Why Does Ticketmaster Suck?

[@MicTheSnare]

Captions should be added within the next few days. Thanks for watching!

[@wow8255]

No, thank you for making this well made video.

[@maryannappiagyei4277]

Miss beyonce

[@kurtramos9190]

Thank you for making this video and uploading it, mere hours after I told my grad school academic advisor that I've been thinking about doing my potential thesis on the TicketMaster-LiveNation monopoly! I happened to read the Ticket Masters book soon after I graduated high school. I read 300 or so pages of that book in a single day. I have since gone on to befriend people, on both the artistic and the legal end, who remain passionate yet so frustrated with the ticketing process. Maybe one day music lovers and consumers alike will mic the fair ticket price to support their favorite artist or athlete. Maybe.

[@rosedto3806]

@MicTheSnare Here's one way all artists can break the back of Ticketmaster and still have ever fan watch the concert: Do what BTS does. One or 2 of their concerts on a tour is LIVE STREAMED EXCLUSIVELY through THE ARTIST"S online platform and can only be purchased by Fan Members. They charge a very reasonable price, make money that goes directly to the artists, give wonderful fan experience to exclusive content and yes, although you're not in the stadium (possibly sitting in the nose bleeds because that's the only ticket you can afford), YOU ARE having a concert experience UP CLOSE BETTER THAN FRONT ROW. Another is LIVE play the concert in Cinemas like what BTS AND Coldplay have done. Gives you a community concert feel, reasonable price AND the money goes to the artists --- NOT TICKETMASTER.

[@hucklebucklin]

​@@kurtramos9190 that's brilliant it's always good to write it about something you know. I studied anti trust and I read this case about ice cream monopoly and every time I see that ice cream brand I'm like... I know what you did 😅😅

[@OldFashionedLizard]

no one ticket should have all that master

[@langegogo]

and no master should have all that ticket

[@yeah2956]

The clocks ticket i just count the master

[@zdsfhnbvhigf]

the clock’s ticking why won’t the queue move faster

[@joefamliyguy1551]

Thank you

[@itamarkazakevitch8700]

@@yeah2956 stop ticketing I’m mastering off the power

[@owenoswald]

robert smith is so real for actually standing up against ticketmaster

[@brynnpringle4834]

He’s amazing. My dream is to open KZbin to see a DDD on The Cure.

[@Betta66]

Seems a good rule to live by is “don’t f*ck with Robert Smith”

[@brianblackwood3120]

Agreed I love the cure

[@Falxifer95]

Robert Smith is indeed the greatest person who ever lived.

[@Joelster-og4pf]

Yes I Agree. Robert Smith is just like heaven…

[@nothinglikeasongbird]

Guys I'm starting to think this whole late stage monopoly capitalism thing might not be the best way to run a society

[@Doctor-Infinite]

gasp 😱 ya don’t say /sarcasm lmao

[@kevinwillems8720]

Just say capitalism

[@kevinwillems8720]

The only thing adding those extra things does is confuse the issue. All capitalism is monopoly capitalism, that's the nature of capitalism. Late stage capitalism does have some unique problems , but this is not one of them. You can't turn back the clock to a good version of capitalism. It never existed.

[@nothinglikeasongbird]

@@kevinwillems8720 Yeah absolutely. But the longer specific version sounds funnier.

[@beansfebreeze]

Saying late stage just makes people think "oh well things used to be better" when, in fact, things were not

[@KelseyHontz]

"That's right! You can avoid paying insane prices to scalpers by paying insane prices to TicketMaster!" I love how Mr. The Snare can make complicated issues easy to understand

[@s0phi3e]

I'm really glad that ticketmaster is not the only ticket provider here in Germany and that a lot of german artists especially have their own smaller sellers that they cooperate with. Going to concerts is one of my favourite things in the world, but I would never be able to spends several hundreds of euros on a ticket, let alone THOUSANDS. It's terrible for concerts to become inaccessible for so many people that way.

[@merlesstorys]

I absolutely love Krasserstoff for this reason. And also those printed tickets (for Kraftklub) are really cool for use afterwards (aka a poster).

[@theamandarose]

I had the same issues with eventim, the side crashing and them reselling tickets in their fan-to-fan-sale. Which lead to some fans buying 6+ tickets and reselling them for enormous prices because there are no regulations whatsoever

[@RayaRSS]

In which Germany do you live?

[@RayaRSS]

In which Germany do you live?

[@merlesstorys]

@@theamandarose true, though I do prefer Eventim over Ticketmaster in the case of fees.

[@rhyno_64]

This guy is like the Scott The Woz of music and I love that

[@talan2861]

holy shit its woz the snare

[@wackmidi]

hey all, mic here

[@fuckinghugepablo]

Wait whys tht the perfect comparison omfg

[@t1ckin73]

nah. Not enough references to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

[@joemolnar3]

Any mic can woz but not every Scott can snare

[@Leenarietto]

An interesting strategy I've seen employed here in Japan: add codes for advance sales of tour tickets to physical/digital album releases (so you support the artist and get to buy it early - win win). Honestly prices here are pretty affordable even for big stars (they were selling same-day tickets for Harry Styles for less than 100$ and it's pretty normal for tickets to be cheaper even for big name artists) But I'm aware that it's kinda hard to compare the two - here people still absolutely buy actual CDs.

[@apoplexiamusic]

But Japan is probably one of the only countries where people still buy physical media.

[@skypirateb]

Agreed! I also think the lottery system of allocating tickets is a much better way to make the process of buying tickets way less painful. It means people don't need to worry about websites crashing, because everyone puts their name down whenever is convenient for them during the initial lottery period. I can see people pushing back on this somewhat because people are very married to the idea that first come first serve is fair, but honestly, it's not going to be MORE unfair than the systems we use now, which depend on both the strength of your internet connection and your general digital literacy to get you in with a shot.

