Episode 95: TicketsNowJob

Show Notes:
Recorded Wednesday, February 4 2009 (9:30 PM – 11:30 PM) at Zodiac Racquet Club, Southgate MI
    “With the tour dates confirmed and an unexpected Michigan date among them, the guys relate their latest ticket-buying adventures. Another volume in the unending multipart series, “Ticketmaster Sucks”. (Roger Clyne podcast starts at 40:45.)”

    01:58 – text of Springsteen’s letter to fans, via Ticket News.com
    03:34 – Tour Dates at Margaritaville.com
    03:37 – Jimmy’s Google Earth plugin info
    04:37 – “Yeah-yeah!” ©Schmoe
    07:17 – “Buffett Participates in Launch of Google Earth 5.0“, at Buffett News
    09:28 – “Pascrell Seeks Investigation Into Ticketmaster Business Practice“, at the Congressman’s website
    09:54 – Ticketmaster/TicketsNow FAQ page
    29:42 – see 09:28
    42:30 – The Railbenders
    As a bonus, here’s a bit of audio which was cut from the episode. It’s stuff we’ve talked about before, but Scott liked it.

    February 9 update: Senator Charles Shumer (NY) has joined Representative Pascrell (NJ) in calling for a probe of Ticketmaster, in the response to the Spingsteen tickets sale snafu. New Jersey’s attorney general says Ticketmaster may indeed have broken the law. And Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff avows to stop linking so blatantly to TicketsNow.

“This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans’ specific search request for primary ticket inventory,” writes Azoff, “but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale.”

A quick check of Ticketmaster’s site shows that scalped tickets are now located under a “Marketplace” tab.
    Coincidentally, Azoff is Buffett’s manager, and Azoff’s becoming CEO was part of selling his Front Line Management agency to Ticketmaster. Which means Buffett now literally works for Ticketmaster. And Ticketmaster can brag they have a direct relationship with top name artists, just like Live Nation does — a company Ticketmaster is currently attempting to merge with.
    Sigh.
    February 10 update: from this morning’s Detroit Free Press, “Names & Faces” column, “Life” section, 5C:

Ticketmaster gets a 15% cut from TicketsNow, according to the [above mentioned] complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles federal court. A New Jersey congressman called for a federal antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster’s sales practices. And attorneys general in Jersey and Connecticut are looking into the matter.
    Ticketmaster is accused of breaking Ontario laws that prohibit the resale of tickets at greater-than-face-value in a complaint filed Monday in Toronto. The suit seeks more than $400 million in damages.

    February 10 afternoon update: according to USA Today:

    The boards of Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment unanimously agreed on Monday to merge their companies — potentially creating a concert and live entertainment behemoth.
    In announcing the deal Tuesday morning the companies said they plan an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will be called Live Nation Entertainment.
    Under terms of the deal, Ticketmaster shareholders will receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. The companies estimated the value of the combined business at about $2.5 billion and said the deal will help them save about $40 million annually.

    Of particular note is this little gem: “the deal could end up benefiting concertgoers by giving the combined company more bargaining clout with artists, potentially reducing performers’ stakes in ticket sales and thus lowering ticket prices.”
    Erm, yeah. Right. Of course. We’re sure this whole cluster is engineered to drive down ticket prices. Based on past practices, why would we think otherwise?

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