Ticketmaster

[Shell]

as someone who goes to tons of concerts, one of my pet peeves of life is knows an TicketMaster.
The concerts I go to sell tickets outside of TicketMaster for those people who hate giving money to them... TicketMaster is trying to stop that (been going on for many years) but now a band is suiing them. Best of luck to SCI (great band BTW) on this one!

String Cheese Incident Takes Ticketmaster to Court
Wed Aug 6, 8:43 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Colorado jam rock band String Cheese Incident has filed suit against Ticketmaster in federal court in Denver, charging the No. 1 concert ticket retailer had tried to cut off direct ticket sales to fans.

At issue are the blocks of concert tickets typically held back for sales to die-hard fans, a practice successfully pioneered by the Grateful Dead and now common for many acts including Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith (news - web sites) and others.

In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, SCI Ticketing, a company formed by a partnership between the band and Madison House, a booking agency, charged Ticketmaster had used its "monopoly power" and "a web of long-term" contracts to cut off its supply of concert tickets. A spokesman for Ticketmaster said the company does not comment on pending lawsuits as a matter of policy. The lawsuit asks for damages and a court order barring Ticketmaster from the alleged anti-competitive practices.

Boulder, Colorado-based SCI Ticketing provides tickets for concerts by String Cheese Incident, King Crimson and others. The company is one of several businesses spun off by String Cheese Incident, which sells its own concert CDs and DVDs, books travel for fans and supports charity causes through its affiliates. SCI Ticketing said in the lawsuit that Ticketmaster had targeted the artist-run agency and instructed concert venues and promoters to stop supplying it with tickets.

"This concerted refusal to deal with SCI Ticketing, and Ticketmaster's monopolization of the relevant market and its abuse of that monopoly power, are causing damage to SCI Ticketing and may lead to its demise," the lawsuit said.

Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster is a unit of media mogul Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp. In the lawsuit, SCI Ticketing said that Ticketmaster had told concert promoters and venues with which it has long-term contracts in May 2002 that it would only allow direct-to-fan sales by SCI and others if the bands in question aad "legitimate" fan clubs. Those were defined in part as fan clubs that charge at least $15 per person for membership. String Cheese Incident has never charged its fans for belonging to a fan club and saw no reason to impose such a charge just to obtain tickets, according to the suit.

[Jeff O Rocks]

Ticketmaster is the worst.....they charge too much and make it really difficult to get simple tickets. I know most everyone knows this, but I thought I would share this. Don't buy the first tickets offered if you don't like them!! I have refused them before and gone back in and gotten much better. It is not first-come, first-served..it jumps around. If it is a hot event (Stanley Cup playoffs), I would suggest you take the first choice, cause you may not be lucky enough to get back in.

Good luck to the folks suing them. Other options should be allowed so they are not the only choice you have...they suck!!

[Shell]

and I didn't think my hatred of TicketMaster could grow any deeper... I'd recommend all of you get a mini-plan so you have a chance at playoff tickets come April!!!

New World In Concert Tickets
Sept. 1, 2003
(CBS) Waiting in line won't help you.

Keeping an ear to the ground, checking out Web sites and other news about your favorite musicians might still be of some use.

But in the end, for many concerts, it may soon be true that only cold cash - and plenty of it - will get you the hot tickets you are seeking.

According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans later this year to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders.

The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay.

There is no indication at this point on whether Ticketmaster plans to have any rules to keep ticket brokers or scalpers out of the auction, or would allow all comers - individuals and businesses - to compete on the same basis.

"The band's biggest fans ought to have the best seats, not the band's richest fans," Tim Todd, 47, a Phish fan in Kansas City, told the Times.

An industry analyst is quoted as saying that prime seats at the hottest concerts are "undervalued in the marketplace" and auctions are likely to push prices up as a whole.

Tickets have long been resold in auction settings - particularly on eBay, which does a heavy volume in tickets of all kinds.

But in many states, the resale of concert tickets is subject to strict rules meant to protect consumers and give the small scale fan a chance to buy tickets for their favorite event.

Ticketmaster's plan, by contrast, involves the first time sale of tickets and does not appear to be subject to anti-scalper rules.

"The tickets are worth what they're worth," said Ticketmaster CEO and president John Pleasants, in an interview with the Times. "If somebody wants to charge $50 for a ticket, but it's actually worth $1,000 on eBay, the ticket's worth $1,000. I think more and more, our clients - the promoters, the clients in the buildings and the bands themselves - are saying to themselves 'Maybe that money should be coming to me instead of Bob the Broker.' "

[Jeff O Rocks]

So if you are a fan of a band, you will have to buy the best seats from a scalper right?? They will be the only ones with a wad of cash to buy the best freakin seats.........that pisses me off! :mad:

[Rodgloveswitcher]

I agree that something has to be done about the monopoly that ticketmaster has over what seems to be any event you go to, however, wouldn't this strategy of selling the hottest tickets in an auction format put a serious dent in the profits made by ticket buyers, brokers, scalpers etc...?