[@hhdhpublic]

​@@apoplexiamusic Maybe people would buy more physical media if they would get some additional benefits like, I dunno, concert tickets, from it?

[@apoplexiamusic]

@@hhdhpublic that would be absolutely awesome, but given the greedy bastards that run the whole thing it probably won’t happen

[@therealkpat]

@Leenarietto I wholeheartedly applaud you guys over in Japan. Thanks to you I’ve just learned about this system and it’s pretty clever!

[@Asoftenkameshee]

the references to the taylor swift lyrics in the hearing had me chuckling, not going to lie

[@waywardwillard]

One thing that was crazy about the Taylor Swift presale was that the “special code” you were given to allow you to enter the site had to be entered…after you waited in the queue. Every other time I’ve had to do a presale like that, the code is entered before you enter the queue. I’m sure some of that had to do with the fact that the site just couldn’t handle the traffic in general, but come on-it didn’t seem like they were trying very hard to make the presale make sense (which, as your video states, is kind of the point).

[@whatername528]

I'm not sure if that's actually how it worked, because after experiencing the fiasco and failing to get tickets, even with a code and boost, I poked at other presales and if your account didn't have a presale code for that show, you couldn't enter the queue. Other people have said they saw the same thing. So I think the issue was more that they 1) gave out way too many codes for the demand, not expecting that such a high percentage of people with the code would actually show up and buy as many tickets as they could get (max was 6); 2) didn't stagger the on-sale times so a lot of shows went on sale at the same time slowing their system; and 3) a lot of people without codes and millions of bots hit the site trying to get in all at once. On top of all that they could have staggered buying windows for fans with presale codes like they have with other concerts (see Beyonce), but they chose not to use that function. At the end of the day, they allowed their system to be overwhelmed by poor planning and underestimating the demand.

[@trxced]

bts' suga also had only a presale and no general sale. what's worse is that it wasn't even verified fan presale, it was for people who had bought the bts membership. it was ridiculous

[@1917yee]

If MCR comes to Brazil I'm terrified I'll have to spend thousands BRL just to see my favorite band....a band I watched back in 2004 in new Jersey for only 30 dollars.

[@meowrk777]

Say what you will about how horribly capitalistic kpop is but the fact that they actually get their income from physical album sales will always impress me

[@Sofiaode18]

All thanks to album hoarders and obsessive fans (not talking about the typical collectors, just ones who hoard albums to get into fanmeets).

[@meowrk777]

@@Sofiaode18 Sadly yea, the amount of waste they create just trying to get into a fanmeet is horrible

[@daylaanle]

I feel like albums in kpop are treated like merchandise. Creative packaging, coloful photobook, different versions each with different theme, posters, collectables,... It's so fun and exciting to open a kpop album that I lowkey wish that western artists do the same (but the amount of waste though...)

[@WriteUnread]

I was just thinking that. If the primary revenue stream at this point is coming from the experience and not from the actual music recordings, then the logical response would be to amp up the experience into something that's not AS threatened by music piracy...like by modeling itself off the idol industry, to some extent.

[@boootybounce420]

Lol….

[@SaintMartins]

I remember back in 1994 seeing Nirvana live on their last arena tour. I paid only $22.75 which included the taxes & service charges. We also could ONLY buy them in person & had a purchase LIMIT of 2 tickets.

[@123emiemi]

I think the point about live music event streaming being the future has been reinforced 1000% by the numerous TikTok livestreams of the Eras tour. I’d love to know the total amount of people watching over those streams, I know a couple had at least 70k watching and obvs it would cost more to have a proper live stream set up, camera people & a broadcaster but the idea has definitely been proven & I think it could be profitable!

[@lilab27]

sorry to be a kpop stan but if you’re interested, “beyond live” concerts have been taking place since april 2020, and are fully fleshed out live streamed concerts. some have been purely live streamed, and some are simultaneously streamed and in person

[@123emiemi]

@@lilab27 by all means be a K-pop stan, coming from a former one!! I think I kind of left the fandoms just as those started but I’ve seen clips & they look so efficiently-run & high quality!

[@lobachevscki]

@@lilab27 Yeah, and Metallica have done similar things way before that (main one being the Antartica concert in 2013). The point Emily is trying to make is that is not a standard yet, TikTok is showing how viable they actually can be to people that have the power to make them happen but are closed to the idea. I do see resistance from the wider industry.

[@RauPekaaa]

I think 2020 was also a good example, Dua Lipa's studio 2054 was a really good example of live music being streamed, I think if she did a live show being streamed as well it'd be great

[@gayass8702]

even before that i remember this one girl (her @ is still dietshampoo i think) livestreamed the entirety of the mcr reunion when it happened for everyone who couldn't go and it pulled some numbers for an instagram live lol (at least 30k probably more - it was so many people the live crashed several times)

[@shadowofdreams14]

Something that I really value in your work is your intelligent handling of nuance to come to genuinely insightful conclusions. There's a great F. Scott Fitzgerald quote, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." That came to mind so often during this video, how you were able to both understand and dissect how shitty Ticketmaster is but also how they are not the sole source of all conflict in the situation, and that the better world we should strive for might not be the one we immediately think of.

[@abbeyfeller2749]

Love how Taylor Swifts concert has got the conversation about Ticketmaster rolling again.

[@rylymbona]

Owning an album and having a collection of Vinlys from your favourite artist is so cool. Yes, streaming has made listening to music easier because I don't have to buy a whole album when I only like one song and I can just add it on my Spotify playlist. But, owning a hard copy of an album by my favorite artist is really nice. I hope we can consume music that way again. Just like how I wish we can watch movies in the theatres a lot more.

