Ticketmaster, Live Nation in merger talks

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by MacMan

I thought it was illegal in all but two Provinces (BC and AB) I may have misread it as two Provinces besides Ontario where it's illegal.

I believe its illegal only in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by MacMan

Any.... In other light news: Live Nation to acquire Ticketmaster for $2.5 billion, plus $700 million in convenience charges

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

But the "re-sellers" on TicketsNow is Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster owns TicketsNow and are illegally scalping the tickets themselves and calling it a "ticket exchange". Shady, shady.

Don't confuse the people who own the tickets (the re-sellers) and the forum/marketplace that facilitates the transaction (TicketsNow). And, pardon me if this seems like a dumb question, but are there actual examples of where Ticketsnow is illegally facilitating the resale of tickets above face value?

As listed on their site (http://www.ticketsnow.com/info/faq.html) :

Is it illegal to sell tickets for more than face value?
No. It does generally require a license and set of standards to follow. In Illinois, where TicketsNow is licensed, it also requires a $100,000 cash bond for consumer protection to be held either privately or through an association. We are licensed to sell in 98% of the markets and will notify you if we cannot. All transactions that we handle meet all state and local provisions.

Really, my only problem with Ticketsnow is the concept of Ticketmaster redirecting consumers when tickets are still available (it should be redirected ONLY if the show is completely sold out). But, it seems that the Springsteen clusterf*ck fixed that problem.

You can argue that its in poor taste that a ticket seller/distributor would have a vested interest in the resale of their product but, in the end, its not illegal (except, when it is, of course... but in most cases, its not). Its a viable business model involving in-demand aftermarket commodities- the only reason why ticket scalping is vilified vs., oh, I don't know, IPO trading is because of the emotional component that tends to be involved with music/sports.

HOWEVER, if the merger of Live Nation & Ticketmaster goes through, then they absolutely need to dissolve Ticketsnow, or at least disallow any Live Nation promoted events being listed on the site. Artists/managers won't allow it... or will want to make sure they're cut in on the transaction somehow.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

Don't confuse the people who own the tickets (the re-sellers) and the forum/marketplace that facilitates the transaction (TicketsNow). And, pardon me if this seems like a dumb question, but are there actual examples of where Ticketsnow is illegally facilitating the resale of tickets above face value?

As listed on their site (http://www.ticketsnow.com/info/faq.html) :

They're selling Mac tickets for over $2,000 each on that site. Is that not over face value? And they have this note posted right above the ticket for sale: Tickets may be sold for more than the price listed on the ticket.

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

They're selling Mac tickets for over $2,000 each on that site. Is that not over face value? And they have this note posted right above the ticket for sale: Tickets may be sold for more than the price listed on the ticket.

Again, Ticketsnow is *not* the party selling the tickets. They don't own the tickets- the re-seller ("scalper") does. And, again, in the majority of cases, its not illegal to sell tickets above face value.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

Again, Ticketsnow is *not* the party selling the tickets. They don't own the tickets- the re-seller ("scalper") does. And, again, in the majority of cases, its not illegal to sell tickets above face value.

Ticketmaster *is* the party re-selling the tickets, through Ticketsnow. They own the tickets, they are the re-seller (scalper). They are "ticket flipping". There is no actual consumer buying and re-selling the ticket. Allegedly.

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

Ticketmaster *is* the party re-selling the tickets, through Ticketsnow. They own the tickets, they are the re-seller (scalper). They are "ticket flipping". There is no actual consumer buying and re-selling the ticket. Allegedly.

That is completely false, and amounts to pure paranoia. I can't believe I'm a position where I'm defending Ticketmaster/Ticketsnow/etc., but you are WAY off base.

[MacMan]

Personally, I don't believe for one second that your average everyday concert goer is re-selling their tickets on TicketsNow... If it's not Ticketmaster doing the reselling themselves, then they sure as hell are providing an outlet for scalpers to do so - how else can you explain numerous tickets (and we're not just talking a few tickets) show up on TicketsNow's site immediately after the official ticket sale?

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by MacMan

Personally, I don't believe for one second that your average everyday concert goer is re-selling their tickets on TicketsNow... If it's not Ticketmaster doing the reselling themselves, then they sure as hell are providing an outlet for scalpers to do so - how else can you explain numerous tickets (and we're not just talking a few tickets) show up on TicketsNow's site immediately after the official ticket sale?

