It’s a media merger throw down! Ticketmaster merged with LiveNation because the thought of being able to buy tickets from more than one company apparently causes a breakdown in the fabric of spacetime. NBC is about to merge with Kabletown, wait, that sounds wrong, Xfinity, wait… Comcast, that’s it. [More]
ticketmaster
Ticketmaster CAPTCHA Editorializes On Late Night TV Wars
By 3.14.10
While looking at tickets for Conan O’Brien’s upcoming comedy tour, Aaron came across this strangely appropriate CAPTCHA. [More]
Scalpers Charged With Swarming Online Ticketers So You Couldn't See Hannah Montana
By 3.1.10
The feds charged four guys in Nevada with hitting online ticket sellers with tons of simultaneous requests, snapping up tickets and then scalping tickets to shows like Hannah Montana and Bruce Springstein. Their company, “Wiseguy Tickets,” hired a Bulgarian programmer to bumrush the sites of Ticketmaster, Livenation and MLB and outsmart their crappy CAPTCHA systems to grab up all the prime seats. Hm, I wonder what the first clue was for investigators… [More]
Ticketmaster Agrees To Only Sell Tickets It Has
By 2.19.10
Ticketmaster has settled with the FTC over charges that it used “deceptive bait-and-switch” tactics when selling concert tickets, reports the Los Angeles Times. As usual for this kind of settlement, Ticketmaster admits no wrongdoing. For instance, the FTC noted that in one case “the same set of 38 tickets for the Springsteen concert in Washington were sold and resold 1,600 times,” and Ticketmaster waited as long as three months to let affected customers know, which is a clear example of not doing anything wrong. [More]
Uncle Sam Cool With Live Nation/Ticketmaster Monopoly
By 1.26.10
The Justice Department ended months of a high-stakes, concert-dominating game of Mother May I by giving Live Nation and Ticketmaster the go-ahead to form a monolithic Voltron that will surely crush whatever life remains in the big-time live music scene. [More]
Speak Out Against Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger At TicketDisaster.org
By 12.17.09
Yesterday a bunch of consumer advocates and anti-trust people held a press conference on Capitol Hill and asked the Department of Justice to block the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger. If you, too, feel that this spells nothing but trouble for consumers–that a Ticketmaster-Live Nation monopoly would ruin competition and increase ticket prices–then check out the website TicketDisaster.org. From there, you can contact the DOJ to voice your opinion about the proposed merger, read up on reasons why the merger sucks for consumers and for the concert industry, and sign up for updates. (Thanks to JammingEcono!)
Update On Possible Comcast/Ticketmaster/Live Nation Abomination (With Poll)
By 11.18.09
After yesterday’s news that Comcast was considering getting in on the already-under-antitrust-scrutiny merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the original article has been updated to be slightly less bad.
Dear God: Comcast To Consider Partnering With Ticketmaster
By 11.17.09
When you read about the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, you might have thought to yourself, “Sure, this would be a merger between the world’s largest ticketing company and the largest concert promoter, but I think it could be more horrifying.” Comcast apparently agrees, as they’re considering getting in on the merger.
Forced To Call Ticketmaster Over 225 Times About Pee-Wee Herman Tickets
By 10.9.09
Ryan had a dream. Not an unreasonable dream for any fan: he wanted to see Pee-Wee Herman perform live. Many fans, including Ryan, were thrilled when a limited engagement of shows was announced in Los Angeles, and Ryan bought tickets and made plans to travel cross-country for the performance. Then the concert promoter and Ticketmaster stole his bike. Metaphorically. He says he attempted to call Ticketmaster over 225 times (the line was busy) and the Pee-Wee debacle still isn’t solved.
UK May Block Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger, Save Universe
By 10.8.09
While U.S. authorities are still trying to figure out whether letting the Godzilla and Megalon of ticket-selling join forces is a good thing, the U.K. has come to the rescue of concertgoers worldwide. The Competition Commission declared that the merger would “will limit the development of competition in the market for live music ticket retailing.”
Ticketmaster Mislabels Concert, Sells Music Fan Tickets To Wrong Show
By 9.14.09
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports a Minnesota music fan named Chris logged onto Ticketmaster hoping to buy tickets to a show for a band called the Teen Idols, but what he got were tickets to a show of actual former teen idols from way, way back in the day.
Rained-Out Concert Disaster Leads To Successful Chargeback
By 9.13.09
Ben wrote in a few weeks ago to share his successful chargeback after he and his girlfriend were rained out of one day of their three-day passes to the recent All Points West festival in New Jersey. His story raises questions about the definitions of the term “rain or shine.”
Ticketmaster Makes Ticket-Selling Falcons Fan Wait 10 Days For Funds
By 9.8.09
Jeremy sold his Atlanta Falcons game tickets through Ticketmaster, the NFL’s official ticket reseller. Ticketmaster’s FAQ say the money should have been deposited into his account within five business days, but it took longer than that, and Jeremy had to hold the ticketing monolith’s hand throughout the process and get an agent to manually authorize his payment.
Ticketmaster Pays $50,000 Fine, Closes More Than 100 Deceptive Site
By 6.30.09
Ticketmaster will pay a $50,000 fine and shutter more than 100 deceptive brokerage sites as part of a wide-reaching agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan’s office accused Ticketmaster’s always shady subsidy, TicketsNow, of creating sites that masqueraded as local venues selling tickets at face value. The settlement also requires TicketsNow to wait until after Ticketmaster puts non-sporting events on sale before hawking tickets at outrageously inflated prices.
Ticketmaster CEO Azoff On Scalping, Er, Dynamic Pricing
By 5.27.09
Having lost our Worst Company in America contest to AIG, Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff today accepted as his consolation prize an on-stage interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Kara Swisher at the annual D conference. A long-time talent manager, Azoff was introduced via video by Eagle Joe Walsh who joked that Azoff has “a beautiful house that we bought him.” Then things took a turn for the worse.
Worst Company In America FINAL FOUR: Ticketmaster VS AIG
By 5.4.09
A loathed entertainment monopoly? Or an economy-wrecking out-of-control insurance company? Which do you hate more?
Worst Company In America: FINAL FOUR
By 5.4.09
Here we go people: It’s the Final Countdown. Let’s hear it for the last four companies standing.
Ticketmaster Tries To Evade California Law By Calling "Gift Card" A "Discount Card"
By 5.3.09
See this gift card, the one that says “GIFT CARD” in big letters? Ticketmaster insists it’s really a “Discount Card,” and thus, not covered by the California law preventing gift cards from expiring.
