Just before Covid hit, I purchased concert tickets on Ticketmaster. The band cancelled, but instead of sending a refund, TM said they'd honor tickets for the next time the band plays at that location. I've moved across the country since then and wanted to get a refund, but they literally don't have any way of contacting them. The band just scheduled a replacement tour, but of course, they didn't book the same venue, so it's going to be years until they book the same place and I can do anything to get a refund or replacement tickets. This is such a scam because they know everyone's going to forget about it. It doesn't even show that you purchased the tickets on your account either.
I am sorry to hear that but certainly not suprised. You will need to direct your request to the event organizer for a refund timeframe even though it will be processed through Ticketmaster. Things got whacked during Covid because the event organizer did not perform a cancel but rather did a postpone with no date set.
@@Krysdavar You could definitely crank up a king-hell Class Action Suit, considering how many people bought tickets for a venue of that size. And if it sets a precedent...ohhh yeahhhh, now the fun begins.
I was watching the recent congressional hearing, and I must say it was immensely satisfying watching a rare moment in American politics where both hardline democrats and republicans were equally ripping Ticketmaster CEOs a new one. So nice to see.
And then, as the theme to the Twilight Zone started playing, a republican was like, “hey look over there, an illegal immigrant!” And a democrat replied: “no, look over there, a domestic terrorist!” And the Ceo of Ticketmaster breathed a sigh of relief.
@@WhiskeyPatriot right! He pulled the old Mr. Burns trick…”Oh look, some careless person has left thousands of dollars just lying here on my coffee table! Now, why don’t I leave the room, and hopefully when I return, the pile of money will be gone!”
Ticketmaster is not just any monopoly. They are “The monopoly” The fact that they have been able to consistently get away with it for decades should just go to show you how much political power they must have. Short of the artists, ticketmaster controls every aspect of that industry .
In many cases, Ticketmaster (via their parent company, Live Nation, which is still linked in many ways to former owner iHeartRadio) also owns or manages the venue for non-sporting events. SeatGeek has been making inroads, but there are some venues who went to SeatGeek only to go back to Ticketmaster.
When you talk about greedy corporations, Ticketmaster should always be at the top of the list. They're a monopoly, plain and simple, and they need to be broken up.
Unfortunately, this is true but they way they skate passed legal implications is that there are hundreds of tiny companies that scrape by using their same tactics. Comedy show in Ann Arbor? Indie punk show in SLC? They proved the business model works and let the titan stay in power. Billie Eillish in an arena in Buffalo? $275 and $35 in "convenience chargers" go to Ticketmaster. The "convenience" of have to wait in line while every old head has to tell drunken kids how to pull up the QR code on their telephone. When I was a kid, we went to the venue and waited in line for paper tickets that couldn't get scalped online.
@@TonyPombo Problem is that even the most genuine politicians give in to the lobbyists. But bring up the idea of making lobbying illegal, well the people who benefit from it get up in arms. And people believe that a form of payment for policies will always be present in government, so it is at least better to keep it out in the open. I can't really think of a solution that would realistically work
@@TonyPombo The only way to not elect politicians like that, is to not vote at all. Voting for this or that party is the same kind of choice as "Do I want to get hit on the head with a wood or aluminum bat?" The smart choice is No Bat.
Most of the artists who use Ticketmaster are not artists who interest me. There are exceptions, and those artists don't get money from me because I have a 99% refusal to give money to Ticketmaster.
It is a monopoly, and its business model is completely illegal. That's the short answer. Don't expect any of our useless politicians to do anything about it though.
@@palermoVmusic I like primarily alternative rock, and I have been going to venues and seeing shows in different decades (80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and I haven't seen that reality materialize. I'm not saying you're wrong or that it's impossible, but it has it been my reality. One thing that makes your statement bone-chilling is the conformity of the millennials and generation z
Ticketmaster is literally the textbook definition of a monopoly. It’s insane that they’ve been able to continue their stranglehold of the entertainment industry for so long
Last year, they oversold tickets to a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City. Thousands of people's tickets were denied entry because the spot was already taken by someone else who bought it. It was awful because many people traveled from far away to see him. The Mexican government later forced Ticketmaster to refund the oversold tickets, plus give a 30% compensation.
Finally someone standing up to Ticketmaster!! Probably because it made their tourism look bad and it’s a major industry, plus general concern for their attending citizens being out hundreds of dollars during economic instability.
I will never forget that Live Nation killed the drum tech for Radiohead at a show in Toronto because of negligence. A little hush money here, a little payola there, a BS apology and it all goes away. I make genuine efforts to avoid both these companies but yes, the monopoly is real
Ticketmaster is literally one of the biggest reasons that I just don't go to shows. I can get a better experience by watching artists on youtube - the sound is just as good, the beer is much cheaper, and I don't have to give money to Ticketmaster.
And you can drink as much as you want without worrying if you're safe to drive. I buy tickets for local plays & concerts though. They don't use Ticketmaster. Since we're near Chicago, the entertainment is great, yet less money & you can sit up close.
? your second sentence is literally why you would not go to concerts. you have no experience with someone to share with so you'll spend time with one hand on pants
Ticketmaster is literally the reason I never go to concerts or major events. It’s inexcusable how they can turn a 20 dollar ticket into a 50 dollar ticket
Ticketmaster started demanding fees when our ticket staff did their job at home games. They didn’t use Ticketmaster to process these. Tickets went from $8 to $25 for the upper deck with no value added. This is for junior hockey. Corporate greed is killing lower levels.
Wow. I really do hate them. They’re a monopoly at this point. It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to speak with a human representative. I was trying to get refunded on a show where the date changed 3 times, AND the venue changed causing my floor seats to become bowl seats. Not even a partial refund was given to me nor was I ever able to speak to a representative from Ticketmaster. Now that they have become involved with Live Nation, it seems like the only was around them would be an artist who has the financial means somehow create their own method of distributing their concert tickets. The only one I can think of in 2023 in terms of means would be Taylor Swift, who should absolutely want to with the absolute disaster that happened during her presale. Ticketmaster is a total joke. Keep making great videos!
Right? Or you could just call them up on the phone and use your credit card to buy immediately. I used to get tickets mailed to me and still have them. Now everything is hundreds of dollars in fees and you just scan a shitty QR Code on your phone.
I remember the Pearl Jam thing, and even back then most people knew it would fail. Ticketmaster was already seen as an unstoppable entity back then. Even if we didn't know the specifics of why, it was something you were just aware of.
Yep. Didn't get to see Pearl Jam until 1998 due to the ticketmaster fight. But I was firmly in the band's corner and respected them for trying to fight the man.
Tried to get tickets for Depeche Mode recently on Ticketmaster. Their system is absolutely horrible and it crashed after I finally got two seats together in my cart. After getting back in I could only find reseller tickets at a very high markup. They are a monopoly that should be broken up.
so resellers suddenly will give up? break up nvidia, amd, sony at this because resellers were setting high markup for hardware as well. if anything, the fact that you could see the seats means they prevent scripts from buying out within seconds whole avenue
I got early access (day before) for the most recent Depeche Mode tour (San Antonio) just wanted two tickets. Got in for fan presale, queue moved along, added tickets to cart for like $129 each by the time I clicked over to checkout the price had adjusted in the cart to $319. I sh*t thee not literally added at one price to have it adjust on checkout to another price. That is the "dynamic pricing model" where demand alters actual price. Of course the official ticket sale happens the next day and what was left is sold out then 48 hours later you can go back and see more seats available why? Because Ticketmaster allows you to sell your tickets back at a higher price and they take a cut from that too in addition to the fees paid for them on the initial purchase. It is unfreakingbelievable so I am done and sticking to just supporting smaller venues and less known bands. The music is there and the artist and venues are grateful, not greedy and very good. RIP Fletch - May 26, 2002 :(
One thing I really hate is how they will never give refunds unless the performer died. I've had an event get rescheduled to a date I was going to be unavailable (vacation planned) and could not get a refund. They sell insurance for this reason, but sometimes that costs just as much as the ticket.
There’s a concert venue near where I live. If you want to reselling tickets you HAVE to sell it through their personal website (they check identification before you enter). And can NOT sell them above their original price. I WISH that was standard everywhere
This is legit the most monopoly business I have ever seen. If a band wants to play a concert, they HAVE to use Ticketmaster otherwise no venue will allow you to play
I buy a ticket at face value plus their stupid service fee… i decide to resell my ticket and get charged a fee for selling my ticket… the new buyer gets charged a service fee for the ticket i was selling… technically ticket master gets 3 service charge fees for the same ticket
PolyMatter's video on this was phenomenal. Ticketmaster's customer is the venue. Not you, not the artist, the venue. And part of the service they provide is taking flak for expensive tickets off the venue and shouldering it themselves.
