Ticketmaster Collusion Investigation

[Ive always been a dreamer]

As many of us concert goers have suspected for years, Ticketmaster is under investigation for colluding with scalpers and secondary sellers to profit even more from ticket sales. Here is a recent article that details 'claims the company uses its TradeDesk platform to enable the kind of "buyer abuse" it outwardly criticizes'.

https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/ticketmaster-accused-of-colluding-with-scalpers-1202948864/

I'm short on time right now, but I definitely have some thoughts to share about this.

[thelastresort]

I will become the first person in Border history to say this, but I went to an Iron Maiden gig this summer here in England.

They had a very interesting set up which I have never experienced at another concert in terms of ticketing. You purchased in usual fashion, but didn't receive a ticket at all. Instead, you and whoever else you had bought for turned up at the gates on the day with the bank card used for the purchase and had it scanned, which in turn registered that you were a legitimate customer and then gave you a receipt that granted you entry and showed you your seat numbers.

If you lost your card you had to contact them in advance and they would let you change it to one you had now. I have no idea what you would do though had you bought tickets as a gift for someone else!

[sodascouts]

I am not surprised at all by this. Those scalpers always getting so many of the best seats time and time again.... there had to be an "inside job" going on there.

I appreciate the government stepping in over in Europe and elsewhere, but will that happen in the United States? I certainly hope so, but I'll believe it when I see it.

In the meantime, the artist can choose to do something about it by enacting their own measures to prove that the person who has bought the ticket is the one coming to the show, but some of them obviously don't want to...

[sodascouts]

BTW, you can read a lot more in-depth about the findings in the original story by the CBC, with more details from the guys who went undercover as scalpers to find out what was going on:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ticketmaster-prices-scalpers-bruno-mars-1.4826914

[Witchy Woman]

I will become the first person in Border history to say this, but I went to an Iron Maiden gig this summer here in England.


Up the irons !! I'm a huge heavy metal fan (in fact, it is my main genre of music), and metal shows are the norm for me. I derive great pleasure in wearing my metal shirts to decidedly non-metal people just to keep things lively. My personal favorite was wearing my Slayer shirt to a Barry Manilow concert. All the cops that were there (you know those crazy Fanilows !!) laughed their asses off at me !! Good times !!

[CAinOH]

And now there is a lawsuit:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/scalping-ticketmaster-class-action-lawsuit-731689/



“When you think of ticket buyers being swindled by scalpers, you likely imagine last-minute sales outside venue doors,” Berman said in a press release accompanying the suit. “You certainly wouldn’t assume the company selling the tickets — Ticketmaster — to be the ringleader behind massive price hikes spanning millions of tickets.” Hagens Berman is now asking for others who have purchased secondary market tickets from Ticketmaster’s resale platforms, including TicketsNow and Ticketmaster Verified, to come onboard. The class must be certified by a judge for the case to proceed.

[Brooke]

Doesn't surprise me and I hope they put a stop to it.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Yeah - I've been saying for years that Ticketmaster's practices are unethical, albeit not illegal. However it should be illegal and, hopefully, that will happen as a result of this investigation. As I've said in the past, scalping tickets is wrong and beyond unfair and they are actually scalping their own tickets. It's been apparent for a long time now that they hold tickets back and give secondary brokers preferential access, even though they deny it. They, of course, claim they don't control this, the artists do, but they are colluding to drive up tickets prices, thus profiting handsomely from these practices.

[CAinOH]

Not sure if this would be classified as an update on the situation or a tangent...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/how-ticket-fees-got-so-bad-and-why-they-wont-get-better/ar-AACMtZu

[sodascouts]

Not sure if this would be classified as an update on the situation or a tangent...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/how-ticket-fees-got-so-bad-and-why-they-wont-get-better/ar-AACMtZu

Reading that just makes me sick.

Regarding Ticketmaster and scalper collusion, though, just some more anecdotal evidence:

For the recent Seger concert I went to, the venue sold out DURING PRESALE.

That's right. When the general sale started, there were NO TICKETS AVAILABLE from the jump.

Was it because of all the fans buying tickets? I think we all know the answer to that. I was disgusted. I went anyway, but I was forced to buy a scalper ticket.

I wasn't forced to buy a scalper ticket to get a good seat.... I was forced to buy a scalper ticket to get in the door.

It's times like these when I'm almost relieved I don't want to see any more "Eagles" concerts.

[Brooke]

Oh man, I hate to hear that, Soda. I'm wanting to get a decent ticket to see Bob this fall! My brother is doing the looking for us.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Yeah - it's beyond disgusting. They claim a concert is sold out at presale, yet thousands of tickets are available in the secondary markets ... puzzling how this could happen, huh? :censored: