Pollstar Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

rlwjsf@sbcglobal.net — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:04:14 GMT

Sounds like a monopoly to me. Only way to show these two ticket terrosists that the concert/gig/sports fan is fed up is to STOP USING THEIR SERVICE! I went to see Bad Relidgion at the Hollywood House of Blues a few months back. Ticket face value was $25.00, by the time all of bogus fees were added it was $39, $14.00 my friends in fees! Everyone should remember a ticket is a SMALL PIECE OF CARDBOARD STOCK with printing on it, maybe a value of .10 cents. Why they charge $10-$20 to print tickets is beyond me. Maybe Burger King should sell Whoppers for $20 because the cows wore pretty wigs and were fed organic grain! Give me a break, ticket terrosists.

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

wendyandscottwedding@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:42:26 GMT

Hmmm...Are there any entrepreneurial concert goers are out there who can start their own ticketing agency and sell tickets to shows with only a minor mark-up? $1-2 per ticket outta present a decent profit margin..

Maybe I'm in the wrong business....

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

evilrobert@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:50:44 GMT

If you're somehow under the delusion that TM's service charges were high, wait until you get a load of Live Nation's idea of "fair service charges", "processing charges", and "parking" fees for property they already own.

Imagine, you're buying tickets for a small show (let's say Lights, because she's definitely in the "up and coming" category), and you see the venue pop for the show, and it says the tickets are only 12 bucks. You're thinking "SWEET! 12 bucks is an awesome price!". It should be 12 bucks, but alas. Ticketmaster would have tacked on 3 or 4 bucks for service charges and you'd be done. Unfortunately, Ticketmaster's gone (they were one of the few companies to decry Live Nation's service charge practices because of the following), so you have to buy the tickets from Live Nation now. They tack on 10 bucks for service charges. Then another 4 for processing. 2 more for parking. (But wait! This venue doesn't have it's own parking! I have to pay 5 bucks to park at a garage!) .. I said 2 bucks for parking. If you don't like it, you can not come to the show. So now, our happy little 12 dollar ticket, is now a 28 dollar ticket. Thanks Live Nation, for removing the only capable alternative in the market to your charges and ticketing system. That's just awesome.

I'll just return to never attending a venue that does ticketing. 5 bucks at the door to see some real indie kids unloading the drummer's van is going to be more worthwhile than subscribing to this flavor of piracy being forced on us by these brigands.

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

islanders.3@juno.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:20:08 GMT

i realy don't see any benefits to the fans other then giving them early access to their favorite bands when they tour.the all-inclusive price they talked about with the eagles shows was that the "convenience" fee and other fess that you pay for were added onto the price of the ticket so you just didn't see them.so for them to try and suggest that you won't pay a service fee is very decieving.i'll wait and see but i don't see any big change for the consumer.the shareholders i'm sure are loving it though.

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

gene_sorrell@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:17:00 GMT

I attend concerts in S FL, and unfortunately, have no choice but to use Ticketmaster. The "ticket fees" they impose are out & out usury. They rip off the peons like me! I see no change in the offing! YAWN

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

mifoster6@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:29:20 GMT

HAHA! Probably never going to another show anytime soon anyway.

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

lyninvenice@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:23:31 GMT

I don't see how this will give the fans more CHOICE in the ticket buying process. I'm just glad I won't have to see that TICKET B@ST@RD logo any more when I fork over the $10+ in SERVICE FEES *per TICKET* that gets charged to my credit card every time I go to a concert. Even on a $20 DISNEY ON ICE ticket I paid over $5 in additional fees PER TICKET - that's an additional 25% of the face value of the ticket in case anyone's paying attention to the math.

Live Nation isn't much better - I always suspected it was just another octupus tentacle of the TicketB@st@rd machine that grabbed up all the venues in exclusive contracts to make sure they got an even bigger take of the ticket sales. Now all the venues associated with Live Nation only want big name acts, national tours, etc so I don't see how that's going to help the local, regional or smaller acts who have a loyal fanbase but don't have the deep pockets Live Nation has to publicize their events to make sure they sell out their venues every night.

It's all corporate now...from top to bottom. Pay to play is the new standard for every aspect of the business now. Live and recorded. They've clamped down on the only independent piece left - look out musicians! They'll be selling you space on the sidewalk to BUSK in next!!

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

gregp@pollstar.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:11:44 GMT

Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, said, "This combination will drive measurable benefits to consumers..."

It's great to see that Mr. Rapino is looking out for the consumers. Thanks, Mike.

re: Live Nation, Ticketmaster Announce Merger

jay@pollstar.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:43:45 GMT

And the fan is supposed to benefit ... how? Higher prices? And I wish someone would explain how fans will be able to pick their seats during a big onsale like U2 or The Stones.

So far, the only good thing I see in this is that Live Nation can dump its online ticketing service. Too little, too late for Phish fans, though.