In my experience, the only way to avoid TicketMaster is to go see bands at small venues before they make it big. The small venues are generally not promoting by TM.
"It's pretty obvious that TM has politicians in their pocket." I suspect most politicians simply don't care because they don't have any reason to care. I doubt it effects them personally. I don't imagine Congressmen attend many concerts or sporting events, and when they do it's probably comp tickets, usually as the guest of somebody rich. And I doubt they get many constituents writing in asking for Ticketmaster's monopoly to be broken up because voters are concerned with too many bigger issues.
@@jliller They have a lot of influence over elected officials. Politician's do not represent the citizens in their area. They only care about the people who pay for the campaign to get them elected. In the US people spend millions of dollars to win a job that pays thousands per year. 90% of the money that each candidate spends to become elected comes from giant corporation's like Ticketmaster. After a congressman or senator retires they always take a consulting job with the corporation that paid for their campaign's. Those consulting jobs pay a massive amount of money for no work. So, Yes I believe that politician's in the USA are bought and sold.
Every business has the politicians in their pockets. Why do you think there are PAC's, lobbyists and "donations". And those are just the "legal" forms of bribery.
Back in the day, i used them to go to a bunch of concerts and apparently they charged so many extra fees that someone sued. There was a settlement and anyone that bought tickets within a certain time frame got a certain amount of free tickets vouchers and a bunch of credits that could be used towards concert tickets of your choice. The amounts were small and you couldn't use them all on one ticket, it was dumb. The vouchers were even worst cuz you could only use them on this special site they set up and they picked what concerts would go in there. Can you imagine that none of them were ever good concerts and the vouchers expired so you had to use them in a certain time frame. It was stupid. I ended up using one for a crappy concert that i kind of was interested but it turned out to be a bust cuz it was of a concert band but with a different singer so i left early and didn't bother with the rest of the vouchers. Which I'm sure was what they wanted from the beginning. So on top of all the shit they have done, this is why they hold a special spot in hell for me.
I remember this vividly. Avid show goer and I was only able to use like 5 dollars worth of vouchers or something stupid. I go out of my way to get tickets at the box office now (even if it is a venue owned by Livenation).
@@3rdcoastmarauder I actually started doing that when I can but some shows that's not an option. I hope someone steps in and makes them change cuz they sure won't do it on their own.
I worked in a department store that had a Ticketmaster kiosk that I would sell tickets out of. Back then, Ticketmaster was disliked, but not really hated like it is today. The fees were annoying, but not that bad. This was back in 2006-2011. I do remember the hatred growing toward the later years, though.
Those retail outlets didnt charge the "order processing fee" so it was slightly cheaper than ordering online and over the phone. Walmart even tested touch screen kiosks in their stores as well, printing ticket stubs onto litteral receipt paper. This was in 2012 and didnt last long. In 2017 I went to their retail outlet at my local mall for the last time to buy concert tickets to show about 100 miles away from home. They charged me an additional $5 distance fee per ticket because I lived outside the market and they claimed the fee was to prevent people from scalping the tickets. Soon after that they got rid of all retail outlets and phone sales. They used to charge no fees for events that were meant for charity as well. That policy has changed right before the pandemic as well. Now I only use ticketmaster when I have to buy tickets to an event I will no will sell out on the first day, or if it would be truly inconvenient for me to travel to the venue to pick up a face value ticket. Ticketmasters resale ticket fees I have noticed lately have been less than stubhub and their prices are slightly lower than stubhub about 90% of the time. Nicest thing about Ticketmaster is since they run/own most of the ticketing at most venues, they have their own app and their own portal. Tickets cannot be counterfeit anymore because they are sent into your account and the barcodes rotate.
@@mathewlee5712 There usually wasn't a line. If there was, it was generally only 5-10 people. Except Elton John - he sold out so quickly my store only got through a couple customers. He ended up booking another show the following night. Both lines went out the door.
What really sucks now is you can’t even escape the fees by going straight to the venue to buy tickets anymore because they’re an “authorized Ticketmaster location” 😡🤬
Yea, that used to make me rage back in the later 90s/early 2000s when it started happening. It's so bad it even happens in some cities local scenes. Makes me lose respect and have no desire to go to those venues that do that
ive bought tickets to see various different bands this year and last year, whenever a smaller show isnt using ticketmaster, its like a sigh of relief because of how much cheaper it will be
Thanks for listening to your viewers, Company Man!! I saw someone mentioned Ticketmaster the other day, it had an overwhelming number of likes, and I'm really glad you pulled through!
Tech guy here. I work for a FAANG company. Since the cloud there is no reason ANY website should crash due to traffic. Its like dying from scurvy while owning a orange farm.
For the 2nd or 3rd Paradiso Festival to have been held, the website said there were a select few cities with a retailer or two that had been given a small amount of tickets to sell to in-person customers, and highly encouraged us to “avoid Ticketmaster fees” if we could. I happened to live in one of those cities, and the morning they went on sale, my boss let me leave work so I could go get my ticket after I called and the retailer said they were already almost all gone. I got the second to last ticket, and it was the cheapest multi-day festival ticket I ever purchased.
I remember Ticketmaster lost a class action lawsuit several years ago. Didn't hear much about it on the news, but my ex wife got a bunch of vouchers for tickets as part of the settlement.
A year or 2 ago, my girlfriend was super excited about a Metallica concert coming to town.. She looked at the tickets and they were $100. She almost bought them, but realized it was being played on a screen at the drive in theater, where tickets are normally $7.50. FU Ticket Master and Metallica!
Their fees are too high and never transparent on what they are really used for. It also creates a false advertising, bait and switch feel. When tickets are advertised as low as, say $40, but then get $30 in fees tacked on. Fees need to be included or ridden of. Like how they removed fees from airfares.
100%, because as someone who's been a life long Pro Wrestling fan who used to go to just about any of the big matches(WWF/WCW/NWA) in the 80's, and 90's when they came to my area, Ticketmaster has just about killed it for me, and my family with all the hidden fees, when we can stay home, and watch it streaming live for far cheaper, and without the other hassles of a live event.
@@malcorub Exactly. They want you to commit to the low price and then put a time machine that ticks away before they sell it to someone else.They don't want you to spend too much time realizing you've been ripped and cancel and that the ticket is of immense value.
Van Halen made a deal during their 2007 Reunion tour with scalpers to release tickets and then resell them with scalpers and split the profits, that started a terrible trend
The last event I went to was supposedly sold out, yet a third of the seats remained empty. All I could figure was that those seats were bought up by resellers, and no one was willing to pay the ridiculously high price.
That happened when I went to see The Wall by Roger Waters at United Center in Chicago in September 2010. A third of the seats were empty. I found out about it only a few days before, and couldn't figure out how to order a ticket. Since I didn't have six years to get a Master's in Computer Programming, and I wouldn't have anyway just to get a goddam concert ticket, I called a friend, who said it was sold out. I went to United Center on Show Night anyway, to see if the ticket window had any because of cancellations or whatnot, and when I was six people away, two guys walked up and started offering two tickets to anyone who wanted them, for $25. Their friends had had an emergency, and couldn't make it. Not only was it what I wanted, but it was exactly half price, so I nailed one. I was sitting with them, in the fifth row from the top, way in the back, having a cool time. They got up to get beers, and offered to buy me one. A minute later, they were calling to me from 20 rows down, to my right. So I went over and they were with this chick who had seen them come down from our spot, and offered to upgrade their tickets. She explained that she was a producer of the forthcoming The Wall DVD set, and they wanted to fill in some empty seats lower down, so there wouldn't be a bunch of empty seats on the video. I said "That makes sense. How much extra does it cost?" "Nothing. Just give me your ticket, and I'll give you a new one." "Hell, fair enough." She thought we were together, which by then we kinda were. We got beers and made our way to our new seats...in the fourth row, stage left, literally Seats 5, 6, and 7 from the stage. Later, the friend I'd called to help me get tickets, found out that these would've been $200 tickets. I got mine for $25.
I recently looked at the NFC Championship game (NFL, precursor to the Superbowl). Minutes before the game started there were literally hundreds of tickets, average price maybe $1500. I'm guessing it's all bots but I don't understand why they wouldn't just firesale everything in the last few minutes, to get *something* rather than nothing, especially when the app doesn't even allow you to turn up after a certain time has passed.
@@CalvinsWorldNews I had the same question about PS5s. I couldn’t understand why after so many years, the PS5 is still incredibly difficult to purchased at MSRP. Why is there still a shortage? Well my husband explained to me that the people who buy them for resell are STILL buying them for resale. If they stop, and allow retailers to actually sell them directly to consumers, then no one is going to pay double or triple for theirs. So they keep buying to ensure that the supply remains low. The real question is how much money do these scalpers actually make if their profits are constantly being used to purchase stock that won’t sell.
