Ticket Fees

[marnold]

As mentioned in another thread, I'm hoping to see Iron Maiden at Summerfest. Tickets are relatively reasonable: $20-55. The thing that gets me is a ~$25 "service fee" that's tacked on to each one. I'm going to call the Marcus Amphitheater directly tomorrow and see what the deal is. That sounds rather exorbitant. Anybody else had any experience with fees that high?

[Photomike666]

Seems normal to me, and a damn cheap festival. Soundwave tickets were $150ea

[bcdon]

These fees are how they screw you. But like Photomike said, even with the fees, Summerfest is still a great deal; and loads of fun.

[tjcurtin1]

Don't get me going - I've ranted on this subject in another thread already! Makes me love our local non-profit performing arts center - great performers, intimate setting, tix usually between $20 and $30 - and a $1 ticket charge:)

[R_of_G]

Tickets for Charles Bradley/The Budos Band are $27: $17 admission plus $10 service charge. It's easy to say "Two Daptone bands for $27 is a great price" and yes, that is true, which is why I'm going in the first place. Nonetheless, that seems a rather high service charge in proportion to the charge of the ticket itself, and moreover, how much of that $10/ticket goes to the bands? Zero. Charge me more to pay the artists more, that I can handle. Charge me more because ticketing is done by massive companies that have to meet bottom lines and I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

[omegadot]

Wow, I'm used to 2-3 bucks for fees. That seems huge to me!

EDIT: that being the above amount, not 2-3 bucks.

[Robert]

Marnold, that sounds like an insanely high fee. Where's that money going anyway?

[marnold]

Marnold, that sounds like an insanely high fee. Where's that money going anyway?

No idea. Ticket Master? I plan on finding out.

[R_of_G]

No idea. Ticket Master? I plan on finding out.

TicketMaster, LiveNation, etc.
It's an extortion racket.

[sunvalleylaw]

Pearl Jam tried to fight it way back when. Got to speak to the antitrust division of the dept. of justice. Unfortunately, other than some sympathetic statements from members of the committee, nothing happened. They ruled in favor of ticketmaster. So the large fees continue.

[R_of_G]

Pearl Jam tried to fight it way back when. Got to speak to the antitrust division of the dept. of justice. Unfortunately, other than some sympathetic statements from members of the committee, nothing happened. They ruled in favor of ticketmaster. So the large fees continue.

Bands like Pearl Jam and Phish that handle a large percentage of their own ticketing have tried to push back against the ticket brokers, but these companies have deals with certain venues and the artists are forced to either deal with them or play someplace else.

[Eric]

I get annoyed at the ticket fees too. I do my best to avoid them by seeing bands at smaller venues where I can purchase the tickets directly from the box office. $25 seems ridiculous.

[marnold]

Upon further research, a little less than $12 is the Ticketmaster fee. ~$14 is the Summerfest fee. My _guess_ is that would be the part where they say, "General admission to Summerfest is included in the price."

[omegadot]

Bands like Pearl Jam and Phish that handle a large percentage of their own ticketing have tried to push back against the ticket brokers, but these companies have deals with certain venues and the artists are forced to either deal with them or play someplace else.

Yeah they talk about this in PJ20. I thought it was cool

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[R_of_G]

Yeah they talk about this in PJ20. I thought it was cool


I definitely appreciate any effort on the part of artists to keep ticket costs down. Sometimes they don't succeed but it's good to know there are artists out there who are trying to do things right for their fans. That's one thing I can say about Phish. Their tickets are always reasonably priced contrasted with many other bands who put on a far shorter and less varied show from night to night.

[hubberjub]

Sometimes you can avoid part of the fees by purchasing tickets directly from the venue. Our local arena is like that.

[Spudman]

What I can't understand is why any of the "ticket monsters" even need be involved. If it was my band I'd just find someone to sell tickets in the area and avoid the monster corporations from having anything to do with it.

[R_of_G]

What I can't understand is why any of the "ticket monsters" even need be involved. If it was my band I'd just find someone to sell tickets in the area and avoid the monster corporations from having anything to do with it.

Ideally that's what a lot of artists would do. My understanding is that some venues have deals with these corporations which allow them access to some of the bigger name national acts. By that means of extortion, the corporate entities wind up handling a good percentage the online ticketing for other shows at the venue. In the end, the artist with a conscience is left with few options... they can accept the ticketing situation, or they can not play that venue, which then leads to the question of whether or not there are comparable alternative venues in the area, or will the disdain for that venue mean the artist will likely not play shows in that city again? None of the answers are particularly good from a fan standpoint.

[Spudman]

If it was me, I'd have someone that we employed book the venue, then send off enough tickets to cover seating etc. Then collect money for the tickets from the venue and call it done. Have your own business number for folks to call to order tickets then mail them out, or something similar with online orders. To me it just doesn't seem that difficult to work another system to get the job done and leave all those raping vultures off the roadside.

[sunvalleylaw]

Doesn't Dick Dale handle his own stuff? I am sure his market is somewhat limited, and that once you hit a certain size to need certain venues, that is when the problems start. If the owners/managers of the venues won't let you do your own thing, then you get kinda stuck.


EDIT: I just searched "Dick Dale" and saw "get Dick Dale tickets at Ticketmaster". Argggh! The Borg!

[Tig]

I love shelling out my hard earned income to middle men pirates! I also enjoy those $11 beers at the venue, too (I never drink at concerts and sporting events). Don't forget "event" parking up-charges.

In fact, if I have any cash left over I'll take the family to a Real 3D movie at $10.25 a seat, plus $24 worth of popcorn and drinks! Seriously, we only go to occasional movies, share drinks and 1 popcorn, and sneak in the candy.

The more the prices go up, the lower the customer volume is. Profit margins must be preserved, so prices go up in response. They usually blame rising fuel costs, but when fuel prices drop 20%, the product or service price remains the same. It only ratchets up, baby!