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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?

#51

Post by baggachipz »

midnitewarrior wrote: post #46
dfxm12 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you like specific acts, sure. Or maybe some cities take independent venues more seriously than others. Growing up, ok I missed out on getting Metallica tickets because I didn't want to support clear channel (or Live Nation, or TM, etc...), but I still was able to see plenty of amazing metal bands in indie venues. Another interesting note: Weird Al is playing three venues within driving distance from me. Only one o…

Go see Weird Al. It was a really great show. My wife only knew one of his songs (Word Crimes, she's a professional editor), and she loved the show. I loved it too.

I just saw him a couple weeks ago. It's such a fun show, people there are from ALL walks. He's no spring chicken but he gives it his all, and his band and backups do too. Just an all-around great dude.

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

#52

Post by chiph »

dylan604 wrote: post #32
jmuguy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He also predicted the future for after the merger. Its funny - of all the stuff people make up that was Obama's fault, no one ever mentions his admin allowing Ticketmaster and Live Nation to merge. Now they need to be broken up, probably like the Bell System back in the day. But I'll keep on dreaming about that.

My dad told tales of lining up outside a venue to buy a ticket from them directly. By the time I was old enough to be going to concerts, I had to camp out at a TicketMaster location. It made going to the show that much more memorable with the effort put into it. Screw the Baby Bell break up, break it up past the point of just ticket sales. Also break up who can own the venues in town.

My college job was at a record store that had a Ticketmaster machine. If you didn't want to pay the $2.50 fee[1] (we got only like 15 cents or something) you could go to the venue and buy tickets directly.

But since they became a monopoly that option is unavailable. Their contracts with the venues include that they get their full fee, even when bought in person.

[1] Which paid for the custom ticket printer, the ticket stock, the CRT terminal, and the central computer. We paid for the data line and donated the counter space.

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

#53

Post by kube-system »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #21

They're a monopoly. We already have a thriving marketplace of seating- it's called the airline industry. You can buy a seat on a plane from dozens if not hundreds of sellers online.

The hundreds of "travel agents" selling through GDS online have functionally no competitive pressure, they're all booking through the airline's CRS on your behalf in the end -- it's really no different than ticketmaster's reseller marketplace.

Airline price competition comes from multiple airlines running the same route.

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

#55

Post by Grombobulous »

drdec wrote: post #37
Grombobulous wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, the scalping problem isn't really the primary problem with Ticketmaster's monopoly. Scalping is just the result of a gap between sale price and fair market value. I also think that many of the things Ticketmaster could do to stop scalping would build further walls around their monopoly. To me, a ticket should generally be like a piece of a paper that has right of first sale. I don't want a situation wh…

> Manhattan Scalpers won't leave unsold seats to a game like this In this situation, it is unlikely that is it scalpers with the really desirable court side seats that fetch the highest value. It is season ticket holders and people with connections. The price you see is essentially, "it's going to cost you this much to make me miss watching my team in the championship". For the other seats that were available to the…

Great point, I totally forgot about that angle.

I used to have season tickets to a team with a championship drought. Those priority season tickets were sold pretty close to regular season pricing.

Someone offering me $500 or $1,000 wouldn’t have been enough to stop me from going.

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

#56

Post by lokar »

cogman10 wrote: post #47
maerF0x0 wrote: post #29

One component of the total picture also is that many of these stadiums/arenas are being funded by the public / tax payer often by tax breaks etc. and the politicians / lobbies are using their relationship to monopolize that public good. IMO every event at an area should go through a public auction / RFP of who is the ticketer for that event (maybe artist gets right of first refusal to pony up the difference for their…

This sort of thing is a strong argument (IMO) that these stadiums, arenas, theaters should be owned by the municipality they reside in. Fine, we can call it a public good which is why they have nice tax incentives. But why stop there? If its truly a public good then why shouldn't the public simply own it? Why isn't the city operating these venues and using the ticket prices to offset tax burdens? It might be harder t…

Check who owns vs manages shoreline amphitheater

:(

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

#57

Post by luplex »

eqvinox wrote: post #54

https://pretix.eu is having some success in the EU market. But other sibling posts correctly point out this is… let's just say "overall shit situation".

We also have Eventim and many other local ticket shops. I usually get my tickets right at the venue's online shop, or maybe from the artist. They use all kinds of systems.

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

#58

Post by lokar »

byoung2 wrote: post #3

They merged with LiveNation and they own half of the venues. The other half of the venues have exclusive deals with TicketMaster, who provides them with software to run venue logistics (TicketMaster for business), creating vendor lock-in.

And they manage tours for bands. So it’s very hard for them to play independent venues and still have access to the big livenation venues

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

#59

Post by akudha »

alexose wrote: post #48

Ticketmaster obviously sucks, and their monopolistic business practices deserve a close look by regulators. But the core of it is that an unregulated ticket market actually supports these prices. Fans keep showing that they're willing to dig deep and outbid each other to attend these events in person. Ticketmaster realizes this, and have set up a business model that extracts accordingly. I think this is where us Amer…

Looking at the world cup ticket prices gives me a mini heart attack. I don't know who is responsible for such high prices (maybe a combination of FIFA and Ticketmaster?), but goddamn these prices are insane. It is going to price out most people. Either that, or people are going to get into debt, just to see a couple of matches to see their favorite teams play.
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