@@UmmYeahOk My local Wal-Mart has had like 15 PS5's for over 3 months now. The days of rare PS5's are dead, you just aren't looking for them. I mean Jesus that Wal-Mart is packed af with the parking lot always full, I guarantee you they aren't some hidden gem lol. I heard from the electronics guys there that some guy actually broke into the case to steal 5 of the PS5's, but a cop was in the store and he got tackled. The case is still broken so now they just have a sign saying "We have 12 PS5's left for purchase".
I want to support my favorite bands in person and see them live, as many of my friends that go to concerts often have talked about how good of a showman one artist was over another, but the pricing has always been so ridiculous that I could buy the band's merch, a physical copy of their album, and a pretty good set of headphones to listen to it with, for the same price. Its so unfortunate
This is a great video! Ticketmaster has been getting hate since they first started in the 80s. It seems that every time an artist releases tickets, controversy starts up. what amazes me is that through all the hate and controversies, they stay at the top. I would love to see a video about their business models and what their social media staff does to keep their social media presence good.
One of the things that ticked me off was when a neighboring town decided to throw a concert festival. It was the 50th anniversary of their Texas Pop Music Festival (think Woodstock). You couldn’t just go to the town hall and buy your ticket, or buy them at a local retailer. You had to buy them through Ticketmaster, and pay the fees. The venue? A flat golf course, that resembled a pasture land that had recently been mowed. $35 fee just to see a local concert at some po dunk Texas village. I bet more people would’ve attended had people not been forced to go through Ticketmaster.
Yep I have seen that before and this will increase as venues sign contracts with Ticketmaster year to year or multiple years. Then it becomes a default who any event that uses the venue. That is where they are at now further saturating within mid-size and smaller venues.
@@harpergroup I just kept wondering what they would have done in 1969, when they had the first one (this 50th anniversary was the second). Would they not just charge people at the gate? Another local town that has a bigger tourism department has a website that sells tickets to various city sponsored events. I understand that they don’t have enough reason to invest in a similar site, but they could’ve handled it for them, or just have locals buy tickets at town hall. I don’t see why it would have been that difficult to do.
@@harpergroup yeah, I don’t understand that. One of the local radio stations sponsored it, so they were the ones promoting it. As for a turnkey transaction solutions in regards to Texas school football games, the elementary school my daughter goes to was trying to get families to attend the high school football game. Being an alumni of that school, I was confused as to why they no longer sell tickets at the office or at the event, and the only way to attend was the very way you mentioned. The last game I went to was in 2010 as part of a reunion. We paid at the gate. It wasn’t an issue. The Internet existed back then. Most people had smart phones and apps. I’d rather give the fees to the school. We already pay $10k+ a year in taxes to the school district. They can’t have students sell tickets? They literally have them going door to door to sell other crap for the booster club. They could man the booths like they did in the past. It just doesn’t seem to benefit anyone. Like local food apps. Instead of placing an order by calling them up yourself, you order online. The company you order from then calls up the restaurant and places the order for you. You have to wait for your food 10 minutes longer, and the restaurant pays a fee to the 3rd party who placed the order for you. But they wouldn’t have any other way to order online if they didn’t go through them. Thankfully they still allow you to order directly, unlike the schools or towns.
I’d love to see you cover Comcast as a hated company. Boy do I have some stories! To start, they tried to convince me not to buy my new house (which would result in terminating my service) by offering me 6 months of free landline service.😂 A service that I already spent years turning down, as if that would be worth not buying a home even if I used the service. I have several more, but that one is just insane and hilarious.
The Ozzy/Judas Priest "No More Tours" concerts were sold in September 2018,after a health cancelation, another one,Covid cancelation and finally scheduled for 2023,the tour was canceled today.Ticketmaster is finally refunding tickets to people. The number of people who died or no longer have their method of purchase must be in the 10,000s.
I’m surprised Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been allowed to integrate so fully. In 1948, the Hollywood movie studios were forced to divest their movie theaters. This seems like a similar situation of the same company providing both the venue and the performance.
Monopolies in itself are not illegal in the USA. A monopoly that uses anti competitive practices is illegal. Ticketmaster's competition (Comcast Tickets(yes the same people as the cable company and AXS Tickets) have similar convenience charges, some operate and own venues just like Ticketmaster's Live nation, and AXS also runs a resale site for where they handle first hand sales just like ticketmaster. Those resale sites compete with Stubhub who have similar convenience charges for buyers and sales. Since the practices of these companies are similar even though Ticketmaster is a whale and Comcast and AXS Tickets are minows, this is why the courts rule in their favor.
If you want to add salt to the wound, the insurance company they use, doesn’t let you cancel tickets for pandemic purposes. I had to lie in a claim to get my money back.
I used to work at Allianz processing refunds, the bulk of my work was refunding ticketmaster ticket insurance that they add to the price when you buy a ticket online, so yeah i get why they are hated.
I witnessed the transition when they went from competing to our ticket overlords. One year I could get tickets at a decent price and the next it was well north of $100 for almost any band. The fact is they basically own the primary and secondary markets and at a glance it appears that they purposely withhold tickets to sell on the secondary market or "sell" the tickets to themselves to sell on the secondary market. Honestly they are the main reason I don't go to concerts anymore.
Back in 2019, I purchased concert tickets from Ticketmaster and of course, the concert got delayed due to covid and they never notified me when the concert changed dates AND location and I missed the concert and was never able to get a refund.
Do you know why those guys are hated? It's simple they should not be allowing resell scalper prices. When a show is overpriced they don't do anything about it. They also advertise prices for the event but then charge outrageous amounts of fees which they just line their pockets with.
Surely, they are effectively a monopoly. I bought concert tickets last year for the first time in about 20 years and I was scarred. Verified Fan presale *after* stadium season ticket holder sales, dynamic pricing, TM double dipping fees for buyers and sellers. I am still bitter. I remember when we could still buy tickets from the venue directly. Dang I'm old.
Yep. I member' actually standing in line at the box office to buy tickets for concerts too. $10 concert T-Shirts $10-15 tickets for decent seats. And they wonder why live shows don't sell anymore?
I tried getting tickets to that Taylor Swift concert because my fiancé wanted to go, and they sold out on pre-sale. Like, how does that even happen? Isn’t pre-sale supposed to only be for a limited amount of tickets so that there’s still some left when regular sales start? Whole situation was pretty messed up.
When I was young Ticket Master was the only way you got tickets and people would be camped out in a line even for multiple days to get tickets to an event that would be sold out. It's crazy thinking back to what was just normal before the internet. I'm very thankful that I was an 80s baby and got to experience it all. I really do miss what imo was better times!
I recently used ticket master for the first time and the biggest complaint I have from them is the fact that they charged a convenience fee per ticket. I bought 5 tickets and the convenience fee was horrible. It added like an extra 250
I remember going out of my way to avoid paying a “convenience fee” from them. I figured if they were going to charge me for the convenience of shopping from home I’d just drive down to the venue, not convenient. Went to pay and was still charged a convenience fee along with all the other fees. I think we may need to change the legal definition of a monopoly. There are too many companies that don’t meet the legal definition of a monopoly, Amazon, but have obvious bully power
Ticketmaster has said multiple times in court that they don't mind being called ticket bastard. They do the dirty business that artists don't want to because it angers fans, it's part of the business model. For all the complaints from the artists, the only people who could actually change things if they united and truly wanted to, they still take the money.
I hate how they are making it basically impossible for anyone even with alot of money to get tickets because the resell prices have been going up in the double digit thousands. They even encourage resellers to scalp tickets on their website. I even discovered they even hold a reselling con to teach resellers how to resell tickets on their website and sell you the software to be able to mass bulk tickets to resell. They aren't even hiding it that ticket master is reselling their own tickets buying tickets away from fans and fans who are busting their asses to afford tickets and that's not including traveling and hotel costs. Kpop fans have been complaining with how ridiculous this has gotten in the last few years and it's been all over the internet but it wasn't taken seriously until an a very well known American pop star fans suffers paying what other fans have been complaining about.
Ticket price is insane right now, since they are able to scalp tickets on their own website! Ridiculous! Impossible to attend major concerts when they are all 200+ usd
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."
I remember ticketron. I stopped going to concerts over 30 years ago because of the Rip Off fees on a ticket. Other people just accept getting Ripped off and that is their free choice. And Rip off master has probably contributed to lot of politicians. So Rip off Master wins.
Ticketmaster has earned the most hated company in the world. I just bought tickets to Les Miserables. Tickets were $239.00 each. At checkout there were $105.00 in taxes and junk fees. I wanted to go a different night but because there weren't many seats still available the price per ticket jumped from $239 to $569. In today's world venues should run their own ticket sales. In 2023 it's done on line and Ticketmaster is an unnecessary middle man!
