For making a $20 ticket cost $32.50.
Ticketmaster is a ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California. If you have never heard of it, you should really get out of the house more often. It’s the company that sells almost all concert and sporting event tickets. The company is ridiculed for its outrageous service charges and has been accused, several times, of operating as a monopoly. However, Ticketmaster simply acts as an agent that sells the tickets its clients make available. So it’s impossible to charge Ticketmaster as an illegal monopoly because they are a third-party entity. But no matter how you look at it, Ticketmaster still sucks.
Shame on you, Ticketmaster. Your greed has made nearly every concertgoer curse your name for bankrupting him. Your ridiculous charges nearly parallel the bands’ revenues. You are well hated and will undoubtedly fall at one point. And when you do, rest assured that we, the fans, will be there to kick ticket stubs in your face.
Shame on you, venues. You accept millions from Ticketmaster, allowing the company to have exclusive ticket-selling rights. You are the reason Ticketmaster can indiscriminately jack up its prices in the first place. Instead of making ticket sales a competitive business, you made it a virtual monopoly. Don’t you get enough revenue from corporate sponsorship anyway (see RIFE №004)? You too have sold your souls to the devil.
Shame on the fans. We buy the tickets. We should rise up and boycott these overpriced events! But who am I kidding? That’s never gonna happen. And besides, a picket line would just look like a ticket line anyway.
Shame on Pearl Jam too. You were so close to winning a lawsuit against Ticketmaster. Shame on you for giving up. Get better lawyers and sue them again. Forget the venues and start playing in back-yards. Then you’d be cool again.