[@Nippontradamus]

I am really feeling the value of physical music and wired headphones to be really worth it. I got into Akon because my father owned a cd of Konvicted. We have all seen that streaming is a service, which is offered on the whims of every rung of the music industry ladder

[@mauroboros8566]

I'm a die hard Springsteen fan and am not willing to pay more than $300 to see him Live. And that's for a decent seat, not a nosebleed behind the stage like they're offering at MSG. I paid $250 to see Joni Mitchell in Washington next June, but that's only because that's the lowest price I found and it may literally be a once in a lifetime concert which is why I'm willing to fly out to Washington from new Jersey to go see her. What this is doing is that it's giving me more of a drive to go to smaller shows. New artist who have amazing shows at small venues in NYC are much more worth your time and money than spending over $300 on a top 20 billboard artist tbh.

[@NE0MAS]

A ticket shouldn’t cost more than 100 dollars

[@heyhoalberto]

I think an interesting point that gets glossed over in these discussions about Ticketmaster is that, well, they’re not a monopoly. That's to say: they’re a monopoly in the US and North America. But Europe? Australia? Asia? Nope. And in all of those markets - especially Asia where the rise of K-Pop and J-Pop has made concert-going a much bigger experience than it was even a decade ago - there is competition in the market that drives service fees down, regulation that caps service and reselling fees, and overall a healthier ticket-buying experience. Funny that.

[@KookiesNolly]

I live in Europe and have attended several high profile concerts of American artists in France after buying the tickets on TM and my experience was so different from what i hear from Americans. Just recently I bought Beyoncé tickets, gold tickets no less, the best seated tickets you can get, for 250€. That was the price that was annonced, and that's roughly what i paid (there were maybe 5€ for the fees? i don't remember cause it wasn't much.) Whereas in america the prices were in the thousands for similar venues. This rarely gets adressed in this whole Ticketmaster discussion. It's a heavily localized issue. So localized that the same company doesn't work at all the same way across the ocean. Ticketmaster aren't choosing to be nicer to Europe. The situation in the US is just the result of the US government letting companies do whatever they want as always. In my opinion there is no one else to blame here. Artists in the rest of the world survive just fine, promoters are also doing fine. The US government is just allowing excessive greed where everyone else has been putting a cap on it. I truly hope that doesn't spread but unfortunately terrible ideas from the US travel have a tendency to travel fast.

[@monie802]

Yea, I’m American but I live in Australia and I work for the biggest Ticketing company here (not TM) and it’s totally different here. We have a lot more regulations in place but TM also just doesn’t have the market hold here that they do in the US.

[@dexter_vane]

I was going to comment exactly this. I have used Ticketmaster here in Germany many times and it is just one of many ticket vendors and works just as every other with the same service and pricing.

[@rockinmel1]

The "devaluing recorded music" argument says zero about venue kickbacks or exclusivity - OR for about the SMALL ARTISTS that don't do "dynamic pricing," can't charge $1500 for a "golden circle" seat, and NEVER MADE MOST OF THEIR MONEY FROM THEIR MUSIC. The argument only in fact supports millionaire artists who now still make more than a comfortable living from recorded music sales (just not AS much) and play arenas or stadiums. In reality, the issue is America's embrace of the scalper, which Ticketmaster has wholeheartedly endorsed and even encouraged. As opposed to 20 years ago, ticket brokers and resale for profit are legal in most areas. That means that it's in the best interest of all concerned - the artist, the venue, and especially Ticketmaster - to charge "scalper prices" to begin with, AND it's even in fans' best interest to buy more tickets than they need and immediately attempt to resell the extras for as much as they can. Bottom line: America in 2023 is a country of legalized "hustling" that hurts the common fan. And Ticketmaster has profited deeply from this situation.

[@lilyliao9521]

bro, youre listening to a low tier video essayist

[@franki1990]

Yeah, I find the argument of physical music devaluation a rather weak one to support such a large claim.

[@margoalex.]

Fun fact: the Ticketmaster Debacle™ is what finally pushed me over the edge to stop being a swiftie. Turns out that pouring all your energy into a business because you feel like you know the face of it isn’t very healthy. Especially when you get very little in return. Figures.

[@LoveK1]

Those parasocial reIationships are a trip aren’t they? I wonder if more people have been getting that wake up call in recent years or if fans have gotten more codependent since the pandemic?

[@margoalex.]

@@LoveK1 They 100% are a trip. And honestly, I think it depends. I think the codependent ones are going to be the loudest. So, you’ll definitely see them on social media more. But for me, it was more of a silent death. Realizing how bad my relationship with a public figure was quickly burnt me out from talking publicly about any of them. At least, not conversations like this (where it’s much more levelheaded).

[@RanterInShades]

I like to call what Ticketmaster is doing, the Michael Eisner effect. Just like how Eisner knew that people will still buy tickets to Disneyland even with jacked up prices because they just wanna go to Disneyland, Ticketmaster knows that people really wanting to see a particular artist will pay whatever ridiculous price they tell them because they really want to see that artist. It's sick, and I feel sick every time I want to get a ticket for a show where tickets are sold through LiveNation, and wish there were [more] alternatives. Surprised Blink-182 wasn't mentioned with how outrageous the ticket prices for their reunion tour with Tom DeLonge are. Very punk, yessir.

[@oldusernamewasbadlol]

The music industry brought all this on itself. Music was too expensive in the 90s, Napster was an inevitable outcome and ultimately Ticketmaster will find that it needs customers more than anyone needs them.

[@Betta66]

I'd like to add to the Lorde newsletter you brought up. I may be misremembering, but I saw at least one comment dismissing Lorde's sympathy towards smaller artists basically because "Lorde's not a smaller artist, so why should she care?" And there was also the lawsuit against President Biden's student loan debt forgiveness plan, which isn't relevant except that a few people "joked" that maybe students shouldn't be wasting money on Taylor Swift tickets. The point I hope to make is that maybe we shouldn't be jerks.