I recall one moment in the early oughts when I went to the box office of my favorite venue to get tickets to see some emo band. I would always buy from the box office since I went to college close by, and it wasn't an issue to get them direct from the venue, then grab coffee or something. It was also cheaper and I didn't need to deal with Ticketmaster's online BS. Then one day they suddenly started charging the same exact online "convenience fees" for picking up a ticket directly from the venue. Said they were told by Ticketmaster that from earlier that month they were required to charge the same fees as online for every ticket sold physically at their box office. When I said that made no sense because Im physically there to buy the ticket, manager said it was the new policy and I can take it or leave it. I left it. Never went back to that venue. And in some weird schadenfreude, that policy caused the venue to shut down because its core demo of college students and high school kids decided they didn't want to spend 30% more to get kicked in the face. Six months of under-attended shows, and they were gone. Ended up becoming a kickass dive bar with a stage that charged at-door only $10 for shows.
I have a connection with almost every video you produce …. My ex father in law was an IT guy for Ticketmaster back in the late ‘90’s, was a great job. Sometime before ‘00 they downsized and let him go, he was devastated. I’m pretty sure he’d get us tickets too, but I was never a concert guy, so wasn’t very often. Thanks!
I use to work for Ticketmaster back in high school in 95-96. It was cool to work except for those super busy days when it was a major concert or event like Disney On Ice. The service fees weren’t too bad back then, but they already kind of had a monopoly.
This is what happens when we "trust companies to police themselves" because we cannot possibly have the government put laws in place because that would be "bad for companies." We NEED regulation on businesses. They make billions and only take advantage of everything they can without any regulation.
My rule when shopping for a ticket is to just double the price, that way you get an idea of the final cost. Hence why I only limit myself to 2 concerts per year in Dallas
Lol, the artist are the ones who are making you use Ticketmaster. If the artist use a different entertainment provider like AXS then you wouldn’t have to use Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is just better for the money than their competitors.
@@AllMustJump no, it’s not because the artist wants you to use them, it’s because the venues they want to perform at all have exclusive deals with Ticketmaster and in turn the artist is forced to use them
@@ilovevietnam9678 Thank you for repeating what I said. Artists choose to perform at venues where Ticketmaster is the primary ticket seller. There are many venues that don’t have exclusive deals with Ticketmaster.
@@AllMustJump yes, there are many venues without Ticketmaster, but the most desired venues that would attract the most audience are the ones associated with Ticketmaster. This is what they meant (I fail to remember the name but the band that testified in court) by “they can’t have a successful tour” without Ticketmaster. Think if the UFC wanted to host an event in NYC but didn’t want to use Madison square garden or any other Ticketmaster associated venues - no way would they find a big enough venue. Same goes for big name artists like Taylor Swift
And axs is just as bad. Same fees, same types of rules, same inability to avoid them or buy at venue, same need to use your phone. They arent ticketmaster but they follow the same model, and that is biggest problem overall i think
Honestly the sheer existence of ticketmaster, and my lack of millions of dollars has me chasing up and coming musicians so that I get those good prices.
Ticketmaster exists today to hide all those fees etc, and act as a scapegoat for the band/venue/promoter when actually a lot of those fees are dictated by the person ticketmaster is splitting with. The actual sale of tickets through a website would be a simple OTS software package and way more venues would implement this if they didn't need a scapegoat
My daughter was supposed to see BTS in May 2020. After the show was cancelled, she was given a "code" to use next time they came back. It was supposed to be for dedicated fans. She waited on line but the code never worked. The "bots" got their tickets. She just had a night of frustration and tears. The fiasco was somewhat remedied when she got a ticket to see the concert live streamed at the RUclips theater next door. Not exactly the same and it was still $80.
Both CompanyMan and iiluminatii understand my pain. I’ve only been to a handful of music concerts in my life but partially because of ticket master’s disgusting monopoly I stopped humoring the idea of attending even occasionally
I remember ticketron from back in the 80s. But I never had a bad experience with ticketmaster because I worked for a company that owned multiple venues & bought my tickets direct & haven't attended any events since leaving that job.
I was a sophomore in college when Pearl Jam went all out against Ticketmaster and they walked the walk by playing in venues not associated with TM. Almost 30 years gone by and nothing changed, TicketMaster even grew larger. Sad to say Pearl Jam gave up the fight and still selling out arenas using Ticketmaster.😢
I HATE Ticketmaster! Their fees almost double the cost of a ticket. What I really hate is you still get charged the service fees even if you go to the venue’s box office and purchase tickets in person, which wasn’t the case a few years ago.
I am a huge music fan and used to go to concerts all the times. It's just gotten way too expensive, especially with the BS fees Ticketmaster tacks on. I barely go anymore. It's depressing and disheartening seeing a show I would normally love to attend, but seeing the crazy ticket price and realizing it won't happen.
Ticketmaster sucks because god forbid something in life comes up… they don’t give af about you whatsoever. No refund, no credit, no nothing, you’re out of luck.
This is precisely why I have not attended a concert in many years. In fact, I will not even pay for music, since I can get it for free from numerous sources.
If ANY company deserves to be in the “Why They’re Hated” series, its Ticketmaster!
Surprised it wasn't Ubisoft. Though Ticketmaster does have a reason to be hated.
@@JonTheVGNerd hes already done Activision and EA on this series, Ubisoft would fit right in lol
@@stevenb891 Yeah, Ubisoft is the one company that shouldn't be overlooked. Especially with so many things wrong with Ubisoft over the years.
*Peta has joined the chat*
Yes, they suck!
Just before Covid hit, I purchased concert tickets on Ticketmaster. The band cancelled, but instead of sending a refund, TM said they'd honor tickets for the next time the band plays at that location. I've moved across the country since then and wanted to get a refund, but they literally don't have any way of contacting them. The band just scheduled a replacement tour, but of course, they didn't book the same venue, so it's going to be years until they book the same place and I can do anything to get a refund or replacement tickets. This is such a scam because they know everyone's going to forget about it. It doesn't even show that you purchased the tickets on your account either.
I am sorry to hear that but certainly not suprised. You will need to direct your request to the event organizer for a refund timeframe even though it will be processed through Ticketmaster. Things got whacked during Covid because the event organizer did not perform a cancel but rather did a postpone with no date set.
OMG! Happened to me too :((( DOWN WITH TICKETMASTER
I would take them to court, that's BS.
@@Krysdavar You could definitely crank up a king-hell Class Action Suit, considering how many people bought tickets for a venue of that size. And if it sets a precedent...ohhh yeahhhh, now the fun begins.
@@emilyadams3228 Exactly.
I was watching the recent congressional hearing, and I must say it was immensely satisfying watching a rare moment in American politics where both hardline democrats and republicans were equally ripping Ticketmaster CEOs a new one. So nice to see.
It may be hard to accept, but those public congressional hearings only exist so politicians can grandstand for soundbites. Nothing ever comes of them.
But did they actually do anything? Of course not. They're paid handsomely not to.
And then, as the theme to the Twilight Zone started playing, a republican was like, “hey look over there, an illegal immigrant!” And a democrat replied: “no, look over there, a domestic terrorist!” And the Ceo of Ticketmaster breathed a sigh of relief.
@@AlligatorArms while the CEO put cash in their pockets.
@@WhiskeyPatriot right! He pulled the old Mr. Burns trick…”Oh look, some careless person has left thousands of dollars just lying here on my coffee table! Now, why don’t I leave the room, and hopefully when I return, the pile of money will be gone!”
Ticketmaster is not just any monopoly. They are “The monopoly” The fact that they have been able to consistently get away with it for decades should just go to show you how much political power they must have. Short of the artists, ticketmaster controls every aspect of that industry .
I tried buying a Pittsburgh Penguins ticket through Seat Geek, guess where it took me after I selected my seat? That's right.... 😑
In many cases, Ticketmaster (via their parent company, Live Nation, which is still linked in many ways to former owner iHeartRadio) also owns or manages the venue for non-sporting events. SeatGeek has been making inroads, but there are some venues who went to SeatGeek only to go back to Ticketmaster.
Yup it just shows how corrupt this country is.
When you talk about greedy corporations, Ticketmaster should always be at the top of the list. They're a monopoly, plain and simple, and they need to be broken up.
Interesting 🤔
Unfortunately, this is true but they way they skate passed legal implications is that there are hundreds of tiny companies that scrape by using their same tactics. Comedy show in Ann Arbor? Indie punk show in SLC? They proved the business model works and let the titan stay in power. Billie Eillish in an arena in Buffalo? $275 and $35 in "convenience chargers" go to Ticketmaster. The "convenience" of have to wait in line while every old head has to tell drunken kids how to pull up the QR code on their telephone.
When I was a kid, we went to the venue and waited in line for paper tickets that couldn't get scalped online.
Americans hate abusive monopolies, but Americans keep electing politicians that refuse to protect consumers from then.
