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I hate Clear Channel, I hate Ticketmaster...

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by edc, Aug 1, 2002.

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  1. edc

    edc Contributing Member

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    *sigh*. I just got my McCartney Tix, and just wanted to say

    I HATE CLEAR CHANNEL ENTERTAINMENT
    I HATE TICKETMASTER

    Fees, fees, and more fees. By the time I was done, a pair of $125 face tickets was almost $300. Beyond the sheer expense, I feel dirty for dealing with such transparently sleazy entities. Ain't monopolies grand?

    How do the scalpers make any money again?
     
  2. A-Train

    A-Train Contributing Member

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    Your first mistake was paying $125 for Paul McCartney tickets in the first place. :D
     
  3. DiSeAsEd MoNkEy

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    testbear was here
     
    #3 DiSeAsEd MoNkEy, Aug 1, 2002
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2002
  4. Refman

    Refman Contributing Member

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    So you paid $50 in fees. Ticketmeaster has to make money too...they're not a benevolence society. Clear Channel has spent a lot of money promoting this tour. They have to make money too.
     
  5. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    I've never understood all this b****ing. Stop going to concerts if you don't want to pay the fees.
     
  6. Refman

    Refman Contributing Member

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    Exactly. At some point things cost what they cost and if you don't like it, don't buy it. I find it funny that somebody wouyld pay $250 for 2 tickets and then complain about a $50 fee. :D
     
  7. TedRuxpin

    TedRuxpin Member

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    <p>You shouldn't be complaining. You paid $250 face + $ 20 tax. That leaves for $30 fee. That fee is broken down into 3 fees, but what it all comes down to is a comission fee so to say.

    <p>Do you know Paul in person- if so you could have gotten him to give you tickets. Nonetheless, you don't so you have to go through a middle man, Ticketmaster- ticket broker-. So you are stuck with a $30 fee- which is 12% of the face value. You are charged a premium so to say for the convenience of buying the tickets.


    <p>If you didn't buy the tickets through ticketmaster, you'd probably be paying $500 or more off Ebay.

    <p>Quit your b****ing. $30 relative to the cost is not that much. If it is to you, then don't even consider buying tickets. :) :)
     
  8. SirCharlesFan

    SirCharlesFan Contributing Member

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    And I thought $49 to see Edgefest in Dallas was a lot! :)

    I'm glad my favorite band tries to keep their ticket prices down.
     
  9. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    FYI -- it's Ticketb*stard.

    I started a thread on them a while back but am unable to pull it up via search for some reason.
     
  10. Elvis Costello

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    Do you guys work for Ticketmaster? What ever happened to competition, the genius of capitalism and all of that other freemarket BS? Don't tell any of that to Clear Channel, or Ticketmaster... The fees are completely arbitrary and do not reflect anything but what these companies can get away with. I've gone to small shows where the Ticketmaster fee on a $14.00 ticket is $7.00! I don't often say this, but Pearl Jam was right! Anti-trust laws worked for 75 years in this country..time to bust up these monopolies again.
     
  11. Supermac34

    Supermac34 President, Von Wafer Fan Club

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    There used to be competition, but TicketMaster put Ticketron out of business because they were better.

    The part I hate about Ticketmaster is not the ticket prices...prices are set by supply and demand...if nobody wanted to see the show they wouldn't charge so much....

    ...the thing that bugs me about them is the fact that they sell huge blocks of the best tickets to "VIPs" before anybody else can get them.

    These "VIPs" are usually ticket scalp....er brokers that buy huge chunks of tix, jack up the price big time...usually 150 to 200%, then sell them to you.

    Ticketmaster does it to protect themselves from getting stuck with expensive tix, so from their point of view, why not pay it safe and sell to the broker and get rid of a huge chunk of tix they have to sell....

    but...if they know the concert is going to sell out no matter what...just sell to the darn public...

    I have been first in line for tix before...when the ticketmaster office opened up the selling and the best they had werent' that good because the best tix had been sold or reserved by scalpers...er...brokers...er VIPs.

    I know the promoters and radio stations get some of the best to give away and that's fine with me...but brokers getting first crack just stinks...
     
    #11 Supermac34, Aug 1, 2002
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2002
  12. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    I can confirm that.....the last show I went to cost me 48 bucks for two 15 dollar tickets.
     
  13. Rockets2K

    Rockets2K Clutch Crew

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    I remember goin to a show at the Coliseum that cost 5 bucks for three real good bands....ahhhh the old days! :)
     
  14. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    HEY
    If Randalls becomes a monolopy . . then they could charge a fee on bread.

    Bread is 1.29 a loaf. . plus takes. . plus a .50 Randalls fee. . . .

    If you don't wanna pay the fee. . . don't eat bread
    :rolleyes:

    Rocket River
     
  15. Supermac34

    Supermac34 President, Von Wafer Fan Club

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    Actually, even though they aren't a monopoly, Randall's does charge a fee...its called their profit margin...and its how they make money...

    They buy that bread for $0.99 and sell it for 1.29...so they make $0.30.

    They just don't tell you they made $0.30, but ticketmaster does.

    Also, bread and music tickets are a little different.

    Now, if you compared it to nice Prime New York Strip that Randall's is going to make $3.00 off of...a luxery item, like concert tix that would be better.

    You don't want to pay Randall's their "fee," the $3.00 profit margin..then don't buy a Prime New York Strip...buy the ground beef instead.
     
  16. Refman

    Refman Contributing Member

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    I couldn't agree more. I don't know exactly when it became evil to earn a profit.

    Aren't you really being mellow dramatic Roacket River? Comparing bread to concert tix.

    BTW...there is new competition for Ticketmaster. If you don't believe me try buying Astros tix. You'll be buying from tickets.com.
     
  17. edc

    edc Contributing Member

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    It is not evil to earn a profit. It is evil to be a monopoly and gouge the consumer. Clear Channel Entertainment more or less owns all of the popular music radio industry, and all of the concert industry. Even when an artist wants to, they cannot avoid the "800 lb. gorilla," and still play a sufficiently large venue.

    Ticketmaster is their little lap dog. The "convenience fees" are adding insult to injury. They are *already* being paid by the promoter.

    Tickets.com? Clear Channel doesn't give them any business. At least on the concert side of the business, they live in the few corners with CCE's concert business doesn't reach. Go browse their web site. Its not coincidence that most of their shows are in CT.
     
  18. Refman

    Refman Contributing Member

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    We are talking about entertainment here. Entertainment is expensive. If you want to go badly enough then you'll pay the frieght.

    I challenge anybody here to present me with an annual report for Ticketmaster that shows a larger than normal profit margin.
     
  19. MadMax

    MadMax Contributing Member

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    No...they reflect what the market will bear. If the market said, "that's it..we're not buying anymore tickets like this with fees this high," Ticketmaster would be out of business.

    I see nothing wrong with the b****ing though...b****ing is what leads to people making the above quote...and if enough people make it en masse, change can be had....particularly if people are willing to agree and say so by not buying tickets.
     
  20. Supermac34

    Supermac34 President, Von Wafer Fan Club

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    http://quotes.nasdaq.com/quote.dll?page=full&mode=basics&symbol=TMCS`&selected=TMCS`


    Ticketmaster actually earned a loss last year. They lost money.

    They are profitable this year... $0.10 a share this quarter, compared to a loss of $0.21 last year, this quarter.

    They lost $1.41 last year, per share.

    They are turning it around this year.

    So much for your theory of a huge company raking it in at your expense. They are struggling to even make money.
     

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