Really only pertinent to the "big" shows, but still an interesting read...
From http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/6-reasons-why-its-so-hard-to-buy-concert-tickets
"Maybe this has happened to you: You get excited about a concert, and make a point of visiting Ticketmaster just as tickets are about to go on sale. You click to purchase on the very moment the sale begins, but you discover moments later that the show is already sold out. You're crushed, and resign yourself to either not seeing the show or paying through the nose on the secondary market. You curse the heavens, or at least Ticketmaster. You wonder why this happens and how you can avoid getting shut out in the future.
Sad to say, but unless you have some serious connections, there's really not much you can do to get around this problem without throwing down serious cash. The concert industry is a rather unforgiving market that thrives when high demand coincides with scarcity, and there are many forces competing to either acquire tickets or maximize the profits made off those tickets.
Tickets for hot shows are allotted for various guest lists, credit card presale promotions, and fan club presales before the general sale, and in some cases, a majority of the tickets are long gone before regular fans get a crack at buying tickets. And then you have to contend with scalpers! It's almost impossible...."
Here's the highlighted list:
From http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/6-reasons-why-its-so-hard-to-buy-concert-tickets
"Maybe this has happened to you: You get excited about a concert, and make a point of visiting Ticketmaster just as tickets are about to go on sale. You click to purchase on the very moment the sale begins, but you discover moments later that the show is already sold out. You're crushed, and resign yourself to either not seeing the show or paying through the nose on the secondary market. You curse the heavens, or at least Ticketmaster. You wonder why this happens and how you can avoid getting shut out in the future.
Sad to say, but unless you have some serious connections, there's really not much you can do to get around this problem without throwing down serious cash. The concert industry is a rather unforgiving market that thrives when high demand coincides with scarcity, and there are many forces competing to either acquire tickets or maximize the profits made off those tickets.
Tickets for hot shows are allotted for various guest lists, credit card presale promotions, and fan club presales before the general sale, and in some cases, a majority of the tickets are long gone before regular fans get a crack at buying tickets. And then you have to contend with scalpers! It's almost impossible...."
Here's the highlighted list:
- Credit card presales can take a huge bite out of the pie.
- Tickets get reserved for the artist's fan club.
- Many artists scalp their own tickets.
- Oh, and then there's guest list and VIP.
- Once tickets go on sale to the general public, you sometimes have to compete with scalper bots.
- If you beat the odds and score tickets, you get slammed with inflated service fees.