@@TonyPombo Problem is that even the most genuine politicians give in to the lobbyists. But bring up the idea of making lobbying illegal, well the people who benefit from it get up in arms. And people believe that a form of payment for policies will always be present in government, so it is at least better to keep it out in the open. I can't really think of a solution that would realistically work
@@TonyPombo The only way to not elect politicians like that, is to not vote at all.
Voting for this or that party is the same kind of choice as "Do I want to get hit on the head with a wood or aluminum bat?" The smart choice is No Bat.
Thanks so much for this. I attend a bunch of shows and Ticketmaster is definitely a monopoly. I don't see how it's not.
Most of the artists who use Ticketmaster are not artists who interest me. There are exceptions, and those artists don't get money from me because I have a 99% refusal to give money to Ticketmaster.
It is a monopoly, and its business model is completely illegal. That's the short answer. Don't expect any of our useless politicians to do anything about it though.
They own Ticketweb too. The only other company I can think of is AXS and only 2 venues here use them
@@Menstral well it seems as though even smaller bands/artists might be affected eventually. I hope not tho.
@@palermoVmusic I like primarily alternative rock, and I have been going to venues and seeing shows in different decades (80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and I haven't seen that reality materialize. I'm not saying you're wrong or that it's impossible, but it has it been my reality. One thing that makes your statement bone-chilling is the conformity of the millennials and generation z
Ticketmaster is literally the textbook definition of a monopoly. It’s insane that they’ve been able to continue their stranglehold of the entertainment industry for so long
Last year, they oversold tickets to a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City. Thousands of people's tickets were denied entry because the spot was already taken by someone else who bought it. It was awful because many people traveled from far away to see him. The Mexican government later forced Ticketmaster to refund the oversold tickets, plus give a 30% compensation.
Finally someone standing up to Ticketmaster!! Probably because it made their tourism look bad and it’s a major industry, plus general concern for their attending citizens being out hundreds of dollars during economic instability.
My Goodness smh
Awesome.
Is that what happened? I remember people posting pictures of the stadium which wasn't full and people saying they don't like him there.
Wait a minute…how is anyone allowed to oversell a concert? Unlike an airline, you don’t expect people to check in well before.
I will never forget that Live Nation killed the drum tech for Radiohead at a show in Toronto because of negligence. A little hush money here, a little payola there, a BS apology and it all goes away. I make genuine efforts to avoid both these companies but yes, the monopoly is real
Ticketmaster is literally one of the biggest reasons that I just don't go to shows. I can get a better experience by watching artists on youtube - the sound is just as good, the beer is much cheaper, and I don't have to give money to Ticketmaster.
No kidding. And the rare times I do go to shows are only for smaller venues that I can support directly without giving those parasites a cent.
And you can drink as much as you want without worrying if you're safe to drive. I buy tickets for local plays & concerts though. They don't use Ticketmaster. Since we're near Chicago, the entertainment is great, yet less money & you can sit up close.
Not to mention all the getting stampeded to death...
? your second sentence is literally why you would not go to concerts. you have no experience with someone to share with so you'll spend time with one hand on pants
Bro imagine saying that watching concert videos on RUclips is better than being there 😂 just admit you’re anti social
I purchased 2 tickets through them for a small venue show. $25 each, turned into $47 each after fees.
Ticketmaster is literally the reason I never go to concerts or major events. It’s inexcusable how they can turn a 20 dollar ticket into a 50 dollar ticket
Or a $100 ticket into a $350 ticket 😆 I’m in Australia so 🇦🇺 yay 🙄
Ticketmaster started demanding fees when our ticket staff did their job at home games. They didn’t use Ticketmaster to process these. Tickets went from $8 to $25 for the upper deck with no value added. This is for junior hockey. Corporate greed is killing lower levels.
Wow. I really do hate them. They’re a monopoly at this point. It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to speak with a human representative. I was trying to get refunded on a show where the date changed 3 times, AND the venue changed causing my floor seats to become bowl seats. Not even a partial refund was given to me nor was I ever able to speak to a representative from Ticketmaster. Now that they have become involved with Live Nation, it seems like the only was around them would be an artist who has the financial means somehow create their own method of distributing their concert tickets. The only one I can think of in 2023 in terms of means would be Taylor Swift, who should absolutely want to with the absolute disaster that happened during her presale. Ticketmaster is a total joke. Keep making great videos!
I miss the days when you could buy tickets directly from the venue.
Right? Or you could just call them up on the phone and use your credit card to buy immediately. I used to get tickets mailed to me and still have them. Now everything is hundreds of dollars in fees and you just scan a shitty QR Code on your phone.
@@mikaross4671 you can print your ticket if you want something to touch 😂
@@lopoa126 sometimes those print tickets don't register though. Pfft
@@lopoa126 no, thats not even a thing anymore. if you dont have a cell phone with data, youre pretty much SOL
Shows how often I buy tickets that I wasn't aware you couldn't do this anymore. >__>
Because of ticketmaster, I stopped going to big concerts. I try my best to support smaller bands.
Amen!
Am surprised this video is not 7 hours long.
I'm surprised ticketmaster isn't selling $500 tickets to watch it.
@@John_Locke_108 😂😂🤣😂🤣
Ticketmaster can suck it I wish they just go bankrupt and go out of business forever. Very hilarious tho
u forgot the I
I remember the Pearl Jam thing, and even back then most people knew it would fail. Ticketmaster was already seen as an unstoppable entity back then. Even if we didn't know the specifics of why, it was something you were just aware of.
Yep. Didn't get to see Pearl Jam until 1998 due to the ticketmaster fight. But I was firmly in the band's corner and respected them for trying to fight the man.
Tried to get tickets for Depeche Mode recently on Ticketmaster. Their system is absolutely horrible and it crashed after I finally got two seats together in my cart. After getting back in I could only find reseller tickets at a very high markup. They are a monopoly that should be broken up.
not only a monopoly but an outright mafia style scam
You break it up they will all just do the same thing because people will pay it. The only way to end these practices is to stop giving them money
so resellers suddenly will give up? break up nvidia, amd, sony at this because resellers were setting high markup for hardware as well. if anything, the fact that you could see the seats means they prevent scripts from buying out within seconds whole avenue
I got early access (day before) for the most recent Depeche Mode tour (San Antonio) just wanted two tickets. Got in for fan presale, queue moved along, added tickets to cart for like $129 each by the time I clicked over to checkout the price had adjusted in the cart to $319. I sh*t thee not literally added at one price to have it adjust on checkout to another price. That is the "dynamic pricing model" where demand alters actual price. Of course the official ticket sale happens the next day and what was left is sold out then 48 hours later you can go back and see more seats available why? Because Ticketmaster allows you to sell your tickets back at a higher price and they take a cut from that too in addition to the fees paid for them on the initial purchase. It is unfreakingbelievable so I am done and sticking to just supporting smaller venues and less known bands. The music is there and the artist and venues are grateful, not greedy and very good. RIP Fletch - May 26, 2002 :(
Enjoy the Silence.
One thing I really hate is how they will never give refunds unless the performer died. I've had an event get rescheduled to a date I was going to be unavailable (vacation planned) and could not get a refund. They sell insurance for this reason, but sometimes that costs just as much as the ticket.
I appreciate channels that want to educate its audience.
There’s a concert venue near where I live. If you want to reselling tickets you HAVE to sell it through their personal website (they check identification before you enter). And can NOT sell them above their original price. I WISH that was standard everywhere
Ticketmaster is both seller and reseller. How the hell is that not a strangle on the market? They collect fees twice on the same ticket
That’s what pisses me off the most. Charge a damn fee for your service but sell the damn tickets at face value.
This is legit the most monopoly business I have ever seen. If a band wants to play a concert, they HAVE to use Ticketmaster otherwise no venue will allow you to play
I buy a ticket at face value plus their stupid service fee… i decide to resell my ticket and get charged a fee for selling my ticket… the new buyer gets charged a service fee for the ticket i was selling… technically ticket master gets 3 service charge fees for the same ticket
That's because they make money selling tickets to scalpers, and make money again when the scalpers resell the same tickets. I absolutely HATE them
PolyMatter's video on this was phenomenal. Ticketmaster's customer is the venue. Not you, not the artist, the venue. And part of the service they provide is taking flak for expensive tickets off the venue and shouldering it themselves.
In my experience, the only way to avoid TicketMaster is to go see bands at small venues before they make it big. The small venues are generally not promoting by TM.
Theyve purchased most of the club sized venues in LA
Yup, it used t be that you could go the the ticket window of any stadium or arena to avoid the "convenience fees" but those days are long gone.
AXS is decent in my experience. I like indie bands so I dont have to deal with TM often
I remember when Pearl Jam went to war with Ticket Master. The evil monopoly won. It's pretty obvious that TM has politicians in their pocket.
"It's pretty obvious that TM has politicians in their pocket."
