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mtarascio t1_jcnyu8d wrote

He didn't convince anyone.

The current media climate made it the right thing to do for Ticketmaster in this time and space.

Without anything fundamentally changing it'll be back to status quo in a week.

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Fuzzy-Butterscotch86 t1_jcoz4ut wrote

I look at it like this, while Blink 182 and Tayler Swift sat on their hands telling fans they were just as upset as they were with the pricing fiasco, ultimately they did nothing to fix it.

And while I agree the current media climate is why Ticuntmaster made this move, if Robert Smith could step up and get fans some kind of recompense Blink 182 and Tayler Swift could've absolutely used the same public outrage to call bullshit, put their foot down, and at the very least slightly improve things for their fans.

Smith absolutely deserves the pat on the back he's getting. Even if he doesn't change shit permanently.

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moneyfish t1_jcp4w0u wrote

I was a massive blink 182 fan until I saw them charging $750 for pit tickets where I live. They don’t even pretend to give a fuck about their fans. Fuck em.

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justinsimoni t1_jcpn0t3 wrote

I played a festival with Blink 182. Back area had a catered lunch. They refused to sit with everyone else. It was kinda crazy - there's Iggy Pop, there's all the guys from Rancid, but Blink 182 took some sort of second story all for themselves. More deviled eggs for me, I guess.

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I spent the entire night in our tour bus to make sure our stuff wouldn't get stolen, as it rained through the night. We barely got out what with all the mud. I couldn't imagine it was all that fun for general admission to have camped.

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justinsimoni t1_jcpnqmn wrote

I am also waiting for the, "Sure, Grandpa" comments I've absolutely set myself up for.

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ThreeHolePunch t1_jctrle0 wrote

Sounds like Blink 182 recognized they weren't cool enough to share a space with Iggy and Rancid.

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Superdickeater t1_jcpa4ff wrote

I don’t think the artists themselves have as much control over the price of the tickets at their show as one might think.

Record companies and music venues tend to take a majority of the profits from record and ticket sales. They might seem like they have a lot of money, but imo that’s due to the pennies they get from those millions of sales eventually adding up for them over the years. Typically musicians make a majority of any profit on merchandise.

To put into perspective- Travis Barker’s net worth is approximately $40m. Jimmy Page’s net worth is approximately $180m. Gene Simmons’ net worth is approximately $400m.

And as we all know, Gene Simmons merchandised the hell out of Kiss.

That’s not to say $40m isn’t a helluva lot of money, but there’s a lot we think an artist has control over that they really don’t. They might pitch an idea, but then that has to go through a plethora of other boards of directors, financial and PR advisors, and so on and so forth.

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walter-wallcarpeting t1_jcofgne wrote

I think the aim here is exposure though. People in the US are being screwed and it needs more people like him to shine light on the system for it to be overhauled or regulated. Better than doing nothing at all.

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revdre t1_jcohtlr wrote

Imagine if an artist like Taylor Swift actually stood up to TM too… Instead, she just shrugged while banking all that extra, demand pricing money. Robert Smith is a hero and an ally to fans everywhere.

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h4ms4ndwich11 t1_jcphcci wrote

She was born rich. Rich people don't usually bite the hand that feeds because they're part of the game and understand the goal is hoarding money.

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che-che-chester t1_jcpxvfo wrote

Swift and a bunch of her buddies who have the biggest tours need to get together and say they're not using TM. Of course, they might lose a little money and maybe couldn't even play some cities if there isn't a large non-TM venue.

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GrannysPartyMerkin t1_jcyl0fd wrote

She’s an airhead, she doesn’t care.

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che-che-chester t1_jczqei9 wrote

I think she does a lot of things to help the overall artist community but they don't really cost her anything. If anything, they improve her reputation by standing up for others. And with things like pushing back against payments from steaming services, she stood to gain as much if not more than other artists.

The real test is whether she is willing to do things that might cost her money or make her life more difficult. I'm guessing the answer is no.

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Mbaker1201 t1_jcp0mwm wrote

I tried to buy 2 $64.00 tickets online yesterday to a show @ St Augustine Amphitheater with Ticketmaster. Total after fees was $353.00. Ummmm, nope.

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Tentapuss t1_jcp3n9w wrote

Crazy. Meanwhile I bought 3 $45 tickets on AXS, which Silversun Pickups are using, and paid less than $10 in fees per ticket.

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Jackattack736 t1_jcq6xpe wrote

Yeah AXS usually isn't too bad. Just bought Silversun Pickups tickets too! $12 in fees on a $35 ticket. My only gripe is that pre-pandemic the ticket price was usually $25 per ticket at this venue but I can't complain too much

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Tentapuss t1_jcqgbrf wrote

Very excited. I haven’t seen them since before the pandemic and they always put on a good show.

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WelcomingRapier t1_jcq6ypj wrote

I do love me some AXS venues.

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Tentapuss t1_jcqgiw5 wrote

This is my first time, but I’m with you. The app is slow as hell, but I’ll take that over Ticketmaster’s fees.

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SteelCityIrish t1_jcnz4j4 wrote

Boys… Don’t… Cry… for Ticketmaster. 😆

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chum_slice t1_jcqxkvp wrote

Misjudged your limit

Pushed you too far

Took you for granted

Thought that you needed me more, more, more!

