Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

Just out of curiosity: what’s the point of Ticketmaster? Seriously. I just bought a ticket to see Ozomatli at the Fillmore this weekend (they’re playing 4 straight nights there: you should go.) and they tacked on not only a $8.30 “Convenience Charge,” but a $4.60 “Order Processing Charge” on the next screen. That turns a ticket that’s nominally $25 into $37.90.

I know I’m not the first person to be irked by this, but for the love of Pete, WHY? I understand their inclination to squeeze us for every last penny that they can–that’s how these things work–but what gets me is that venues use them in the first place. They’re just a leech. $14 a ticket? Maybe if you’re driving the ticket to my house, idling at the curb while I finish my snack, and then driving me to the show. But it’s a website: it processes a payment, and then relays the info to the venue. Some databases and a small credit-card fee. That costs pennies. Dimes, tops. Tell you what: two of my worthless drunkard friends and I will build a system that does that for $3.50 a ticket, the Fillmore can charge $7, pocket it for themselves instead of giving it to Ticketmaster, and concertgoers will still save $7.

The funny thing is, I don’t really mind paying around $40 for a concert ticket, especially to see a band as awesome as Ozomatli at a venue as cool as the Fillmore. If they just charged me one price and called it a day, I’d never be the wiser, and probably wouldn’t be writing this. But I do mind knowing that over a third of my ticket price is going to a corporation that hangs on, remora-like, to a group and a venue that I’m happy to support.

Not that the Fillmore, for all of its beauty and history, is run by a lovable bunch of ragtag promoters. The Fillmore is owned by LiveNation (née Bill Graham Presents) which recently spun off of ClearChannel, one of your more odious media conglomerates, and that’s the origin of this sweeheart deal. (I seem to be answering my own “why” question here…) Ticketmaster and Clear Channel go way back, and when LiveNation started they presumably saw no reason to change the arrangement that had kept them both in fine brandy, cigars, and baby-seal clubs.

So I guess this is my actual question: what can be done? This is a perfect example of the kind of consumer-unfriendly business practice that, were the slate wiped clean, wouldn’t stand a chance against the efficiencies that modern Internet commerce can provide. It’s a hangover from the old days, when they had to operate enormous phone systems, and have physical presences in Tower Records stores and malls across the country. We don’t need them anymore, but they’ve sunk their claws in and won’t go away.

Is there any way out?

Aram

UPDATE: A friend points out that as of last month, LiveNation may be looking to lower ticket prices and possibly ditch Ticketmaster all together. (If anyone can find a link to the actual LA Times interview, let me know–they seem to have a pretty poor archive system.)