If wants to reward true fans, why aren't they making their own fan club, with id-verified accounts, and then sell tickets to them first?
They did do this. It was completely compromised by scalpers.
Why scalpers can get tickets
311–320 of 487 posts
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#312I think there’s a massive point which gets missed on this question… A lot of these tickets get resold on the platforms themselves. If a reseller buys the ticket, and then sells it again to the end user, Ticketmaster gets paid twice. This point results in at least hundreds of millions in revenue. Now, if one of the platforms “cracks down” and makes it harder to buy and sell people will prefer another platform. So plat…
> If a reseller buys the ticket, and then sells it again to the end user, Ticketmaster gets paid twice.
Yeah, but Ticketmaster doesn't own the tickets.
Nor do they decide the fees. Or even keep most of the revenue from the fees. All of that is decided by the promoter, possibly with the artist (if a big enough name) and to some extent the venue.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's right, there's no incentive from TM to "fix" this.
No, Ticketmaster is the scapegoat for artists.
Extra transactions mean extra credit card fees, the artists would strictly be better off with demand based pricing. Ticketmaster however gets to double dip and play contract shenanigans.
As a general rule more complex contracts favor the side with more experience. For example many people get hosed when leasing a car, there’s simply more levers a dealership can adjust to favor themselves.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Rich people tend not to loudly enjoy the show, so the atmosphere isn't there Citation needed. Rich people are the main audience at all organized events of all kinds. Do you think you can take you and your kids to an NFL game if you're poor? The main attendees of Taylor swift? Women in late 20s - mid 30s working corporate jobs.
Billy Joel: “I’d look down and see rich people sitting there, I call ’em ‘gold chainers.’ Sitting there puffing on a cigar, ‘entertain me, piano man.’ “They don’t stand up, make noise, [they just] sit there with their bouffant haired girlfriend lookin’ like a big shot. I kinda got sick of that, who the (heck) are these people, where are the real fans?”
Says Billy Joel most likely far richer than at least a typical front row seat buyer. Btw while I would consider myself a fan I'm not obsessed with Billy Joel and also he has certainly how do you say 'his issues' (ie addictions and so on).
Also who is to say because they don't act ridiculous or obsessed they aren't 'real' fans. What is a real fan anyway? I hadn't heard there was a universal accepted definition.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is nothing embarrassing about a Dutch auction. What's the point of generating hype by selling out tickets? All of the tickets get sold out either way, it's just that now more fans end up with tickets instead of scalpers.
The next location or tour people are highly incentivized to snap up the tickets as soon as possible rather than waiting. This can't be the first you've heard of such a strategy.
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Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because, ironically, a show that only rich people can afford to attend will be pretty terrible. Rich people tend not to loudly enjoy the show, so the atmosphere isn't there. This is bad for the rest of the audience and for the performer. It's hard to put 100% in when all you can see is a bunch of people staring solemnly at you. It happens in football (soccer for my American friends) for clubs like Man Utd (and probab…
> Rich people tend not to loudly enjoy the show, so the atmosphere isn't there Citation needed. Rich people are the main audience at all organized events of all kinds. Do you think you can take you and your kids to an NFL game if you're poor? The main attendees of Taylor swift? Women in late 20s - mid 30s working corporate jobs.
Unclear how a rich person can even be defined at all. It's a pretty wide swath of differing income levels as well as assets.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was thinking about this recently, and came up with two possible reasons: 1. The enjoyment of attendees can be partly dependent on the enthusiasm of other attendees. Consider the extremes: an audience entirely comprised of people who hardly know the artist, but can afford it Vs an audience comprised of only die-hard fans, irrespective of their ability to afford a ticket. The first has a flat atmosphere, the second,…
Guess if you don't use a streaming music service you're SOL seeing an artist you look. This is such a Hacker News suggestion.
> This is such a Hacker News suggestion.
Also the fact that it's assumed that everyone attending wants to sit in the audience and go crazy and MAKE SOME NOISE. It can and is annoying to many people.
One other thing is artist may want an active crowd for their own benefit ie they are making a video live recording for further sale or to post to youtube whatever. (Point is good for artist but not for many all of those attending).
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#318I think there’s a massive point which gets missed on this question… A lot of these tickets get resold on the platforms themselves. If a reseller buys the ticket, and then sells it again to the end user, Ticketmaster gets paid twice. This point results in at least hundreds of millions in revenue. Now, if one of the platforms “cracks down” and makes it harder to buy and sell people will prefer another platform. So plat…
> If a reseller buys the ticket, and then sells it again to the end user, Ticketmaster gets paid twice. So basically scalpers are being paid to be the scapegoat so Ticketmaster can make more money, at the expense of artists and fans.
And in turn Ticketmaster is the scapegoat that shields the artists from blame. The primary service that Ticketmaster provides is to protect the artist's reputation while ensuring as much money as possible gets made per event.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, Ticketmaster is the scapegoat for artists.
Extra transactions mean extra credit card fees, the artists would strictly be better off with demand based pricing. Ticketmaster however gets to double dip and play contract shenanigans. As a general rule more complex contracts favor the side with more experience. For example many people get hosed when leasing a car, there’s simply more levers a dealership can adjust to favor themselves.
You're looking at this from a strictly monetary lens, but the entertainment industry lives and dies on reputation. It's worth a lot of money to have someone else take the fall for the inevitable results of high demand.
Ticketmaster's one job is to launder the artist's reputation. They find ways to milk the show for more money than fans think is fair and keep a chunk of that extra cash as their fee, which from the artists' perspective is well-earned. Ticketmaster gets the blame for the scalpers and fees, the artist stays clean, and everyone makes more money than they would have if there was no one willing to be the bad guy.
You blame Ticketmaster for the double-dipping because that's what the artists are paying them for: to take the blame.
Re: Why scalpers can get tickets
#320Some of my favorite bands have done simple things which drastically (but not completely) reduce the levels of scalping.
On a previous tour, Wilco made tickets only valid for the original holder with matching photo ID at the door. So I couldn’t sell my ticket. I was able to bring any guest I wanted with my second ticket though.
For a while now Phish has done tickets via lottery and all tickets come in the physical mail not long before the show. So there’s a limited window for scalping and it can only happen at the speed of paper.
In my experience both bands get concerts full of true fans and also get to charge pretty high prices in a way that doesn’t feel unfair.
More bands could try these or other techniques but almost nobody actually cares. Ticketmaster is a front, they take PR flak to preserve the status quo.