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#Post#: 20504--------------------------------------------------
Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Mac Date: July 2, 2013, 11:28 am
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&^%$# ()$#@^ (*&^%$
[glow=red,2,300]Why you can't get tickets to the hottest
concerts[/glow]
[quote]Inside the secret world of concert ticket sales: When you
try to buy seats to see your favorite artist, ever wonder why
they sell out so quickly? The answer may surprise you.
We've all been there. You want to see Maroon 5, or Pink. Your
kids want tickets to Justin Bieber. The minute tickets go on
sale you go online, credit card ready, and guess what? You're
shut out. Entire arenas, sold out like that. So where do those
tickets really go? We're pulling back the curtain to show you
who's really getting those seats.
They're the hottest tickets in town, from Bieber to Pink to One
Direction. For 11-year-old Jayden, One Direction would be a
dream come true. So her mom tried to surprise her, going online
to buy tickets the second they went on sale.
"Ten o'clock came, I pressed for, you know, 'best available,'"
A.J. Hutchinson told us. "No tickets -- sorry, no tickets
available. It's become impossible for the average person to get
tickets."
So what's really going on here? Jon Potter is with Fan Freedom
Project, a fans' rights group funded by ticket reseller StubHub,
and what he found may stun you: By the time tickets officially
go on sale, most may already be unavailable. "A huge percentage
of these tickets will have already been sold before you have a
chance to buy the two that you want," he told us.
"Who's getting them?" we asked.
"They're giving them to the high-end credit card holders who get
the email three days before you ever knew the concert was going
on sale. They're giving them to the fan club. And then many of
them go to the artist or to the venue," Potter explained.
And, he said, the numbers for many concerts are staggering. For
a One Direction show in New Jersey this month, documents reveal
at least 64 percent of tickets were held back or sold to special
groups, unavailable to everybody else.
Then there's Maroon 5. At a recent concert, same thing: 64
percent earmarked for VIPs and special groups. And even higher
for Pink: For her concert at New Jersey's Izod Center, at least
77 percent of tickets of tickets were reserved for those special
groups. The rest of the public had to fight for what was left.
But the most dramatic example is Justin Bieber. At his concert
in Fresno, Calif., 92 percent of tickets went to special groups
or were held back entirely. That means that of 12,000 seats,
only 940 were set aside for the official sale date.
"This is very secretive," Potter told us. "There's only a few
people in the room when they decide who's going to get tickets.
They do not want us to know that artists are themselves holding
back tickets, that venues are holding back tickets."
None of the artists would comment for our story. But a major
tour company, Live Nation, told us presales are "open to the
public" and "fans can participate in easily accessible ways."
But critics say they're not being open with fans. "The little
guy gets shafted, as usual," said New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell.
Pascrell says this industry is out of control. Now he's drafted
legislation for government oversight. "What I want is that
people will know ahead of time how many tickets are going to go
on sale for the general public," he told us.
"You want transparency," we said.
"Exactly what we don't have now is transparency," Pascrell
agreed.
But tour promoters are fighting it, saying being more open would
only help the scalpers. The congressman is trying to stop them
too, making it illegal for professional scalpers to use
high-tech computer programs to scoop up tons of tickets.
"Thousands of tickets which you (and) I don't have a chance at,"
Pascrell explained.
"(That we'd) have to buy at a jacked-up price from the broker,"
we said.
"And that's what's happening right now. Give us some protection,
that's what I'm talking about," Pascrell said.
So how do you get those tickets? There is no guarantee that you
will. But, good news: We do have some tips to increase your
odds.
[b][b]
Here's the takeaway: If you want to see an artist in concert,
join their fan club. It's usually free to sign up online. That
gives you access to some of those tickets.
Here's another tip: Be flexible. Wait until the day before the
show to buy seats. Two reasons why: Some of those held-back
tickets that aren't used may end up back at the box office for
sale at the last minute. And if you're looking online, the
prices often drop close to the show, as brokers try to unload
tickets.
[/b][/b]
In response to our report, Live Nation issued this statement:
“More than 11k One Direction tickets were made available to
fans. These were available through various onsales. The One
Direction ticket sales -- as is typical -- were open, public,
advertised in a variety of ways and included on the One
Direction Facebook page. The claim that only 4k tickets were
made available is untrue and used to manipulate fans to drive
them to secondary ticket sites. “[/quote]
#Post#: 20507--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Chiprocks1 Date: July 2, 2013, 11:56 am
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Not really all that secretive. I've known about the logistics
for years and that one of the main reasons was to drive fans to
join their official clubs so that they can get a bigger cut of
the profits, taking Ticketmaster out of the equation. It's a
smart business move, but it comes at a price....literally. You
have the ones joining the fan clubs actually paying more of the
tickets because the band, manager, whoever can now charge
whatever they desire. And you have the fan that doesn't join
actually getting shut out.
#Post#: 20510--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Mac Date: July 2, 2013, 12:32 pm
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I don't get it myself. The logic I mean.
#Post#: 20511--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Chiprocks1 Date: July 2, 2013, 1:20 pm
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Well, this tread isn't entirely new. It's been going on for
years....at least 15-20 years. It's just gotten out of control
lately with so many seats being "reserved" and I think a lot of
it has to do with Bands and Singers wanting to balance the loss
of CD sales due to piracy. That's my take and shouldn't be
viewed as the law. But I do think it holds water though.
#Post#: 20515--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Mac Date: July 2, 2013, 1:24 pm
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See, I'm not getting that from the article. I'm seeing the venue
pulling this crap most of the time. For what? To cheat the
scalper? To cater the rich?
I would think some bands {{{cough, Pearl Jam, cough, cough}}}
would be appalled at this activity.
#Post#: 20516--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Chiprocks1 Date: July 2, 2013, 1:25 pm
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Not quoting the article. Just my perception of how things have
operated for some time.
#Post#: 22800--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why you can't get tickets to the hottest concerts
By: Neumatic Date: September 18, 2013, 12:52 am
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Given that I was thinking up a story that involves trying to get
into a concert, I'm not sure yet how this information will
affect the story (I mean, it's unlikely they'd get in, but would
they be aware of this information?)
That's pretty galling though, you HAVE to have a maximum that
are given to the card holders, I do think that concert tickets
are a nice perk for card holders b/c I get the idea that if
you're at a certain high level of cardholder, you probably have
WAY too much on your plate to wait in line/online for tickets
and so on, but at least HALF of all tickets should go to the
regular joes on the street.
I now don't feel so bad about not going to any big concerts.
How could I?
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