Oh, of course... I completely agree with you. No argument there.

[MacMan]

If anyone is going to investigate anything... that's what they need to be looking at... Who is posting those tickets for-sale on TicketsNow... Once that's determined 100% either way whether it's Ticketmaster themselves, or a legitimate ticket holder then I think the argument will be settled. Taking it a step further would be determining how those TicketsNow sellers managed to get some of the primo seats right off the hop!

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

That is completely false, and amounts to pure paranoia. I can't believe I'm a position where I'm defending Ticketmaster/Ticketsnow/etc., but you are WAY off base.

What? You trust Ticketmaster? So you're saying that there's no way that a huge company like Ticketmaster would never do anything immoral or illegal? Please. Does the collapse of wall street ring a bell? Those huge corporations did nothing but lie, cheat and steal from people every day.

TicketsNow is nothing more than a front for Ticketmasters "illegal scalping" business.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

TicketsNow is nothing more than a front for Ticketmasters "illegal scalping" business.

Personally, I think the Springsteen incident makes a good case for this because otherwise why would it immediately re-direct to a re-seller?

It's funny, in the UK it's actually illegal to re-sell tickets for sports events but not concerts. I've never understood the logic why one is acceptable and one isn't.

I do wonder though why the likes of Fleetwood Mac aren't more outraged by stuff like this because they aren't getting a cut in the profits gained from the re-sale. I'm sure if someone explained that to Mick he might get involved.

[Erin]

I used Ticketsnow last year to see Stevie. Basically I was connected over the phone to a ticketsnow agent who arranged with the seller for me to purchase the ticket. The agent told me it was a law firm (she even told me the name of the law firm and where it was located) who had purchased a bunch of tickets for clients, but apparently Stevie is just not that popular! This was on the day of the show, and I was able to get a ticket for $50 below cost (be patient and let the resellers sweat it out is my motto). My point is there are "clients" reselling their tickets, but one wonders how they got all the good tickets in the first place. That's where the shady part comes in. I always surmised that Ticketmaster sold off all the good tickets to these types of clients and then put them on sale to the rest of us plebs.

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

What? You trust Ticketmaster? So you're saying that there's no way that a huge company like Ticketmaster would never do anything immoral or illegal? Please. Does the collapse of wall street ring a bell? Those huge corporations did nothing but lie, cheat and steal from people every day.

TicketsNow is nothing more than a front for Ticketmasters "illegal scalping" business.

That's all well and good. However, in my case, I actually have a background of knowledge and experience of which to base my opinions on, rather than following popular opinion, a frivolous & meritless class action suit, and, well, idle speculation.

I've promoted literally hundreds of shows where ticketing was controlled by Ticketmaster. A few happened to be pretty hot shows that sold out in a minute or two. Out of pure curiosity, I pulled complete Ticketmaster audits for these shows, (especially after I saw some tickets listed on eBay). I was able to account for each and every one of those prime, premier seats- how they were made available, who they were sold to, where the tickets were sold, etc.- and, to make a long story short, there wasn't a conspiracy. Just a bunch of fans & amateur scalpers.

The whole Ticketmaster conspiracy bull**** (in regards to getting tickets in the on-sale) is SO tiring. I've pretty much given up trying to explain things logically to people, because there's such an emotional component to trying/failing to get tickets online ("even though I was logged in right at the top of the hour!!!!") that there has to be a conspiracy when scalpers get tickets and you don't. (Never mind the fact that there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of people trying to get tickets to the show online, just like you are) But, there simply can be no other explanation, it seems.

[trackaghost]

Wow.

Anyway, I'm not sure why you belittle the "emotional component". Seems to me to be a pretty important factor that differentiates it from selling and re-selling, say, a lamp.

Personally, I don't believe that Ticketmaster in the past has been in league with touts (or scalpers), they have just got the tickets online or on the phone like the rest of us (although the more professional scalpers hire lots of people to do this when the tickets go onsale ). But Ticketmaster re-directing to TicketsNow on the first day of sale when tickets are still available certainly seems rather fishy to me.