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w0lfmancer t1_jcob8p6 wrote

A legend with class. Truly a rarity.

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JeGezicht t1_jcoezhr wrote

Don’t you just wanna stand closer to him? Good human.

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DukeOfGeek t1_jcocipu wrote

Now if he could just convince them not to be a huge illegal monopoly that operates in full view of everyone, that would be great.

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hitman2218 t1_jcnyzcc wrote

We know we’re screwing you but here’s 5 bucks back as a gesture of goodwill. 😏

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surrender903 t1_jcp7qdi wrote

Good on him. I wonder if he wrote a letter to Elise about this ;)

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vestigialcranium t1_jcpqte3 wrote

I'm impressed he's living up to his band's name in a way

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Paddlesons t1_jconyx1 wrote

Question, does the band pay for the venue or does Ticketmaster cover that when you use them? I seem to remember seeing a "Facilities" fee on the receipt for the tickets of around $40.

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te-ah-tim-eh t1_jcpcagw wrote

John Oliver did a recent episode on Ticketmaster which was fairly illuminating. You can find it on YouTube.

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CarjackerWilley t1_jcpe13l wrote

Typically a promoter books the venue and the band and they will take a percentage of ticket sales after the band and record label get a set amount. I think live Nation is the promoter who is part of Ticketmaster. I also think that the promoter is the one that sets the price maybe in collaboration with the artist.

So for instance, if I was the promoter of a small concert, it might look something like me saying that I'll give them $4,000 to come play and they'll get 70% of backend ticket sales. Which would mean that I as the promoter would then take 30% of whatever's left over after that stuff. I would also be the one paying for the venue and typically would be the one that's doing the advertising also.

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Kowabung_hole t1_jcpakr9 wrote

So like, can we do this for every concert??

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ArugulaZ t1_jcqzb7i wrote

...then grows to ten times his original size and fights Leonard Maltin through the streets, just to seal the deal.

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imrealwitch t1_jcqze1m wrote

I've been a fan of his, since the early 80's.

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jigokubi t1_jcrjhtz wrote

"I'll rochambeau you for it."

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DaftDisguise t1_jcr3irf wrote

Can someone please ELI5:

Why don’t artists just cut out the middle man (Ticketmaster) and do a direct sale? Assuming the venues have contracts with the middle man? Total BS.

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Billy_Likes_Music t1_jctcs7y wrote

This is why I go to smaller band shows. Saw 284 different bands last year. Fees averaged about $3 if there was a fee at all.

Fuck Ticket bastard. I still go to some of their shows but there are other options for my entertainment dollar.

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bebejeebies t1_jd58v2n wrote

Don't see Morrisey doing anything useful, the wanker.

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[deleted] t1_jcpaw2s wrote

[removed]

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tokes_4_DE t1_jcphsq4 wrote

Have you looked into this story at all? These tickets were all priced at 20 dollars.... and then the fees added up to more than the ticket price. The band in this case (unlike many of the cases youre referring to) arent the bad guys here.

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ConscientiousObserv t1_jcpvoke wrote

"...well documented..."

I don't think so. Care to provide a source?

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[deleted] t1_jcrhdfy wrote

[removed]

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ConscientiousObserv t1_jcrtxks wrote

Well, that certainly is an eye-opener.

Feel more fortunate than ever that I've never enjoyed live concerts anyway.

Thanks for the edification!

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Time-Guess6600 t1_jcpfirn wrote

People need to understand that the point of ticketmaster is to take the heat for high concert prices. That $150 ticket with $150 in fees? That's really a $300 ticket. The artists and concert promoters don't want the greedy optics of charging that kind of money. So they play the "good guys" and only charge their $150 for the Ticket. Then Ticketmaster intentionally plays the bad guy and picks up the other $150.

The money goes to the same place in the end, it's just that Ticketmaster takes the heat off the artist for charging $300 a ticket. Keeps the fans happy.

You're supposed to get mad at them, that's the point of their existence.

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girlfreddyf t1_jcq0ad4 wrote

I take it you hold a shit-ton of Live Nation Entertainment stock.

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[deleted] t1_jco2jw3 wrote

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jigokubi t1_jcrjtt7 wrote

When I was in high school, I had a big poster of Robert Smith that I left on the piece of carboard it came with. My friend got behind it and added his own hand to the poster and said, "Beating myself is just like heaven."

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Plonsky2 t1_jcny4vx wrote

See? He's not just a total twat.

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livingfortheliquid t1_jcnxcea wrote

Being a newbie to the music business I understand how Bobby wouldn't know how terrible ticketmaster is. Hopefully on his second your he'll take care of this shit before tickets go on sale.

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[deleted] t1_jcnzeip wrote

[deleted]

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tokes_4_DE t1_jcpi6l6 wrote

These tickets were all listed at only 20 dollars, stop trying to make these guys out to be the bad guys. Ticketmasters fees added up to more than the tickets themselves, which the bands have zero control over those fees. Dont even listen to the cure but getting their fans back like half the extra fees they spent (which the band sees 0 dollars from those fees) is a good thing.

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