> If they had issued me normal, printable PDF tickets I could save offline to my phone Uhm, you can save the tickets to Google Wallet.
This doesn't work on GrapheneOS.
Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
671–680 of 737 posts
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#672Earlier quoted context omitted.
The bands are absolutely profiting. Ticketmaster is basically “customer punching bag ad a service”.
The bands at the top are absolutely not profiting, they’re losing money over it. Instead of a healthy ecosystem of promoters willing to pay them market rates, they’re dealing with a monopsony that depresses earnings. They HAVE to go through TicketMaster venues, because TM has locked up 85% of large ones, which means they have to accept whatever fee the promoter (LiveNation, same company) is willing to pay them. That’…
The bands get more than a small cut of the various fees, and especially the upcharge things like Platinum tickets.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#673Earlier quoted context omitted.
They have an effective monopoly.
On large venues for big name artists. Granted, I live in NYC, which probably has one of the most vibrant local music scenes in the country. But it's not like nowhere else has local bands that play at small venues. It feels like a lot of the people that complain about ticketmaster's monopoly have never branched out from Billboard chart artists.
It's weird?
Even the most 'hole in the wall' places around here have deals with LN/TM, short of a bar-band or niche-local joint.
One of the more 'fun' ways that LN/TM did shenanigans at the past I observed: Metal shows at smaller places in the Detroit area like Harpo's (famous place but known for the sketch area) or Token Lounge (literally a bar with a dance floor and stage, pretty fun tho) you'd have one of the local small/startup bands selling tickets, often -below- cost at the box office.
Why? If they sold enough tickets, they got to play as an opener. Yes some scammers would try to fake this, but I never saw anyone actually get 'taken'. And yes I'd buy them if I didn't already have them to help the locals out.
That said, the concerts at those smaller venues, despite being TM/LN, were in the 20-30 dollar range after fees. Not 'top billboard' type stuff per se but Children of Bodom, Lacuna Coil, and other 'popular but niche' bands in the 2005-2007 timeframe.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#674Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue is most likely about throughput. You want to let fans enter the venue as quick as possible. Most venues have lots of gates, but still the latency at each gate has to be a handful of seconds per ticket. Having to validate both ticket and ID would easily double or triple that time.
Today's digital entry experience is far from frictionless. Might as well add a scan of the PDF417 barcode on the back of the latest state ID cards. I just went to a MLB game yesterday, and the digital process was: - Open ticket app - scan ticket 1 - scan ticket 2 I imagine this could have been: - Open ticket app - scan PDF417 - scan ticket 1 - scan ticket 2
For one, this is a problem world wide, but OK, you can try to solve it for the US.
But for another, not everyone has a state ID card. In particular the 7.1% of the population that does not have U.S. citizenship will have varying amounts of US documentation, depending on how long they're in the US for and whether they're there legally.
And you really want to be able to sell tickets to tourists.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#675Earlier quoted context omitted.
How would an iPhone app (I don’t know about android) collect any of that?
I mean...they tell you they do in the listing in the AppStore. Like, how are you not realizing this?
How though? My phone does not contain my address, or my credit card number.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#676Earlier quoted context omitted.
The bands at the top are absolutely not profiting, they’re losing money over it. Instead of a healthy ecosystem of promoters willing to pay them market rates, they’re dealing with a monopsony that depresses earnings. They HAVE to go through TicketMaster venues, because TM has locked up 85% of large ones, which means they have to accept whatever fee the promoter (LiveNation, same company) is willing to pay them. That’…
The bands get more than a small cut of the various fees, and especially the upcharge things like Platinum tickets.
No they don’t, that’s not how the money works in concerts. The bands get paid a flat fee by the promoter. You can Google this if you don’t believe me but I know from working with concert promoters.
Why would Ticketmaster/live nation pay them at all? They don’t have to, the bands don’t have any other places to play and they make most of their income from live shows.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#677I get the loathing for Ticketmaster and all, but can we just also acknowledge that the only reason they can do what they do because the various entities they collaborate with participate in the monopolistic cartel scheme?
Can we also please acknowledge that if people stop going to the things Ticketmaster sells tickets to, they will stop these practices? No one is forcing people to participate in these things; I don’t.
Lastly, it even calls itself Tomicketmaster. And you didn’t realize you are a Ticketslave? It is right there, in the name! Right in front of your eyes!
It always amazes me what they can get away with and people just behave like buffalo on the Serengeti, stampeding through the crock infested river … “those crocks are the worst! Ok, Karl, we are up next”
Instead of chiding your TicketMASTER devs and alpha slave MBAs, maybe stop being a TicketSLAVE altogether. Has that dawned on any buffalo?
Fun fact, to drive the point home. Guess how the predators of the Serengeti are treated when they want to go to an event. You think they deal with Ticketslavery even though the Ticketslaves is how the cabal makes its money?
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#678Earlier quoted context omitted.
The bands get more than a small cut of the various fees, and especially the upcharge things like Platinum tickets.
No they don’t, that’s not how the money works in concerts. The bands get paid a flat fee by the promoter. You can Google this if you don’t believe me but I know from working with concert promoters. Why would Ticketmaster/live nation pay them at all? They don’t have to, the bands don’t have any other places to play and they make most of their income from live shows.
Platinum Tickets are priced by the artists who get the bulk of the revenue.
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#679[dead]
Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes
#680Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you are first to market and still can't make money off your amazing invention, that might be a skill issue. Sounds like something a VC would say. Have you considered that inventing things and selling them are two different skill sets? The patent system needs reform, not elimination.
Why would you artificially encumber a significant invention from benefitting the world just because you don't have the wherewithal to sell it? Seems awfully self-centered.
I mean the patent is public information. If you want to have a go at selling it, buy it or license it from me and have at it. Otherwise, invent your own idea or wait for mine to expire.