[@tiffanyacuff9450]

I like the idea that the band The Longest Johns has done. They are very niche in genre, but also with 877K listeners on Spotify, that is nothing to shake a stick at. They have multiple streams of income for their band which includes merch, touring, vinyls, cds, digital downloads. But they also do a singing stream where you donate money to hear your favorite songs. They really make an effort to involve their fans with video projects they put on youtube, which really makes fans want to stick around. I just think maybe some of what can be done to help both artists and fans is to get a little creative. (Easier said than done, of course.)

[@Rejinx]

The fact is recording music is very easy compared to 30 years ago and there are more talented artist out there than there are audinces large enough to support there careers. What makes some songs and artist rich and famous and others unable to support themselves is marketing and reach. The fact is that the entire current music industry could collasape and it wouldn't stop the vast majority of music from being made. Any talented group of artest can create there own brands online now.

[@tjhunter9787]

I kinda wanna throw in my 2 cents here when I ask what if artists could hold digital concerts online. Not like the metaverse or anything but where they could just watch a livestream of the concert from the comfort of their own home. That could win some people over who don't have the ability to travel to the venue and the artist could have a lot more freedom to charge fans on their own terms away from the clutches of Ticketmaster.

[@kiroshow]

Some artists did this during COVID - and it was awesome!

[@Nissl61]

A ton of paid streaming services have been tried over the last decade or so. They worked pretty well during lockdown, but before that (and after?) the only successful ones have been in niches with extremely hardcore fanbases (jambands, metal, K-pop, etc). Sites aiming at more mainstream genres repeatedly folded after a few years.

[@jetstream.official]

The long term harm of that is it removes the sense of impulse and urgency of when a touring artist comes to your town. It removes the feeling of "this might be my only chance for a while I can see them, I have to see them NOW" and treating them like a big deal versus the sense of treating it more like a cable TV show you can miss and either "DVR" it or just catch it some other time. Makes you more apathetic to the artist and their schedule. The other part is that it becomes a couple mega-shows rather than a 20-50 show tour and opportunity to make/lose money. Bigger boom/bust potential in my opinion

[@Samzillah]

Yeah concert parties were a big thing during that weird in between where you could see your friends but couldnt go anywhere public yet. My parents and their friends were super into it for a while.

[@saravictoria972]

They had a hearing for the Taylor Swift case today! And the next court day is apparently May 25, so it hasn’t been thrown out yet :)

[@tme3305]

you make an interesting point about the loss of recorded music as a revenue service for artists. it got me thinking: would we even be in this situation in the first place if streaming services like spotify paid artists more than .003 cents per stream? it seems like the fundamental problem is artists getting shorted by the streaming services that have replaced physical music, thus creating a situation where they need touring to even make back the money they spent on recording. if that could be fixed somehow, i wonder if the situation would improve.

[@Retnuh49]

"I pitched this show to Netflix but they said the title was too short" 😂 But seriously great nuanced video. Keep it up ❤

[@daphneblake13]

I think this means you just gotta do a DDD on Springsteen...

[@joefamliyguy1551]

Not a fan but you gotta respect the boss

[@eliasmg9144]

Yes please

[@directamplification]

He has to do it! Springsteen's discography is absolutely incredible, his 1975-84 period is the stuff legends are made of!

[@DeadheadYates]

I honestly have a.much worse time trying to get tickets because of the scalpers and bots. Great example, trying to get wheelchair accessible seating to see The Cure with my gf in Denver this June is basically impossible because we'll need between 400-600 bucks between the two of us 😕 it'd be pretty nice if the vendors would actually do something to combat scalping, or at least stop actively facilitating them

[@somuchsquee]

I've got a ticket for Denver I need to resell and I'm pretty sure I accidently bought a wheelchair accessible seat. It's only one but I'd rather it go to someone who will appropriately use it.

[@DeadheadYates]

@@somuchsquee you probably just bought a ticket for the same section as the ADA seats. For some unbelievably stupid reason, Fiddler's Green (among other venues) doesn't have a separate ADA section with separate tickets, they just have all of the accessible seating in the front of sections that anybody can buy tickets to, which basically means disabled patrons are forced into having to hope that they can actually get to the accessible seating instead of there being a guarantee. Fucking stupid ass system that's all too common

[@spork320]

I believe BTS has not had a general sale at all since 2021 at least. Now they have membership-only sales. I know people were mad about no general sale for Taylor Swift, but I do think it helps decrease traffic for the site and if employed correctly gets tickets into fans hands. I believe some Japanese concerts have a lottery system where tickets are non-transferable. So this helps with pricing but fans are not guaranteed a ticket. I’m not sure what the best options are but gettin rid of dynamic pricing would be my first wish.

[@uhpkkim]

Great, informative video! I disagree about your point that artists arent able to make money off of album sales being primarily because of fans / piracy though. The real blame is the industry. Artists already weren't making enough money off of album sales even BEFORE peole stopped buying records -- because of record labels, predatory exploitative contracts, and not having good royalty deals or even royalties ownership at all (all of which are still huge problems). Artists went on extensive exhausting tours well before Napster, it's not like they were doing that just for fun.

[@RustleXer]

We’re lucky where in Australia we have The Major Events Act 2009 which protects fans from being ripped off by ticket scalpers and ensures that tickets to major events are available for everyone. When the government declares an event as a major event, it becomes illegal to sell or advertise for resale tickets for more than 10 per cent above face value.

