Just wanted to write a quick note to say that Ticketmaster is evil, and that they are helping to kill live music, all the while lining their pockets with our money. I think it’s a horrible injustice that many of the bands that I like to see have to hold down part-time jobs half the year, and live out of shitty motels the other half. I just bought two tickets to go see Suburban Legends next Sunday at their album release show. The tickets were a paltry $11.50 each. I spent more than that at the OC Fair last night on food that was too gross to finish. I would gladly pay double to see the show.
“What’s that,” you say? “Double?” Well, it’s Ticketmaster to the rescue. They basically monopolize the sale of tickets to any live music in this area (Sherman Act, anyone? Nah… if they aren’t going to go after the oil companies, Ticketmaster has nothing to worry about) . You actually can’t see this show without buying tickets from Ticketmaster, to the best of my knowledge. So they feel completely justified in slapping us with this:
They may as well rape my dog and key my car and then videotape it all and put it on YouTube, if they’re going to be that insulting. Why stop at charging me $24.60 in fees for the privilege of downloading and printing my tickets… a service for which they incur absolutely zero cost of goods, practically no labor costs, and only a pittance in overhead? They’re making more than the band and the venue put together (well, except that I’ll end up paying $7 per beer all night long, so the House of Blues will make out okay, too… but at least they have to DO something to get that money).
So I say here’s a hearty wave of my middle finger at Ticketbastard. Congratulations for positioning yourself as the sole gatekeeper to the world of live entertainment. You get our money, and we hate you. Isn’t that the American Dream? If we had a government that was paying any attention, you’d probably be jobless or in prison. But we don’t, and you’re not, and since I have to put up with you, I may as well be allowed to tell you you’re a bunch of scumbags. Go to hell, the lot of you.
(PS – this doesn’t apply to our sweetheart of a bride who’s getting married later this year. A.T. – you know we love you guys – can’t wait for the wedding…)
Melissa
wow!!! Tell us how you REALLY feel!! heehee!!
Jul 25, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
mindi
that was beautifully said. i couldn’t agree more.
Jul 26, 2007 @ 7:48 am
andreanna
I couldn’t agree more, I was actually just bitching about this a couple of days ago! It’s beyond ridiculous and frustrating. Ok, I’m not getting myself worked up again :)
Jul 26, 2007 @ 8:02 am
MyKoolaideTastesFunny
In all fairness, TM takes the hit for promoters, venues and (in some cases) the bands themselves. There is a lot more to those service and building charges than meets the eye. TM takes the heat, and their clients like it that way.
Ticket pricing is a funny thing. Instead of simply having one price (the real price), promoters like having a tranparent breakdown, making tickets look cheap and the service of providing them high. If you saw the true cost breakdown of a gallon of milk, you’d wanna burn down your local grocery store.
And can you imagine what some clients would htink if they saw a true cost breakdown of professional photography rates.
TM has held its position as a top-tier ticket service provider (despite numerous startup competitors) for several reasons. Really, they aren’t the devil — more of a fall guy in many cases (probably one reason promoters and venues continue to ticket their events through them).
I’ve seen scary things, and TM has cleaner hands than most.
PB
Jul 26, 2007 @ 9:51 am
StacyZ
Hi Doug.
I am new here but have been lurking for a bit (in fact got your actions last night THANKS! they are rocking my world today)
Well I had to chime in on this one. This is a sore subject for B (hubs) and I we have affectionately named them TicketBastard (well there is an explicative before the name every time) for a reason. It is just outrageous!!
Feeling your pain,
StacyZ
Jul 26, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Jake
Amen bro! Preach it!
Jul 27, 2007 @ 9:10 am
blougbloug! » Blog Archive » Hearing Loss Is Temporary... Rock And Roll Is Forever
[...] nearly enough people there, given how good the bill was, and how cheap the tickets were (except the fees). Suburban Legends is an OC band that’s been around for a while, and I hadn’t even [...]
Jul 30, 2007 @ 8:40 am
katie
Totally Agree!! Ticketmaster drives me insane! Why the heck do they have to charge you for you to print your own tickets? I never print my own. Screw them. I’m keeping my $2.50. :oP
Aug 01, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
MyKoolaideTastesFunny
Uhh, you are not paying $2.50 to print your own tix. You are paying for the manpower and system that makes purching your tix possible. you could always pickup the tix at Will Call in most cases. If you do not use the service, you do not pay the fee.
I htink paying $2.50 to have a ticket in hand is a heck of a lot cheaper than taking time to drive to the venue, pay for parking and getting a tix at the box office. And I’ll happliy avoid the Will Call line.
PB
Aug 02, 2007 @ 7:53 am