I suspect most politicians simply don't care because they don't have any reason to care. I doubt it effects them personally. I don't imagine Congressmen attend many concerts or sporting events, and when they do it's probably comp tickets, usually as the guest of somebody rich. And I doubt they get many constituents writing in asking for Ticketmaster's monopoly to be broken up because voters are concerned with too many bigger issues.
@@jliller They have a lot of influence over elected officials. Politician's do not represent the citizens in their area. They only care about the people who pay for the campaign to get them elected. In the US people spend millions of dollars to win a job that pays thousands per year. 90% of the money that each candidate spends to become elected comes from giant corporation's like Ticketmaster. After a congressman or senator retires they always take a consulting job with the corporation that paid for their campaign's. Those consulting jobs pay a massive amount of money for no work. So, Yes I believe that politician's in the USA are bought and sold.
Every business has the politicians in their pockets. Why do you think there are PAC's, lobbyists and "donations". And those are just the "legal" forms of bribery.
Back in the day, i used them to go to a bunch of concerts and apparently they charged so many extra fees that someone sued. There was a settlement and anyone that bought tickets within a certain time frame got a certain amount of free tickets vouchers and a bunch of credits that could be used towards concert tickets of your choice. The amounts were small and you couldn't use them all on one ticket, it was dumb. The vouchers were even worst cuz you could only use them on this special site they set up and they picked what concerts would go in there. Can you imagine that none of them were ever good concerts and the vouchers expired so you had to use them in a certain time frame. It was stupid. I ended up using one for a crappy concert that i kind of was interested but it turned out to be a bust cuz it was of a concert band but with a different singer so i left early and didn't bother with the rest of the vouchers. Which I'm sure was what they wanted from the beginning. So on top of all the shit they have done, this is why they hold a special spot in hell for me.
I remember this vividly. Avid show goer and I was only able to use like 5 dollars worth of vouchers or something stupid. I go out of my way to get tickets at the box office now (even if it is a venue owned by Livenation).
@@3rdcoastmarauder I actually started doing that when I can but some shows that's not an option. I hope someone steps in and makes them change cuz they sure won't do it on their own.
I worked in a department store that had a Ticketmaster kiosk that I would sell tickets out of. Back then, Ticketmaster was disliked, but not really hated like it is today. The fees were annoying, but not that bad. This was back in 2006-2011. I do remember the hatred growing toward the later years, though.
And Ticketmaster is going to be hated more in the following years...
Those retail outlets didnt charge the "order processing fee" so it was slightly cheaper than ordering online and over the phone. Walmart even tested touch screen kiosks in their stores as well, printing ticket stubs onto litteral receipt paper. This was in 2012 and didnt last long. In 2017 I went to their retail outlet at my local mall for the last time to buy concert tickets to show about 100 miles away from home. They charged me an additional $5 distance fee per ticket because I lived outside the market and they claimed the fee was to prevent people from scalping the tickets. Soon after that they got rid of all retail outlets and phone sales. They used to charge no fees for events that were meant for charity as well. That policy has changed right before the pandemic as well. Now I only use ticketmaster when I have to buy tickets to an event I will no will sell out on the first day, or if it would be truly inconvenient for me to travel to the venue to pick up a face value ticket. Ticketmasters resale ticket fees I have noticed lately have been less than stubhub and their prices are slightly lower than stubhub about 90% of the time. Nicest thing about Ticketmaster is since they run/own most of the ticketing at most venues, they have their own app and their own portal. Tickets cannot be counterfeit anymore because they are sent into your account and the barcodes rotate.
Were there a lot of scalpers fighting with fans in the lineup?
@@mathewlee5712 There usually wasn't a line. If there was, it was generally only 5-10 people. Except Elton John - he sold out so quickly my store only got through a couple customers. He ended up booking another show the following night. Both lines went out the door.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the random Ticket Master kiosks in the smelly dark corner of Macys store in the late 90s and early 00s.
What really sucks now is you can’t even escape the fees by going straight to the venue to buy tickets anymore because they’re an “authorized Ticketmaster location” 😡🤬
Wow, ik they sucked but THATS new level of hell worthy!
Yep. There's no escaping them.
Yea, that used to make me rage back in the later 90s/early 2000s when it started happening. It's so bad it even happens in some cities local scenes.
Makes me lose respect and have no desire to go to those venues that do that
@@therecalcitrantseditionist3613 I didn’t know it went back that far. It started at the venue by me about 4 years ago
It’s ridiculous when you end up paying fees that are half of what the ticket price is.
I agree they deserve the hate especially increasing ticket prices out of nowhere
When I went to buy a ticket listed at $72 the service fees and tax raised it up to over a hundred!
@@Bonavireand of course you dont see those fees until after you select the ticket and go through several other steps.
ive bought tickets to see various different bands this year and last year, whenever a smaller show isnt using ticketmaster, its like a sigh of relief because of how much cheaper it will be
Thanks for listening to your viewers, Company Man!! I saw someone mentioned Ticketmaster the other day, it had an overwhelming number of likes, and I'm really glad you pulled through!
Tech guy here. I work for a FAANG company. Since the cloud there is no reason ANY website should crash due to traffic. Its like dying from scurvy while owning a orange farm.
For the 2nd or 3rd Paradiso Festival to have been held, the website said there were a select few cities with a retailer or two that had been given a small amount of tickets to sell to in-person customers, and highly encouraged us to “avoid Ticketmaster fees” if we could. I happened to live in one of those cities, and the morning they went on sale, my boss let me leave work so I could go get my ticket after I called and the retailer said they were already almost all gone. I got the second to last ticket, and it was the cheapest multi-day festival ticket I ever purchased.
I remember Ticketmaster lost a class action lawsuit several years ago. Didn't hear much about it on the news, but my ex wife got a bunch of vouchers for tickets as part of the settlement.
They don't have competition, they need to be broken up. It's kind of an "End of the discussion" point for most people, but nobody will do anything
A year or 2 ago, my girlfriend was super excited about a Metallica concert coming to town.. She looked at the tickets and they were $100. She almost bought them, but realized it was being played on a screen at the drive in theater, where tickets are normally $7.50. FU Ticket Master and Metallica!
Don't blame Metallica. Ticketmaster is the real evil mastermind.
@@thevenom2731 metallica are famously anti consumer anyway
I think Metallica sucks
@@pphyjynx8217 really?
@@pphyjynx8217 damn, I didn't know that.
Their fees are too high and never transparent on what they are really used for. It also creates a false advertising, bait and switch feel. When tickets are advertised as low as, say $40, but then get $30 in fees tacked on.
Fees need to be included or ridden of. Like how they removed fees from airfares.
Agreed. Sick of there shit
100%, because as someone who's been a life long Pro Wrestling fan who used to go to just about any of the big matches(WWF/WCW/NWA) in the 80's, and 90's when they came to my area, Ticketmaster has just about killed it for me, and my family with all the hidden fees, when we can stay home, and watch it streaming live for far cheaper, and without the other hassles of a live event.
Right, just include the fee in the ticket price and hide it from the consumer. It would decrease the hate.
Ticket is 25 and processing fee is 12 and licence fee 3.50, and...on and on
@@malcorub Exactly. They want you to commit to the low price and then put a time machine that ticks away before they sell it to someone else.They don't want you to spend too much time realizing you've been ripped and cancel and that the ticket is of immense value.
Van Halen made a deal during their 2007 Reunion tour with scalpers to release tickets and then resell them with scalpers and split the profits, that started a terrible trend
The last event I went to was supposedly sold out, yet a third of the seats remained empty. All I could figure was that those seats were bought up by resellers, and no one was willing to pay the ridiculously high price.
That happens all the time these days. "Sold out" shows with 2/3 occupancy.
That happened when I went to see The Wall by Roger Waters at United Center in Chicago in September 2010. A third of the seats were empty.
I found out about it only a few days before, and couldn't figure out how to order a ticket. Since I didn't have six years to get a Master's in Computer Programming, and I wouldn't have anyway just to get a goddam concert ticket, I called a friend, who said it was sold out. I went to United Center on Show Night anyway, to see if the ticket window had any because of cancellations or whatnot, and when I was six people away, two guys walked up and started offering two tickets to anyone who wanted them, for $25. Their friends had had an emergency, and couldn't make it. Not only was it what I wanted, but it was exactly half price, so I nailed one.
I was sitting with them, in the fifth row from the top, way in the back, having a cool time. They got up to get beers, and offered to buy me one. A minute later, they were calling to me from 20 rows down, to my right. So I went over and they were with this chick who had seen them come down from our spot, and offered to upgrade their tickets. She explained that she was a producer of the forthcoming The Wall DVD set, and they wanted to fill in some empty seats lower down, so there wouldn't be a bunch of empty seats on the video. I said "That makes sense. How much extra does it cost?" "Nothing. Just give me your ticket, and I'll give you a new one." "Hell, fair enough." She thought we were together, which by then we kinda were. We got beers and made our way to our new seats...in the fourth row, stage left, literally Seats 5, 6, and 7 from the stage. Later, the friend I'd called to help me get tickets, found out that these would've been $200 tickets. I got mine for $25.