[@draga_]

8:51 seeing mic make a pizza tower reference was the last thing i expected to see today

[@callanfox3713]

That stub hub commercial felt like a jump scare

[@trekgreenwood6743]

10:35 Gotta agree with that. But then again, the only reason why most artists today get most of their money from touring is because they don't own their music. When in reality, the money is in the music. If you own your publishing and your masters, you will make that passive income. But of course, since most artists are signed, and the common stipulation in contracts is that they give up their publishing and masters for a monetary advance, that is most often not within their reality or possibility.

[@kevinwillems8720]

I really dislike that he didn't put the obvious due blame on record companies instead blaming the leaking of a new revolutionary technology that, were we in a better world, would help and not hinder artists.

[@kevinwillems8720]

Like, yeah, it feels weird just saying everything is capitalism. But a fucking lot of it is capitalism

[@cityboy2092]

​@@kevinwillems8720 While record companies definitely deserve their share of blame for how they treat artists, it's not like the public is innocent either. Napster showed that most music fans would rather give their computers malware than shell out $12 for a CD, and even when the industry tried adjusting to the digital era, that still wasn't enough to get people to spend a cent on music. Even streaming isn't enough for some people; show of hands for anyone who remembers 3-4 years ago when we'd get a new "Apple Music should be free for anyone who buys an iPhone!!!" viral tweets were popping up every single week. There's really no way to *generate* income for musicians the way we did 30 years ago without spending money on their music, but most people simply have no desire to ever do that. I agree that there are changes to be made in Ticketmaster's business practices and the music industry as a whole, but this is something that we did kinda bring onto ourselves

[@kevinwillems8720]

@@cityboy2092 ok, but answer me this. Of those 12 bucks for an album, who got most of that money. The fucking record companies.

[@kevinwillems8720]

@CityBoy20 there's a reason Chumbawumba told people to steal their album, and why many bands supported Napster and things like it like the taping movement. Record labels always ripped off artists, they were just able to do it less with cds.

[@koji6745]

There was gonna be a huge festival last year, a week earlier they cancelled and bounced with everyones money. People that bought thru ticketmaster STILL have not got their money back, while us resale girlies got it within a month Kinda messed up how they just left people hanging

[@LoveK1]

I heard that happened to people that had the show they were going to cancelled due to the virus. They didn’t get their money and couldn’t get in contact with customer service.

[@maggienificent]

I have learned recently about how the "verified fan presale" is supposed to work but I still think it needs to die. Not everyone is going to be able to get tickets, of course, but I would rather all fans get the chance to at least TRY to buy tickets. Holding a lottery for people to simply get a chance to try to buy tickets is so frustrating.

[@Emh19]

I'm very happy that here in Aus there are more ticketing options, like yeah the big massive stadium shows will likely still use ticketmaster but anything else probably wont. I go to a lot of smaller venue shows (for international and local bands) and there is a range of ticketing services they use, and such a range of prices as well.

[@monie802]

What are your thoughts on Ticketek? Lol

[@JackieWarner13]

I'm Sydney most concert venues are usually Ticketek based(or smaller companies like moshtix etc) but most theatre/musical venues are Ticketmaster. I know for Harry styles he was meant to tour here & couple states had Ticketek but pandemic happened then he cancelled & fans couldn't get refunds back for months bc cards had expired by time & receipts weren't showing then when he announced new Aussie shows he went with Ticketmaster due to the Ticketek issue fans had before even though those venues mainly used Ticketek as their outlet.

[@monie802]

@@JackieWarner13 that’s not why it was ticketed by TM. It was bc he moved arenas to stadiums. Ticketek also had no idea HS was coming again until it was announced, Live Nation finally cancelled then totally blind sided us with the re-announce. HS a live nation artist and Ticketek doesn’t own any stadiums, they’re mostly TM I believe. Accor is an “option” venue and Live Nation can pick 3 shows a year I believe to use their own ticketer for.

[@joshlikescola]

A lot of people bemoan festivals having larger stages with more fans every year, or large venues where you are some distance from the stage, but I honestly think that is a price I'm perfectly willing to pay to see my favourite artists live. I'm happy sitting in the back of a large arena to watch a spectacular stage show and generally the sound is pretty good these days regardless of where you are sat. This way more people can see their favourite artists, you just pay more to be closer to the stage. Of course, you also have the concert tour videos, which are a great way of involving more people - plus I like to watch them for tours I have been to see.

[@wenacabrossoylacony]

wanna know something sad? This is a USA problem basically. Cuz where I live (South America) Ticketmaster works like any other ticket company, with no dynamic pricing, no owning venues, and is not even the biggest ticket seller here (puntoticket is the lead company). Here is so simple: you see the prices, enter the virtual line, chose the one you can afford, pick the seat, done.

[@lrs3]

This video has reminded me that it’d be great if you’d do a DDD on Springsteen.

[@miabecerra2611]

wasn't expecting to see an item label peepy shoot out but im here for it

[@shutupdave]

This coming out at the same time as Ryan George’s ticketmaster skit is amazing

[@FangirlRandomscrew]

I'm a crazy supporter of bands putting things on Bandcamp. I buy and burn that music and play it in my car, and often those artists are local artists to cities far from me! I can't see them but I can still actually support, and I don't need to use the resources that come with buying merch (that I may not even wear)

[@willbaxter4903]

Just realized this is a music conspiracy channel and I'm ALL FOR it. Truly fun content to watch

[@SpectrumMD21]

And now we can include Hololive (an A-list V-Tuber agency) and their English branch's upcoming concert this Summer at the KZbin Theater. But despite the pre-sale tickets selling out in about 3 minutes, at least management did promise a small portion of tickets to be available for the general sale.