I think it pisses me off the most when someone who is not even interested in the event gets the best tickets because they are able to pay ticket buyers to get the tickets for them. :mad: :sick:

[cmw00]

The greensboro coliseum stopped using ticket master. they use tickets.com now.

and I think there is another big online ticket site.

But that auction idea is BS!

[Caniac]

I hate Ticketmaster with a passion akin to my hatred for UNC. :mad:

;)

[Jeff O Rocks]

I hate Ticketmaster with a passion akin to my hatred for UNC. :mad:

;)

me and Caniac........twins separated at birth!! :D ;)

[Guyute]

*sigh* it's almost time to boycott Ticketmaster. seriously.

I always avoid them as much as possible, but this crap is about enough to make me refuse to give them my money, no matter what the event.

[chandongirl]

Agreed...they suck.... :mad:

[guinevere]

Didn't Pearl Jam revolt against them as well or is the senility creeping in early?

[cmw00]

Probaly, been then again those Pearl Jam pansys would revolt against sliced bread if they thought it would get their names mentioned....

[Shell]

first off, pansys really has no place on this board. It can be nothing but inflammatory (that goes for pansies too BTW ;))

and yeah, Pearl Jam did go against TM, which gets points in my book even though it was unfortunately not a success.

Incident Fight Ticketmaster
String Cheese go to war over exorbitant service charges
STEVE KNOPPER
August 28, 2003

Almost a decade after Pearl Jam stood before Congress and called for an investigation of Ticketmaster, a new band has taken up the cause. Jam band String Cheese Incident have sued the concert-ticketing giant for alleged antitrust violations, hoping to succeed where Pearl Jam failed in scaling back hefty service charges.

At issue is whether the Boulder, Colorado, group can sell tickets directly to its fans or whether it must go through Ticketmaster, which has exclusive contracts with most major U.S. venues. Ticketmaster service charges are high -- $10.10 for $32.50 tickets to the band's upcoming Red Rocks shows. String Cheese want to be able to sell tickets directly and to set more affordable prices. (Through the band's SCI Ticketing, service charges are $4 for the $32.50 ticket.)

"There was a massive disconnect from when we would set a ticket price and what people would see on their tickets," says Mike Luba, a partner in SCI Ticketing and co-founder of Madison House Inc., String Cheese's management company. "People are f#$%#ing sick of it. We got sick of it, and that's why we did this."

Since early 2002, the band claims, Ticketmaster cut direct artist-to-fan ticket sales to eight percent, and in some cases to zero. "SCI Ticketing has been providing a better service at a cheaper cost to the fans for some time," bassist Keith Moseley says. "We've come to a point where Ticketmaster is not allowing us to get tickets available to our shows. Our supply of tickets has essentially dried up to the point where we can barely stay in business."

Ticketmaster, a Los Angeles company that sold 95 million tickets for entertainment events last year, announced plans to countersue. In a statement, the company dubs the lawsuit "frivolous" and accuses SCI Ticketing of "trying to step in for a 'free ride' on the many benefits and services Ticketmaster provides."

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ticketmaster chairman Terry Barnes elaborates. "SCI Ticketing puts the venues in a tough position: 'Break your contract with Ticketmaster or the band is not going to do the show,'" he says. "If this is all about doing it for the good of the fans, why would you put a building in that position? This really is about the money."

Antitrust expert John Solow, a University of Iowa economics professor, calls SCI Ticketing's suit "more than a plausible claim" and adds, "This is not something that should be laughed at." But Barnes cites the U.S. Justice Department's 1995 decision not to proceed with a Pearl Jam-prompted investigation. Today, the band regularly plays Ticketmaster venues.

"We have nothing but massive respect for Pearl Jam," Luba says. "It's better to try to do the right thing and fail rather than just go along and accept what's going on."

For years, according to the lawsuit, String Cheese Incident negotiated with concert promoters to receive a fifty percent allotment of face-value tickets before every show. The band created SCI Ticketing to sell them to fans -- as the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band and Phish have done for years. Matthews' manager, Coran Capshaw, has parlayed the ten percent ticket allotments many bands receive from Ticketmaster into the band's ticketing service, MusicToday. "We're supporters of artist-to-fan ticketing," he says.

In the early Eighties, the Grateful Dead pioneered this practice by negotiating with Ticketmaster to sell a portion of the tickets directly to fans, says former publicist Dennis McNally. "The band's objection has always been a discomfort with the corporate nature of it all and that there tends to be real heavy-handedness with an unwillingness to negotiate," says McNally, who continues to represent Grateful Dead Records. "In terms of rights, who's got a better right to sell String Cheese's tickets than String Cheese?"

For years, Ticketmaster has defended itself from accusations of inflated service-charge fees by claiming they are the cost of doing business. But what is that business? The company prints up and distributes tickets exclusively for eighty-nine percent of the top fifty U.S. arenas, eighty-eight percent of the top amphitheaters and seventy percent of the top theaters, according to SCI Ticketing's lawsuit. It also maintains equipment and staff for phone lines, as well as ticketmaster.com.

