly shenanigans.

[Isgrimnur]

[Zaxxon]

AEG happy to complain about Ticketmaster while charging approximately the same fee %.

[LordMortis]

Wow. AXS were reasonable pre COVID, the last time I went out. Like $5 flat fees on $40 tickets and $2 flat fees on really cheap shows. I never saw any shows at that time through AXS more'n $40 or so. I look at shows now, and, whew, when I finally go out again, I'll be having to find the budget. The $10 nor even $20 show is gone gone gone.

[Zaxxon]

It's been probably a decade since I last visited the Ogden, but my memory does not include crazy fees. Betting they were still independent back then.

[Rumpy]

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster is like, "Bro, we do this for your benefit!"

[hitbyambulance]

bought a resale ticket off stubhub the other day - original ticket price + in-person box office fee was $55. this one was being resold for $35, but it had $18 in fees from stubhub. is a 50% markup needed? no.

note that stubhub _also_ takes a sizeable surcharge from the seller as well!