[@IAmBoxman911]

I don't mind if I get into an on-line queue and can't buy tickets. It is certainly an issue with a supply being small and demand being high. But, I do get annoyed with the fake pricing of concert tickets. I would love to see Laufey in concert and tried to buy tickets. AXS advertises the price as $35 - $69.50 + fees, which is way too low. I would be happy to pay much more than that. However, I didn't get tickets during pre-sale. When the regular sale was available, there were no regular tickets at all. They were all sold at pre-sale. But, AXS does have verified official re-sale tickets starting at $350 each! I would have paid $200 a ticket during pre-sale or the regular sale. But, I will not pay $350 to whoever had the best bot that went and bought up all the tickets so they can scalp them!

[@stupendoushorrendous8258]

Idk why but this felt like a Last Week Tonight episode and I'm here for it.

[@AsagiUltimateLover]

As an avid concert goer, I used to not mind Ticketmaster. It's been over the last few years my anger grew for it. Big artist used to be affordable, even with the fees, but everything is so high. I get stressed having to buy tickets right when they go on sale because I know with dynamic pricing and resellers, the prices will just increase and the process of picking a ticket for it to say "sorry, someone already got this ticket" is a lot. For example, this year I bought 2 tickets for the Depeche Mode tour. They were floor seats at $190 a piece, and the total cost after fees and tax was $475.25...if it wasn't for me being a fan and my mom having health issues and never being able to go see her favorite band, I probably wouldn't have paid that. What is ridiculous is the very next day, the floor seats behind me were priced at $440 a piece before fees and taxes...one single ticket. I understand artist need income, but one way they can do it is stop offering their music on streaming services, and bring back the album (cd or vinyl). Plus, you get such a better audio quality from a CD than from streaming a song. Over in South Korea, they make elaborate albums that come with photo books, photo card, and different little extras and they sell A LOT of albums despite being on streaming services, too. I think if the normal preorder of an album just came with little extra stuff thrown in, that more people might buy albums for $25 (like what most Korean album preorders are priced around). Also, instead of dynamic pricing, they should just set how high they want their tickets and leave dynamic pricing alone. That's why I've always enjoyed buying tickets from e-ticket when artists have offered it.

[@sarah-bethhogg]

I wish I could pay the artist directly to use a song in a video instead of getting a copyright strike. Like, why can't I pay $1 or $2 to use a song? It's weird to me that is not an option. Also, Spotify et al REALLY underpay the artists as well...

[@lobachevscki]

I'm interested in a video in where you explore the alternatives and ways to make records a stream of revenue for artists again.

[@damienliriano]

Used to be a scalper. I can confirm this

[@andrsmaldo]

In Mexico the artists have to give the merch rights to Ticketmaster's sibling company for every concert they give. Meaning that they also pocket money for the manufacturing and selling of the artist's merchandise

[@fbxbonilla8927]

About the last part... I'm an international swiftie and I didn't participate in the mess that was the sale for the eras tour but... I know not everyone is going to get to go, but it's unfair that American fans get like three times more shows that any other continent; but the sad truth is that other countries less developed (like mine) can't afford such high production concerts and I don't think a concert in a small country in Central America is going to generate enough money to justify all the costs. And also, being an artist's it's not a really stable job pretty much anywhere but here... You basically sign up for just playing mostly covers at restaurants if you become an artist so i don't have much local artists to support (and also the music the usually make it's not my style). This has almost nothing to do with the video but it's something I needed to say, that I probably will never even get the chance to see my favorite artist because of capitalism

[@endlessness]

Oh boy new mic the snare !

[@cocoa18_]

Did not expect the Peepy cameo at 16:25 but I must say it was a very pleasant, hilarious surprise

[@SaintMartins]

When Bruce Springsteen came to my city a local music reviewer was quoted saying "30% of the Arena was empty, but considering the average ticket price was $1,100 to $2,500 he probably didn't notice."

[@via45]

If each venue has their own simple site fans will go to them individually

[@TheMasterOfTheWord]

Masters Radio is working to help out older musicians who have to continually tour in order to earn revenue. It’s hard to see some smaller bands and groups go out and play while in their 60s-80s, especially when they’re not big-name acts like Springsteen or the Stones.

[@KAIJUCHOMPS]

I don't truly know how much of this was due to Ticketmaster themselves, but at the end of the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Europe tour there was a bit of a kerfuffle that felt, very poorly managed. The band was scheduled to play two nights back to back at the (Ticketmaster exclusive) O2 Brixton Academy, which was *great* until the venue got indefinitely closed due to a few deaths in a crush that happened there. Shows got rescheduled and relocated, which is fine but... There were three tickets available for the concerts. Individual tickets for both nights, and a ticket for both nights as a bundle. The issue arose in that only buyers of the bundle ticket actually got given tickets for the rescheduled second night. Anyone who purchased individual tickets for Show 1 and Show 2, just ended up with two tickets for Show 1, and had to purchase yet another ticket to attend Show 2. The whole situation felt really badly managed and very poorly communicated, and the communication definitely should have been better on Ticketmasters part. Sidenote, the shows were great but *man* it was harder than it needed to be to attend the second night I paid for. I really didnt need two tickets for one night lmao

[@amstutsman]

Another excellent video. You are doing the Lorde’s work with these.

[@remyy1999]

When Harry styles toured the uk in 2022, I somehow managed to get a premium pit ticket from the ticket factory instead of ticketmaster It was such a miracle cause I didn’t have to go through the hassle. Unfortunately ticketmaster got the monopoly of Harry’s 2023 tour and introduced dynamic pricing

[@jj-reads]

Survivor of the great Taylor Swift presale of 2022. I have become the designated Ticketmaster handler of my family now. It’s not fun.

[@eggsrsweet]

This will likely never happen but I'd love if TM/LN sold tickets for face value with no chance of the ticket being resold -- like it's tied to your account only and you have to show your ID at the venue -- no chance for resale at all. And if you can't go, you can get a refund and the ticket goes back up for sale. Obviously, would never happen in a million years. But it'd be nice.

