Comments on: Should bands get a cut from concert tickets re-sold online? http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/ Entertainment behind the scenes Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:23:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Cynthia http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-486 Cynthia Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:15:14 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-486 Bands should receive what they ask for. Scalpers (and most of us believe they are the culprits here) should be taxed like folks making an honest living. The amount left from their endeavors will then be diminished and the criminal behavior no longer worth their while. Bands should receive what they ask for. Scalpers (and most of us believe they are the culprits here) should be taxed like folks making an honest living. The amount left from their endeavors will then be diminished and the criminal behavior no longer worth their while.

]]> By: Keith M Warwick http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-387 Keith M Warwick Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:10:45 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-387 Yes they should: tickets are not ruddy antiques! Well, not usually, anyway. Yes they should: tickets are not ruddy antiques!

Well, not usually, anyway.

]]> By: Vince http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-376 Vince Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:13:50 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-376 I seriously doubt that Led Zeppelin tickets sold for an AVERAGE of 7,500 pounds. That's ridiculous. I don't know how Seatwave calculated the average but I can tell you that most of the listings for Led Zeppelin passcodes on eBay before the O2 show were in the 1,000 to 2,500 pound range for a PAIR of tickets. I paid $1,300(about 650 pounds) for one ticket. Maybe they added in the amount paid by the guy who bought a pair of tickets at a charity auction for $170,000(or whatver it was)a couple of hundred times by mistake when they did their calculations. As to who should get a cut of these exhorbitant prices, I say nobody. Not the band, not the scalpers. I think it should be illegal to sell tickets for more than 2X or 3X their face value. It's obvious that demand will always be way ahead of supply for certain forms of entertainment including concerts by top bands. If bands didn't have a modicum of respect for their fans, they would just charge $2,000 a ticket for any high profile concert. Led Zeppelin could have. But they didn't. That's why they call scalpers or touts 'parasites'. They add nothing of value, they drive up prices and they make a profit. Remember, bands choose not to charge the maximum they could for concert tickets to keep them accessible to fans. I miss the days when you could show up at the ticket counter the day tickets went on sale and get good seats for $20-30 (actually, I remember when they were $8!) Now, you go online or to the ticket counter and three seconds after the tickets have gone on sale, the show is sold out or all the good seats are gone. This isn't free-market economics, it's fraud. Someone on the inside is obviously funneling tickets to the scalpers. That's why it's wrong. As a group, scalpers have a near monopoly on concert tickets and this is against the law, even in a capitalist society. I seriously doubt that Led Zeppelin tickets sold for an AVERAGE of 7,500 pounds. That’s ridiculous. I don’t know how Seatwave calculated the average but I can tell you that most of the listings for Led Zeppelin passcodes on eBay before the O2 show were in the 1,000 to 2,500 pound range for a PAIR of tickets. I paid $1,300(about 650 pounds) for one ticket. Maybe they added in the amount paid by the guy who bought a pair of tickets at a charity auction for $170,000(or whatver it was)a couple of hundred times by mistake when they did their calculations.

As to who should get a cut of these exhorbitant prices, I say nobody. Not the band, not the scalpers. I think it should be illegal to sell tickets for more than 2X or 3X their face value. It’s obvious that demand will always be way ahead of supply for certain forms of entertainment including concerts by top bands. If bands didn’t have a modicum of respect for their fans, they would just charge $2,000 a ticket for any high profile concert. Led Zeppelin could have. But they didn’t. That’s why they call scalpers or touts ‘parasites’. They add nothing of value, they drive up prices and they make a profit. Remember, bands choose not to charge the maximum they could for concert tickets to keep them accessible to fans. I miss the days when you could show up at the ticket counter the day tickets went on sale and get good seats for $20-30 (actually, I remember when they were $8!) Now, you go online or to the ticket counter and three seconds after the tickets have gone on sale, the show is sold out or all the good seats are gone. This isn’t free-market economics, it’s fraud. Someone on the inside is obviously funneling tickets to the scalpers. That’s why it’s wrong. As a group, scalpers have a near monopoly on concert tickets and this is against the law, even in a capitalist society.

]]> By: Adia James http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-375 Adia James Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:16:22 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/01/10/should-bands-get-a-cut-from-concert-tickets-re-sold-online/#comment-375 The tickets which were sold on Seatwave for the Led Zeppelin concert were for charity. Three pairs were donated by Jimmy Page and auctioned off for The ABC Trust. The tickets which were sold on Seatwave for the Led Zeppelin concert were for charity. Three pairs were donated by Jimmy Page and auctioned off for The ABC Trust.

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