I recently looked at the NFC Championship game (NFL, precursor to the Superbowl). Minutes before the game started there were literally hundreds of tickets, average price maybe $1500. I'm guessing it's all bots but I don't understand why they wouldn't just firesale everything in the last few minutes, to get *something* rather than nothing, especially when the app doesn't even allow you to turn up after a certain time has passed.
@@CalvinsWorldNews I had the same question about PS5s. I couldn’t understand why after so many years, the PS5 is still incredibly difficult to purchased at MSRP. Why is there still a shortage? Well my husband explained to me that the people who buy them for resell are STILL buying them for resale. If they stop, and allow retailers to actually sell them directly to consumers, then no one is going to pay double or triple for theirs. So they keep buying to ensure that the supply remains low.
The real question is how much money do these scalpers actually make if their profits are constantly being used to purchase stock that won’t sell.
@@UmmYeahOk My local Wal-Mart has had like 15 PS5's for over 3 months now. The days of rare PS5's are dead, you just aren't looking for them. I mean Jesus that Wal-Mart is packed af with the parking lot always full, I guarantee you they aren't some hidden gem lol. I heard from the electronics guys there that some guy actually broke into the case to steal 5 of the PS5's, but a cop was in the store and he got tackled. The case is still broken so now they just have a sign saying "We have 12 PS5's left for purchase".
I want to support my favorite bands in person and see them live, as many of my friends that go to concerts often have talked about how good of a showman one artist was over another, but the pricing has always been so ridiculous that I could buy the band's merch, a physical copy of their album, and a pretty good set of headphones to listen to it with, for the same price. Its so unfortunate
The vitriol that coursed through my veins just readin their name is unreal. So glad you made this one🤝🏾
This is a great video! Ticketmaster has been getting hate since they first started in the 80s. It seems that every time an artist releases tickets, controversy starts up. what amazes me is that through all the hate and controversies, they stay at the top. I would love to see a video about their business models and what their social media staff does to keep their social media presence good.
One of the things that ticked me off was when a neighboring town decided to throw a concert festival. It was the 50th anniversary of their Texas Pop Music Festival (think Woodstock). You couldn’t just go to the town hall and buy your ticket, or buy them at a local retailer. You had to buy them through Ticketmaster, and pay the fees. The venue? A flat golf course, that resembled a pasture land that had recently been mowed. $35 fee just to see a local concert at some po dunk Texas village. I bet more people would’ve attended had people not been forced to go through Ticketmaster.
Yep I have seen that before and this will increase as venues sign contracts with Ticketmaster year to year or multiple years. Then it becomes a default who any event that uses the venue. That is where they are at now further saturating within mid-size and smaller venues.
@@harpergroup I just kept wondering what they would have done in 1969, when they had the first one (this 50th anniversary was the second). Would they not just charge people at the gate? Another local town that has a bigger tourism department has a website that sells tickets to various city sponsored events. I understand that they don’t have enough reason to invest in a similar site, but they could’ve handled it for them, or just have locals buy tickets at town hall. I don’t see why it would have been that difficult to do.
@@harpergroup yeah, I don’t understand that. One of the local radio stations sponsored it, so they were the ones promoting it.
As for a turnkey transaction solutions in regards to Texas school football games, the elementary school my daughter goes to was trying to get families to attend the high school football game. Being an alumni of that school, I was confused as to why they no longer sell tickets at the office or at the event, and the only way to attend was the very way you mentioned. The last game I went to was in 2010 as part of a reunion. We paid at the gate. It wasn’t an issue. The Internet existed back then. Most people had smart phones and apps. I’d rather give the fees to the school. We already pay $10k+ a year in taxes to the school district. They can’t have students sell tickets? They literally have them going door to door to sell other crap for the booster club. They could man the booths like they did in the past.
It just doesn’t seem to benefit anyone. Like local food apps. Instead of placing an order by calling them up yourself, you order online. The company you order from then calls up the restaurant and places the order for you. You have to wait for your food 10 minutes longer, and the restaurant pays a fee to the 3rd party who placed the order for you. But they wouldn’t have any other way to order online if they didn’t go through them. Thankfully they still allow you to order directly, unlike the schools or towns.
I’d love to see you cover Comcast as a hated company. Boy do I have some stories! To start, they tried to convince me not to buy my new house (which would result in terminating my service) by offering me 6 months of free landline service.😂
A service that I already spent years turning down, as if that would be worth not buying a home even if I used the service.
I have several more, but that one is just insane and hilarious.
He already did
The Ozzy/Judas Priest "No More Tours" concerts were sold in September 2018,after a health cancelation, another one,Covid cancelation and finally scheduled for 2023,the tour was canceled today.Ticketmaster is finally refunding tickets to people. The number of people who died or no longer have their method of purchase must be in the 10,000s.
Horrible. Of course they are going to profit from those people too.
Very good point!
Yeah, that's pretty messed up. The respectful thing to do would be donate those unrefundable profits to a children's hospital.
surely they will just use the card on file that isnt expired? or at least ask purchasers if thats what they want to do
YUP. Literally experienced this with a Justin Bieber show. Originally the date was in 2019, didn’t end up happening until 2022.
I’m surprised Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been allowed to integrate so fully. In 1948, the Hollywood movie studios were forced to divest their movie theaters. This seems like a similar situation of the same company providing both the venue and the performance.
You know the worst part of it all?
I still have to use it for touring broadway shows, conventions, etc.
I don’t understand how they are allowed to control a monopoly like that.
Monopolies in itself are not illegal in the USA. A monopoly that uses anti competitive practices is illegal. Ticketmaster's competition (Comcast Tickets(yes the same people as the cable company and AXS Tickets) have similar convenience charges, some operate and own venues just like Ticketmaster's Live nation, and AXS also runs a resale site for where they handle first hand sales just like ticketmaster. Those resale sites compete with Stubhub who have similar convenience charges for buyers and sales. Since the practices of these companies are similar even though Ticketmaster is a whale and Comcast and AXS Tickets are minows, this is why the courts rule in their favor.
If you want to add salt to the wound, the insurance company they use, doesn’t let you cancel tickets for pandemic purposes. I had to lie in a claim to get my money back.
Many times before I’ve bought two $20 lawn tickets to a concert and the total is come out to be just over 80 bucks. It’s crazy.
I used to work at Allianz processing refunds, the bulk of my work was refunding ticketmaster ticket insurance that they add to the price when you buy a ticket online, so yeah i get why they are hated.
I witnessed the transition when they went from competing to our ticket overlords. One year I could get tickets at a decent price and the next it was well north of $100 for almost any band. The fact is they basically own the primary and secondary markets and at a glance it appears that they purposely withhold tickets to sell on the secondary market or "sell" the tickets to themselves to sell on the secondary market. Honestly they are the main reason I don't go to concerts anymore.
The creator of this video may not have a personal grudge against Ticketmaster, but I certainly do.
Ticketmaster->Ticketslave
Back in 2019, I purchased concert tickets from Ticketmaster and of course, the concert got delayed due to covid and they never notified me when the concert changed dates AND location and I missed the concert and was never able to get a refund.
They are the reason why I don't go to concerts
Live Nation as a whole deserves a video. They are a monopoly that NEEDS to be broken up.
Do you know why those guys are hated? It's simple they should not be allowing resell scalper prices. When a show is overpriced they don't do anything about it. They also advertise prices for the event but then charge outrageous amounts of fees which they just line their pockets with.
Ticketmaster and their legal scalping of their own tickets earns them the top spot of the biggest scumbags on Earth.
Surely, they are effectively a monopoly. I bought concert tickets last year for the first time in about 20 years and I was scarred. Verified Fan presale *after* stadium season ticket holder sales, dynamic pricing, TM double dipping fees for buyers and sellers. I am still bitter. I remember when we could still buy tickets from the venue directly. Dang I'm old.
Yep. I member' actually standing in line at the box office to buy tickets for concerts too. $10 concert T-Shirts $10-15 tickets for decent seats. And they wonder why live shows don't sell anymore?
I tried getting tickets to that Taylor Swift concert because my fiancé wanted to go, and they sold out on pre-sale. Like, how does that even happen? Isn’t pre-sale supposed to only be for a limited amount of tickets so that there’s still some left when regular sales start? Whole situation was pretty messed up.
Video should have been called "Everybody Hates Ticketmaster."
John Oliver's in depth report on Ticketmaster was a classic!
