How to Improve Concert Ticket Accessibility And Not Get Ripped Off

Concert-goers, especially fans of A-list artists like Taylor Swift, BTS, Beyoncé, and others, often find themselves in a frustrating battle when trying to purchase tickets for the hottest tours of the year. Events like Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” Beyoncé’s “Renaissance Tour,” and Drake’s “It’s All a Blur Tour” have fans clamoring for tickets. However, the ticket-buying process, marred by exorbitant costs, nonsensical service fees, and poor service, has left many feeling ripped off and disillusioned.

Ticketmaster, a dominant force in the ticketing industry, has come under scrutiny for its practices, especially since the return of live music post-lockdown. Demand for live music has surged, with Live Nation reporting a 24 percent increase in event attendance at the end of 2022 compared to 2019. However, this heightened demand has made it increasingly challenging for fans to secure tickets, with bots and resellers often gaining the upper hand. Despite initiatives like Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan, designed to combat bots, fans continue to face difficulties in accessing tickets.

In this article, we delve into the issues surrounding the current ticketing system, explore its roots, and propose practical solutions to make concert tickets more accessible for both fans and artists.

Ticketmaster’s Dominance: Is It a Monopoly?

The 2010 merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation raised concerns about monopolistic practices in the ticketing industry. Although Ticketmaster technically controls only 70 percent of the live event ticketing market, some, like Senator Amy Klobuchar, consider it a de facto monopoly. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “That’s the Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment,” Ticketmaster’s dominance came under scrutiny.

Comedian John Oliver dedicated an episode of “Last Week Tonight” to expose Ticketmaster’s exploitative tactics. He revealed how the platform often withholds a significant number of tickets from the general public, allowing resellers to purchase them and list them on various resale platforms, including Ticketmaster’s own platform, StubHub, and SeatGeek.

These practices have resulted in exorbitant ticket prices, with a 2020 Department of Justice memo indicating that professional resellers sold tickets at markups ranging from 75 percent to a staggering 7,000 percent over face value. Additionally, a 2019 study by Distil Networks found that bots accounted for 40 percent of traffic on ticket-buying platforms from September to December 2018.

While Ticketmaster introduced the Verified Fan process to give genuine fans a fair chance at securing tickets, the system still struggles to keep tickets out of the hands of resellers.

Ticketmaster to Show Full Ticket Pricing and Eliminate Hidden Fees

Prioritizing Fans in Live Event Ticketing: Solutions and Innovations

To prioritize fans and address the issue of resellers, various solutions can be explored:

1. Bot Prevention in Presales

Hype Commerce platforms like EQL, which effectively deter bots from high-demand sales, have been successfully employed in online retail sales. These tools could be adapted for ticket sales to manage website traffic and ensure that fans have a fair shot at purchasing tickets.

2. Leveraging Fan Engagement Data

Another option is to utilize data from social media, newsletters, websites, or music-streaming platforms to identify fans who consistently engage with an artist. These loyal fans could be granted priority access to ticket presales. Taylor Swift employed a similar strategy for her “Reputation” Tour in 2018, offering “boosts” to fans who watched videos or bought specific merchandise, enhancing their chances of securing tickets. However, for the Eras Tour, these boosts did not seem to significantly improve the ticket-buying experience.

3. Artist Intervention

Amid the ongoing issues with Ticketmaster, more artists are speaking out against the platform and taking steps to limit ticket resales. During the Ticketmaster congressional hearing, musician Clyde Lawerence testified that most artists had limited control over ticket pricing due to Ticketmaster’s influence. Lawerence alleged that Ticketmaster’s exorbitant fees, which artists had no say in, were a major concern.

Some artists have made concerted efforts to protect their fans. For example, Ed Sheeran announced that ticket resales for his 2023 Mathematics World Tour would only be available through verified resale platforms at face value. Sheeran’s team employed blockchain technology to combat bots and prevent tickets from being resold above face value. Maggie Rogers and her team took a more traditional approach by hosting in-person ticket sales for her Summer of ’23 Tour, even offering exclusive merchandise as an incentive for fans to buy tickets in person.

The Quest for a Fairer Ticketing System

Live music is a cherished experience for both fans and artists. However, the current ticketing system, as exemplified by Ticketmaster, often seems to prioritize profits over the needs of fans and artists. Despite ongoing efforts by lawmakers to make ticketing more equitable, including President Biden’s push to eliminate hidden fees across various sectors, artists and their teams hold significant leverage in effecting meaningful change in the industry.

Some artists have already taken steps to protect their fans, but it will likely require unity among the biggest artists in the industry to challenge the status quo. Similar to how actors and writers in Hollywood have used strikes to pressure major studios, musicians have the power to demand a fairer system from ticketing giants like Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. This collective effort can ensure that the magic of live music remains accessible to all fans.

In conclusion, the accessibility of concert tickets is a pressing issue that affects both fans and artists. While the current ticketing landscape presents challenges, innovative solutions and artist-driven initiatives can pave the way for a fairer and more fan-friendly ticketing system, ensuring that the joy of live music remains within reach for everyone.