The company has yet to reveal figures for how the fees are divided. But a music-industry source breaks down the numbers this way: thirty to forty percent to the show's promoter, twenty-five percent to the ticket outlets and the rest becoming Ticketmaster's primary gross income.

[guinevere]

Not really a fan of Pearl Jam but I am a fan of pansies so I"m conflicted...http://www.smilies.org/basesmilies3/1050849734.gif

I just thought I remembered the case. Thanks Shell...http://www.smilies.org/basesmilies3/1044043110.gif You're the best.

[Guyute]

http://www.tridead.net/canes/images/smilies/bugeye.gif

[guinevere]

The flower Jeff.. the flower. :D

[Guyute]

my http://www.tridead.net/canes/images/smilies/bugeye.gif, was a general http://www.tridead.net/canes/images/smilies/bugeye.gif, and not necessarily directed at you, miss guin. :D

[guinevere]

Miss Guin is sorry she misinterpreted- no explanation necessary. :) After reading my post, it sounded a little odd to me anyway - a clarification was in order. http://www.smilies.org/basesmilies3/1049111542.gif

[Shell]

on a different note...

Press Release Source: Ticketmaster; Carolina Hurricanes
Ticketmaster Announces New Ticketing Initiatives With Carolina Hurricanes
Tuesday September 9, 2:49 pm ET

New Technology, Electronic Ticketing, Ticket Forwarding Designed to Enhance Season Subscriber Benefits

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company, and the Carolina Hurricanes today announced the signing of a multi-year extension to their existing ticketing agreement that will include state-of-the-art venue and team technology installations. As part of the agreement, Ticketmaster will continue to sell and distribute single tickets to all Hurricanes games and will now provide the software to handle all season ticketing services.

"The Hurricanes organization strives to continually increase the return on investment for our ticket package buyers. The benefits associated with this adjustment in the ticketing system is the latest in that effort," said Scott Tippins, Director of Ticket Sales for the Carolina Hurricanes. "By listening and responding to our fans, we are now able provide new capabilities to the owners of Hurricanes season tickets and mini season ticket packages."

Highlighted in the new technology agreement are the installations of the Archtics® ticketing platform, which supports AccountManager and AccessManager products. AccessManager, Ticketmaster's advanced automated access control ticketing system, will give the Hurricanes the ability to monitor RBC Center entry traffic and validate tickets in real-time, expedite replacement of lost tickets, eliminate wrong day event tickets and authenticate event admissions. With the implement of AccessManager, fans will now be able to log-on to ticketmaster.com and electronically purchase, download and print their Hurricane ticket(s) at the click of a mouse using ticketFast(TM) electronic delivery, providing a secure, easy-to-use service.

One of the first NHL teams to install the Platinum version of AccountManager, Hurricanes season ticket holders will enjoy the enhanced convenience of managing, making payments and renewing their season ticket accounts online. AccountManager Platinum gives subscribers access to free ticket forwarding, allowing them to maximize use of their tickets by forwarding tickets they are unable to use to another person electronically.

"Since the Hurricanes came to the Carolinas in 1997 we have enjoyed a great relationship with the fans and leaders of their organization and are extremely happy to be extending our agreement to now include venue access control and season ticketing management," said Stuart Klein, General Manager of Ticketmaster Raleigh. "Installing Ticketmaster's innovative suite of ticketing products will effectively work to drive business by filling seats and satisfying season ticket holders' desire to control their own tickets in the most hands-on, personal way possible."

About the Carolina Hurricanes

In 1997 the Carolina Hurricanes brought the National Hockey League to the Carolinas. Since opening Raleigh's state-of-the-art RBC Center in October 1999, the Hurricanes have become a significant part of the area's landscape.

The Hurricanes brought the Carolinas their first major-league championship by winning the NHL's Eastern Conference in 2002 and making Raleigh the summer home for the coveted Prince of Wales trophy. Their work on the ice and in the community has solidifies the Carolina Hurricanes' place in the community.

About Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company, sold more than 95 million tickets valued at more than $4 billion in 2002, through www.ticketmaster.com , one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet, more than 3,500 retail Ticket Center outlets and 19 worldwide telephone call centers. Ticketmaster serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide and acts as the exclusive ticketing service for hundreds of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts venues, and theaters and is the official ticketing provider and supporter of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Ticketmaster is headquartered in West Hollywood, California and is an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI - News).

[Jeff O Rocks]

That will be cool to see where the seats will be when ordering extra tickets ... and not have to wait for the mail!! :spin:

[nccanes]

Doug Wharf told me yesterday that there will be a fee associated (natch) with the print at home stuff, but you also would have the option to pick up at the box office. He said we should be receiving a little pamphlet about how to use it.

He said that the WWE event (whenever that is) will be the first time they used the scan-ticket entry.