When I was young Ticket Master was the only way you got tickets and people would be camped out in a line even for multiple days to get tickets to an event that would be sold out. It's crazy thinking back to what was just normal before the internet. I'm very thankful that I was an 80s baby and got to experience it all. I really do miss what imo was better times!
I recently used ticket master for the first time and the biggest complaint I have from them is the fact that they charged a convenience fee per ticket. I bought 5 tickets and the convenience fee was horrible. It added like an extra 250
I remember going out of my way to avoid paying a “convenience fee” from them. I figured if they were going to charge me for the convenience of shopping from home I’d just drive down to the venue, not convenient. Went to pay and was still charged a convenience fee along with all the other fees. I think we may need to change the legal definition of a monopoly. There are too many companies that don’t meet the legal definition of a monopoly, Amazon, but have obvious bully power
I really appreciate you Company Man!
Ticketmaster has said multiple times in court that they don't mind being called ticket bastard. They do the dirty business that artists don't want to because it angers fans, it's part of the business model. For all the complaints from the artists, the only people who could actually change things if they united and truly wanted to, they still take the money.
I hate how they are making it basically impossible for anyone even with alot of money to get tickets because the resell prices have been going up in the double digit thousands. They even encourage resellers to scalp tickets on their website. I even discovered they even hold a reselling con to teach resellers how to resell tickets on their website and sell you the software to be able to mass bulk tickets to resell. They aren't even hiding it that ticket master is reselling their own tickets buying tickets away from fans and fans who are busting their asses to afford tickets and that's not including traveling and hotel costs. Kpop fans have been complaining with how ridiculous this has gotten in the last few years and it's been all over the internet but it wasn't taken seriously until an a very well known American pop star fans suffers paying what other fans have been complaining about.
Great explanation on how this octopus spreads its tentacles. I was wondering how Live Nation figured into all this, and you nailed it.
The blink 182 reunion your tickets a few months back were outrageous. There were tickets going for $2000 for mediocre seats
Fuck. That.
I Definitely don't attend as many shows as I would because of Ticketmaster/LiveNation. I refuse to let them gouge me.
Somebody totally called this last week. I'm all for it. 👍🏿👍🏿
the fact that they charge a paperless ticket fee is ridiculous.
Ticket price is insane right now, since they are able to scalp tickets on their own website! Ridiculous!
Impossible to attend major concerts when they are all 200+ usd
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."
I remember ticketron. I stopped going to concerts over 30 years ago because of the Rip Off fees on a ticket. Other people just accept getting Ripped off and that is their free choice. And Rip off master has probably contributed to lot of politicians. So Rip off Master wins.
You should do a "The decline of party city" since they filed for bankruptcy a couple weeks ago!
Ticketmaster has earned the most hated company in the world. I just bought tickets to Les Miserables. Tickets were $239.00 each. At checkout there were $105.00 in taxes and junk fees. I wanted to go a different night but because there weren't many seats still available the price per ticket jumped from $239 to $569. In today's world venues should run their own ticket sales. In 2023 it's done on line and Ticketmaster is an unnecessary middle man!
I recall one moment in the early oughts when I went to the box office of my favorite venue to get tickets to see some emo band. I would always buy from the box office since I went to college close by, and it wasn't an issue to get them direct from the venue, then grab coffee or something. It was also cheaper and I didn't need to deal with Ticketmaster's online BS.
Then one day they suddenly started charging the same exact online "convenience fees" for picking up a ticket directly from the venue. Said they were told by Ticketmaster that from earlier that month they were required to charge the same fees as online for every ticket sold physically at their box office. When I said that made no sense because Im physically there to buy the ticket, manager said it was the new policy and I can take it or leave it.
I left it. Never went back to that venue. And in some weird schadenfreude, that policy caused the venue to shut down because its core demo of college students and high school kids decided they didn't want to spend 30% more to get kicked in the face. Six months of under-attended shows, and they were gone. Ended up becoming a kickass dive bar with a stage that charged at-door only $10 for shows.
I have a connection with almost every video you produce …. My ex father in law was an IT guy for Ticketmaster back in the late ‘90’s, was a great job. Sometime before ‘00 they downsized and let him go, he was devastated. I’m pretty sure he’d get us tickets too, but I was never a concert guy, so wasn’t very often. Thanks!
Mhmmm
I use to work for Ticketmaster back in high school in 95-96. It was cool to work except for those super busy days when it was a major concert or event like Disney On Ice. The service fees weren’t too bad back then, but they already kind of had a monopoly.
This is what happens when we "trust companies to police themselves" because we cannot possibly have the government put laws in place because that would be "bad for companies."
We NEED regulation on businesses. They make billions and only take advantage of everything they can without any regulation.
Thanks for sharing.
I have a feeling this is going to be one of your MOST popular videos to date.
Keep up the good work.
Need a Taylor Swift photo on the preview pic 😂
My rule when shopping for a ticket is to just double the price, that way you get an idea of the final cost. Hence why I only limit myself to 2 concerts per year in Dallas
Love your channel!! Keep it up!
i've been watching your vids since 2019 and you're intro is still the best. dont ever change it
What makes it worse is that we’re most often forced to use Ticketmaster.
Lol, the artist are the ones who are making you use Ticketmaster. If the artist use a different entertainment provider like AXS then you wouldn’t have to use Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is just better for the money than their competitors.
@@AllMustJump no, it’s not because the artist wants you to use them, it’s because the venues they want to perform at all have exclusive deals with Ticketmaster and in turn the artist is forced to use them
@@ilovevietnam9678 Thank you for repeating what I said. Artists choose to perform at venues where Ticketmaster is the primary ticket seller. There are many venues that don’t have exclusive deals with Ticketmaster.
@@AllMustJump yes, there are many venues without Ticketmaster, but the most desired venues that would attract the most audience are the ones associated with Ticketmaster. This is what they meant (I fail to remember the name but the band that testified in court) by “they can’t have a successful tour” without Ticketmaster. Think if the UFC wanted to host an event in NYC but didn’t want to use Madison square garden or any other Ticketmaster associated venues - no way would they find a big enough venue. Same goes for big name artists like Taylor Swift
And axs is just as bad. Same fees, same types of rules, same inability to avoid them or buy at venue, same need to use your phone. They arent ticketmaster but they follow the same model, and that is biggest problem overall i think
Honestly the sheer existence of ticketmaster, and my lack of millions of dollars has me chasing up and coming musicians so that I get those good prices.
Ticketmaster exists today to hide all those fees etc, and act as a scapegoat for the band/venue/promoter when actually a lot of those fees are dictated by the person ticketmaster is splitting with. The actual sale of tickets through a website would be a simple OTS software package and way more venues would implement this if they didn't need a scapegoat
My daughter was supposed to see BTS in May 2020. After the show was cancelled, she was given a "code" to use next time they came back. It was supposed to be for dedicated fans. She waited on line but the code never worked. The "bots" got their tickets. She just had a night of frustration and tears. The fiasco was somewhat remedied when she got a ticket to see the concert live streamed at the RUclips theater next door. Not exactly the same and it was still $80.
Both CompanyMan and iiluminatii understand my pain.
I’ve only been to a handful of music concerts in my life but partially because of ticket master’s disgusting monopoly I stopped humoring the idea of attending even occasionally
I remember ticketron from back in the 80s. But I never had a bad experience with ticketmaster because I worked for a company that owned multiple venues & bought my tickets direct & haven't attended any events since leaving that job.
Using their site must be one of the worst Costumer experiences I’ve ever had
It’s kinda scary just how accepted monopolies are compared to a few decades ago.
fr
I was a sophomore in college when Pearl Jam went all out against Ticketmaster and they walked the walk by playing in venues not associated with TM. Almost 30 years gone by and nothing changed, TicketMaster even grew larger. Sad to say Pearl Jam gave up the fight and still selling out arenas using Ticketmaster.😢
I HATE Ticketmaster! Their fees almost double the cost of a ticket. What I really hate is you still get charged the service fees even if you go to the venue’s box office and purchase tickets in person, which wasn’t the case a few years ago.
I am a huge music fan and used to go to concerts all the times. It's just gotten way too expensive, especially with the BS fees Ticketmaster tacks on. I barely go anymore. It's depressing and disheartening seeing a show I would normally love to attend, but seeing the crazy ticket price and realizing it won't happen.
The fees is always the dealbreaker for me with Ticketmaster. When the fees almost equal to another ticket purchase, I roll my eyes. So annoying.
Ticketmaster sucks because god forbid something in life comes up… they don’t give af about you whatsoever. No refund, no credit, no nothing, you’re out of luck.
You bought the ticket knowing this though. How you gonna complain about something you read and agreed to? This isn't why people hate them, js...
@@TheAbandonedAccount7 how are you going to say "this isnt why people hate them" when im telling you why I hate them... am I not also "people?"
This is precisely why I have not attended a concert in many years. In fact, I will not even pay for music, since I can get it for free from numerous sources.