FOBAB 2014

Did you know that those surcharges are not solely charged by Ticketmaster, but the event venue and organizers? This is part of the service they sell. Basically Ticketmaster takes all the blame for all of these "convenience charges" and people think Ticketmaster is pocketing all that money. Instead much of that money goes to the venue and event company or performing artist.

So instead of charging $60 for tickets, and artist can tell Ticketmaster to charge $40 for the tickets and add on $30 in service fees. That $30 can then be split between the artist and Ticketmaster etc.. this makes the artist look good saying they lowered ticket prices to help the fans. Ticketmaster takes all the blame, but the artist still pockets some of that money. While fans will hate Ticketmaster, venues and artists will love them, so they keep using them exclusively. This is a win for everyone except those wanting to buy tickets.

Will FOBAB tickets have high service fees? I doubt it, but keep in mind that the income for those fees will be shared with the venue, and possibly the event organizers along with Ticketmaster. This is how Ticketmaster became the monopoly it is, all the venues want to use them because it means more money.

Now don't get me wrong, Ticketmaster is still a shitty company that charges high fees and has a stranglehold on the ticketing industry. Just be aware that the reason they stay dominant is because greedy venues like the income they get from these fee's and don't want that to change.

 

@kodt Wow good stuff man. And who says you cant learn anything in an august FOBAB thread?

 

One other note on Ticketmaster.

Many venues have a contract with Ticketmaster making them the exclusive ticket vendor for that venue. I'm guessing UIC Forum has such a contract with TM. Public ticket sales have to go through TicketMaster.

 

Any citations for this? Not necessarily questioning the veracity, but this is something I've never heard of before, and being a veteran concertgoer I've spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out ticketing systems.

THIS is how Ticketmaster has reached near-monopoly status. They have a contracts with key venues to be the exclusive ticket seller, and then if an artist wants to play a venue of a certain size in a given area, it's sell the tickets through Ticketmaster or don't do a show in that area.

 

There's a loop hole where you can hire the venue for a private event, hire the performer separately, and have the performer play said private event. But, you can't do public ticket sales in those cases.

 

do you remember when this happened? I do.
http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/pearl-jam-vs-ticketmaster-a-holy-war-on-reaiity

 

Correct, TM gets venues to sign exclusive contracts. But they became a powerhouse in the early 90s because they figured out this scheme of giving some of the "surcharges" to the venue. With this venues were more than willing to sign exclusive contracts with TM.

This article has some details: http://www.wired.com/2010/11/mf_ticketmaster/

This article also has some details: http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/...-fee-the-legacy-of-pearl-jam-vs-ticketmaster/

 

Interesting. Though kickbacks to the venues have been common knowledge, I'd never seen anything before about part of the fees going to promoters or artists. While still deceptive, if money is really going to the artists, then I guess that's a little more palatable.

 

Want even more fun? Read this:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123672740386088613

Artists, promoters, and managers get many prime seats that end up on TicketMaster owned resale sites (formerly TicketExchange, now TicketMaster+) listed as sales from "fans" like you'd see on StubHub. The seats were never for sale, and fans never touched the things. A $100 face value ticket may go for a $1000+ there. The artists and promoters pocket the difference. It's ridiculous.

I bring up stuff like this every time someone tells me how terrible beer events are for not allowing resale, matching names on tickets to IDs, etc.. Yeah, at some point I might get stuck holding a ticket I can't use. But, it shuts down scalpers. Yes, people still abuse "guest spots" for money/beer... but there aren't hundreds of tickets up on StubHub for 10x the price. I consider that a win.

 

WOW! People are already bitching and tickets aren't even on sale. It can only get worse from here

 

If by bitching you mean having an actual decent conversation about a business's shady practices (with source links), you're correct.

Feel free to unfollow the thread.

 

Sorry for not replying direct to this earlier.

My comment was a snarky reference to people complaining about the ticket vendor FFF used for DLD. I'm not a fan of TM either, for the reasons above. The one advantage they do have is stability.

 

So I've bought tickets a few times lately from vendors like stub hub and live nation(which I believe is somehow linked with ticketmaster). Prices now include all fees so the price you see is the price you pay. Not sure if the $65 for fobab is the price with the fees built in, but it would be nice wouldn't it?

 

Looks to be the case but there is always the "Prices subject to change" qualifier haha

US $55.00 Ticket + US $10.35 Fees/Additional Taxes =
US $65.35

 

Last year the $45 fobab ticket cost $51. So I doubt the fees will be included.

 

OH yeah?

 

Yeah

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( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Damn that sucks....I just bought my IMBIBE membership August 14th thinking I would get the option to buy my presale ticket for Friday. Hopefully thats changed. So whats the process for IMBIBE members to buy the presale? Do they get a special link for IMBIBE members only to buy tix?

 

We get a special link emailed to us at 945pm on the 21st and we have until 10pm the 22 to purchase the ticket. They will hold 1 Friday ticket for every imbibe member.