[@Taylor-oq3gf]

Waited an hour and a half to get Eurovision tickets... by the time i got through everything was sold out.

[@movies-on-tv]

This video should have more views than it does. Thank you for exposing TM's crippling the live music industry

[@inquiry...]

I'M DOWNLOADING THIS VIDEO RIGHT NOW! why? because no doubt ticketmaster is going to notice this, and make a copyright strike or some other bullshit to get this "slander" out. this video came out at the perfect time, i was looking to buy some tickets for a show at the united center in chicago, keep in mind, i do not go to shows often, therefore i do not use ticketmaster often (thank god), but seeing how shitty their service has gotten is...awe-inspiring, in the worst way possible

[@BackspinZX]

Your enemy isn't digital music. It's music streaming. Napster and the MP3 aren't what killed the viability of recorded music as an income stream. Spotify did. That said Ticketmaster and Livenation need to get broken up immediately, there were people that voiced concerns over the merger and listed out basically everything Ticketmaster's been doing since the merger, and Ticketmaster went "but what if we promise we won't do that?" and the government went "...well, okay, if you PROMISE" and then Ticketmaster did all the awful stuff anyways.

[@regularguy2006]

i'm gonna push back a tad on 2:55, it probably depends on a lot of factors but Clyde Lawrence of the band Lawrence wrote a great op ed where he claims his band makes around 40% of the gross ticket sale, and that he knows people who make even less. Once again, it definitely depends on a lot of things but i think it's worth noting

[@DGKChoice]

I saw in the new foo fighter tour that the only way to resell tickets is for the same price you bought them for (dont know how true it is). I think this is a decent step. Also im glad i dont like huge concerts. Id perfer a 400 or less standing concert.

[@matt00794]

Matt Healy of the 1975 recently said he stoped charging for meet and greets and tried to get others to stop as well saying “if you think this is ok ask each individual fan for the 20 dollars yourself and feel how bad it feels to do that” I’m paraphrasing but it was something like that. I think musicians don’t see what these costs actually are or understand how fans react to this, Bruce Springsteen I doubt understood what dynamic pricing was before signing on to it or probably didn’t understand how high that price would go. Sadly I think like with any investigation into social media many people in congress or the doj simply don’t understand what they are investigating or understand why people are upset

[@MayTTruck]

damn, i just love the snare of Mic the

[@odkres]

"Ticketmaster supports all-in pricing" You know TM, being practically a monopoly, you can JUST DO THAT? Like, you sign contracts with or even own the venues and the promotion, you could make the deals so that the ticket price is set and you take a cut out of that. Then they could set the price accordingly. You could just choose to go that route, it doesn't have to be some kind of a "reform" you supposedly support.

[@bblvrable]

The part regarding artists needing to get all of their income from touring glosses over the fact that for the majority of history, this was always the case. It wasn't until the advent of CDs and the resulting death of the single (yes, CD singles were technically a thing, but no one sold them, so not really) that artists began getting the majority of their income from album sales (and in fact, this was only true for the largest and most successful of artists, smaller artists still earned most of their income from touring). Prior to CDs and being forced into purchasing full-length albums just for one hit song, people would just buy the single for the hit song they wanted, and only picked up full-length albums for their favourite artists. Then with the advent of the MP3, even if you ignore the blip that was the Napster era, you still had the issue that people could just buy the one single song from an artist that they wanted for $1, rather than dropping $10 on an album of 10 songs of which they'd only ever listen to maybe 2. Today most people just listen on Spotify, which has lower payouts than even radio because musicians negotiate garbage contracts. But really, I don't see an issue with this. Where do we get this concept that a musician should be able to put out 5 albums and be set for life and never have to work another day? The point of an album is to get you to listen to their music so that you'll go to their concerts and buy their merch. It's basically advertising, yet we pretend it should be the primary source of income.

[@jetstream.official]

There's a big difference between being set for life off a few albums or banking your financial future album to album and needing it to sell/promote tours to have income. It's similar to KZbinrs who NEED to run a patreon and merch and sponsorships and everything bc the money of their videos alone is pitiful and completely unsustainable

[@kevinwillems8720]

See, you started strong, and then you went fucking downhill

[@kurtscars1689]

Commenting on Nick’s newest video till we get a DDD on Owl City, Part 11! I’d be super excited to hear your thoughts on Coco Moon, it’s such an odd album to place genre wise

[@FirionLeFleur]

Maybe albums exclusive to physical media but sold at a low cost so the number of sales goes up instead. 🤷

[@okochannell]

When you mentioned livenation... I think they also deserve a video on why they suck

[@mirnuky]

I feel that many fans like me stopped to buy physical albums because I had the impression that labels took all the money and nothing went to the artists. so i used to pirate the music and then pay for the live show...

[@aleshaserada2476]

That's so weird, as compared to Europe! The Cure just had a huge tour where they premiered songs from their final album, and ticket prices started from 80 euro almost anywhere in Europe! (I could not go, but I went to many other great shows, and I am going to hear Patti Smith in summer for the fixed price of 79 euro for a seat in the third row). Yes, sometimes it is a bit too expensive (up to 200 eur but almost never above that), and tickets to really great shows may be sold out 3 months in advance, but you know exactly how much you are paying for a generally very good experience.

