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Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

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Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#231

Post by gamblor956 »

stephenhuey wrote: post #70
ryukoposting wrote: post #62

From the point of view of the promoters, concerts are a two-sided marketplace. Two-sided marketplaces are notoriously difficult for small players to compete in. You need to attract good acts so people will buy tickets, but to attract the top acts you need to show that you can sell lots of tickets. Ticketmaster avoided the two-sided market problem until they reached scale. They were just a website where you buy ticket…

Just tried searching for a long-form article I read in recent years. Wish I could find it, but obviously the facts are not a secret. It explained in depth all the problems with the monopoly, but it also pointed out something very surprising to me. A few artists have spoken out angrily on behalf of their fans. However, the fact is, the artists in general do financially benefit from Ticketmaster's way of doing things.…

If an artist wants to set the floor at $150 but knows fans might be upset, they can drop the price 30% and TicketMaster can help them make up the difference in fees, and Ticketmaster has nothing to lose. The artists get to keep their reputation intact instead of appearing greedy to fans

This myth keeps getting promulgated and it's just that: a myth. The podcast was wrong about how the music industry actually works.

Venues and promoters set the ticket prices, not the artists. The artists get a fixed fee for their performances, and may get a bonus if a certain % of tickets are sold. Even artists on tours don't get to choose the ticket prices. They can ask nicely, but ultimately the promoter decides.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#233

Post by pxx »

gamblor956 wrote: post #231
stephenhuey wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just tried searching for a long-form article I read in recent years. Wish I could find it, but obviously the facts are not a secret. It explained in depth all the problems with the monopoly, but it also pointed out something very surprising to me. A few artists have spoken out angrily on behalf of their fans. However, the fact is, the artists in general do financially benefit from Ticketmaster's way of doing things.…

If an artist wants to set the floor at $150 but knows fans might be upset, they can drop the price 30% and TicketMaster can help them make up the difference in fees, and Ticketmaster has nothing to lose. The artists get to keep their reputation intact instead of appearing greedy to fans This myth keeps getting promulgated and it's just that: a myth. The podcast was wrong about how the music industry actually works. V…

Do you have evidence for your claims?

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#235

Post by Suppafly »

gamblor956 wrote: post #231
stephenhuey wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just tried searching for a long-form article I read in recent years. Wish I could find it, but obviously the facts are not a secret. It explained in depth all the problems with the monopoly, but it also pointed out something very surprising to me. A few artists have spoken out angrily on behalf of their fans. However, the fact is, the artists in general do financially benefit from Ticketmaster's way of doing things.…

If an artist wants to set the floor at $150 but knows fans might be upset, they can drop the price 30% and TicketMaster can help them make up the difference in fees, and Ticketmaster has nothing to lose. The artists get to keep their reputation intact instead of appearing greedy to fans This myth keeps getting promulgated and it's just that: a myth. The podcast was wrong about how the music industry actually works. V…

It really depends. Artists can book out the whole venue and handle the ticket selling themselves, either through ticketmaster or another distributor, they just usually don't. Whenever you hear of one of those random big artists promising low ticket prices that's how they do it.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#236

Post by Jgoauh »

Why would a someone make a company where the business plan is "we have less margins" ? why would the rest of the industry, including artists choose the "make the same event for less profits" company where Ticketmaster gets all the blame ?

The Ticketmaster situation sucks for customers but its a blessing for the rest of the industry, why would anyone want it to change ?

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#237

Post by iso1631 »

goodmythical wrote: post #208
iso1631 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

literally has had two meanings for decades, maybe centuries 1) Literally Literally 2) Figuratively It's semantic bleaching

Not sure why you're downvoted. People have literally been using literally both ways for at at least 25 years by my own observational record. You know, "I could literally eat a horse." in which it is clearly understood that the speaker is not claiming that they could physically fit a horse inside their stomache.

Literally literally didn't mean literally even when it meant literally and not figuratively

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/very-actually-and-ot...

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#238

Post by ikr678 »

jasode wrote: post #61

>With all the hate Ticketmaster has gotten [...], I'm surprised Ticketmaster still has a hold of pretty much the entire market. How are they doing this? This question is a common mystery because you're using the perspective of the fans . E.g. "I hate Tickemaster ridiculous fees because it's price gouging, etc" But the mystery of Ticketmaster being dominant is solved once you understand it from the perspective of the…

The mystery is regulation. Other countries have better regulations in this space (re-selling rules, anti-scalping rules, anti monopoly regulation, fee caps, general consumer protections).

If you want to disrupt ticketmaster, you need to vote for it, not build another ticketmaster.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#239

Post by stephenhuey »

gamblor956 wrote: post #231
stephenhuey wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just tried searching for a long-form article I read in recent years. Wish I could find it, but obviously the facts are not a secret. It explained in depth all the problems with the monopoly, but it also pointed out something very surprising to me. A few artists have spoken out angrily on behalf of their fans. However, the fact is, the artists in general do financially benefit from Ticketmaster's way of doing things.…

If an artist wants to set the floor at $150 but knows fans might be upset, they can drop the price 30% and TicketMaster can help them make up the difference in fees, and Ticketmaster has nothing to lose. The artists get to keep their reputation intact instead of appearing greedy to fans This myth keeps getting promulgated and it's just that: a myth. The podcast was wrong about how the music industry actually works. V…

As I said, I didn't find the article or podcast I was thinking of. You're right that it may not be the tacked-on fees. Artists generally do not have much leverage against the monopoly (some artists get more say). It might be some things like platinum pricing that I'm thinking of, and how people think Ticketmaster raised the prices but the artists benefit without having to take the heat. Artists and promoters have a lot of influence over what are called the fair-value prices, the number of tickets released, whether to opt into dynamic or premium pricing, whether they can officially be resold, and VIP package prices. Again, plenty of artists don't like working with the monopoly, but I had just remembered such an aha moment when I heard they frequently benefit financially from certain practices the fans don't like.
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