[@elomnusk]

Really enjoyed the vid, although I'm highly sceptical towards any notion of "public/piracy make things go bad for artists". We know major labels have always been creative when it comes to sucking blood - both before and after piracy. Back in the day a signed artist only ever got crumbs from physical media, while profits were disproportionately siphoned off by the label. On the other hand, piracy was a reaction to being unable to afford Vinyl/Tape/CD - not some kind of gluttonous evil perpetuated by the masses. I've met countless people who prefer to buy when they have the money - not just for the sake of supporting the artist, but for entirely personal reasons, like having a physical copy of something you love. I admit streaming services are an abysmal new standard, sure, but the 'public piracy = bad music industry' argument unfairly deflects blame and distracts from other possibilities (ie, holding streaming services accountable, more accessible government-funding to the arts, stronger laws to protect live performance exploitation, etc), and that's without addressing the bigger picture of making life affordable for both artists and fans ~in general~, which... I admit, is bigger than this conversation. Fred Rosen sounds like the type of guy to put anti-piracy ads at the beginning of your legally purchased DVD. What a scumbag.

[@elizabethbianchinischlindw7944]

Always happy to see a new Mic The Snare video! Great content as always

[@nicolasderoose]

Clear and concise video my friend. And top notch editing too!

[@RickLilShore]

As a metalhead what I hate as much as Ticketmaster is all "golden circle" and similar "VIP" segments that are built in a way that blocks actual circle pits and severly limit view in front of stage.

[@nittygritty7034]

Already got a chuckle out of me like a few minutes in, here we go

[@oliviawalmsley2167]

A major problem I have with buying tickets online is bots and scammers. Cause now anyone around the world can buy tickets to any show, and sell it to make a profit. I understand someone' favourite artist might not be coming to a town in close travel distance. (I live near Toronto, Canada. So I am grateful I can get to any venue in the GTA or even in another city with public transit. But unfortunately, many artists do not travel all across Canada. So it sucks many living in the Great White North) So the next viable option is to make a road trip or vacation out of it. But it still sucks nonetheless people just trying to scam others out of seeing their favourite musicians live.

[@mkklassicmk3895]

The problem is that Ticketmaster doesn't just work for the venue, they own the venue. They aren't making money for their client at that point they are just price gouging you. Also, Taylor Swift "cut" of her newest album sales is like 2 to 5 million dollars, granted that is less than before but it hardly justifies the idea that they cant make an extremely good living on just album sales alone.

[@whatername528]

Taylor is a big outlier on that though, as most artists these days do not get anywhere near the kind of album sales she does.

[@lisas8812]

This was great. In regards to artists making more money from album sales, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the charting rules. In kpop, it's normal for albums to come with photocards and other small extras inside the album which encourages more fans to buy them. At the same time, in the UK for instance, including ANY extras will immediately keep you from charting. (As a slight aside, if the album is less than 25 minutes long, NOT including the singles, it also can't chart which I think is just plain ridiculous.) Getting onto music charts has always been important to labels and artists, but to do it they have to put out albums they know will make them less money. The IFPI album sales chart came out today and for the one exclusively focused on pure sales, all 10 artists were artists who include extras in their albums (though some release albums without extras in the UK just to get on the charts...this differs depending on artist/label goals). So, what do you think? Should artists be allowed to include some extras, or is that a manipulation of the charts that makes it worth striking down?

[@jluna4249]

Omg and that was just in the US, ticketmaster is the worst thing ever worldwide. I live in Mexico and there was a recent fiasco regarding cloned tickets for a Bad Bunny concert (who is literally a god in Mexico) and so A LOT of people couldnt get in the concert and it was like 50% empty, and since Mexico is weird in many ways, even the president went out and called out Bad Bunny to make another concert so everyone that couldnt go in would stop complaining and wining, i felt really bad for them hahah we really love Bad Bunny

[@caseys_cozy_garage]

Your video was amazing wow. I actually searched for an essay like this for ticketmaster. Ima watch the rest of your videos

[@Genny-Zee]

Just as I forget about Mic he uploads a new video

[@DiM2404]

The Cure are an interesting case study for this, I remember when they did their 3IB/17S/Faith shows at the Sydney Opera House in 2011. I signed up for th epresale and had a VERY forgiving boss who allowed me to spend about four paid hours refreshing the page to eventually get my tickets. The main sale sold out in I think a minute. Tickets then popped up on eBay for thousands of dollars. Smith was, justifiably, quite outraged. Now, Ticketmaster, in handling their dodgy resale platform, is charging even more to fans and Smith is, justifiably, quite outraged. Also, The Cure haven't released an album since 2008 so, other than reissues and licencing/royalties, touring IS their only viable revenue stream. And they are still very much not happy about what is happening. Obviously they are a very successful and wealthy band who don't need to work another day in their lives, but it's good when people who can kinda afford it lead the charge a bit. Anyone who has ever been to a Cure show knows that they play every gig to the audience member who may never get the chance to see them again, playing the deepest cuts in case they're that one person's favourite. I don't know the point I'm making here, The Cure DDD when?

[@joemolnar3]

Senators quoting Taylor Swift lyrics make me want to vote in Canada

[@happycamperds9917]

The reason the Live Nation purchase was allowed was probably because it was vertical expansion rather than horizontal expansion. Horizontal expansion is when you buy out someone in the same niche (i.e. McDonalds buying Wendy's) and Vertical expansion is buying a company with another niche or another part of the process (i.e. McDonald's buying a Beef Farm). The latter is not as stringently regulated.

[@TheLolliDolli]

Such a timely video, as I struggle to budget for Depeche Mode tickets right now 😂

[@jenniferrowland1339]

I shelled out $300 for last row seats for my local DM show. With Andy's sudden passing, I knew I wanted to go, but that $300 for nosebleed was *painful* I hope you get a ticket to see Martin & Dave ❤

[@TheLolliDolli]

@Jennifer Rowland thanks, I hope so too R.I.P. Andy 😭💜

[@zdoesgame]

Mic, is there any chance visor guy will return? I miss him! If not, I want to know how he's doing!

[@paint9er]

just saw Bruce this past Saturday. for me, the energy of him and the band was worth the price of my ticket (about $340 for what i would call on the upper end of very average lower level seats). but i loved hearing your deep dive into this topic Mic!