Ticketmaster Auctions - Fans Shafted?

[textatemp]

If it wasn't enought for Cohen fans to pay the £300 - £600 ticketmaster are asking for each front block seat via their supposedly 'ticket exchange' facility, they are now auctioning all the front seats for the Manchester shows.

I say supposedly as the ticketmaster ticket exchange was set up for fans to sell their tickets, but ticketmaster are using this to sell off the front 5 rows at between £300 and £600 a seat.

The bidding starts from 12 noon tomorrow for the front seats for Manchester. A massive thank you to his many fans for 30 years of support.

[gingermop]

Leonard Cohen isn't 'shafting' anyone. These enterprises are part and parcel of the tour game, played by promoters and vendors the world over, and have nothing to do with him. He would have little power to stop it, believe it or not.

Gina

[textatemp]

I'm sure he has every power to have a say in fans being blatantly ripped off.

He just doesn't appear to care.

[Steve Wilcox]

yes textatemp - and Springsteen doesn't care, and U2 doesn't care, and The Police don't care and even HANNAH MONTANNA doesn't care. (Sarcasm)

Come on - it's called the music business for a reason - the artist gets paid a fixed amount by a promoter to appear and perform. That's their obligation and that's it. What the promoter does, what Ticketmaster does and what the theatres do is beyond the artist's control and frankly I suspect the artists don't visit ticket websites to see how it's going as it's not their business venture. The tour promoter, not the artist, takes the risk that anyone will even buy a ticket at all - and, hence, determines the price point. Imagine the artist trying to influence ticket prices and sale methods! - it would be interference in the promoter's business venture.

Actually, as one who got 5th, 7th and 10th row tickets to 3 Montreal shows (from Fredericton) because of the pre-sale available only through this fan-site - I feel anything but shafted.

Please change the name of this post - it's disrespectful.

[A.Sukitu]

Leonard Cohen's job is to sing at the concerts.
The ticket agency's job is to sell tickets; best tickets at ridiculous prices (as there is a market).
Don't shoot the songbird; the songbird sings within his own bars ...

[sicknote]

I find Ticketmaster's practice of auctioning good seats appalling. It's a step shy of turning up outside the venue and flogging tickets to punters on the night.

As to whether or not LC has a say in it, I wouldn't know but to suggest that the artist has no input into how the tickets are distributed seems a little naive. Tom Waits seems to be having a large hand in how the tickets are being distributed for his forthcoming US tour;

http://www.antilabelblog.com/?p=246

That being said Ticketmaster are involved and it remains to be seen as to whether or not the odious auctions appear when al the other seats are sold.

[textatemp]

yes textatemp - and Springsteen doesn't care, and U2 doesn't care, and The Police don't care and even HANNAH MONTANNA doesn't care. (Sarcasm)

Come on - it's called the music business for a reason - the artist gets paid a fixed amount by a promoter to appear and perform. That's their obligation and that's it. What the promoter does, what Ticketmaster does and what the theatres do is beyond the artist's control and frankly I suspect the artists don't visit ticket websites to see how it's going as it's not their business venture. The tour promoter, not the artist, takes the risk that anyone will even buy a ticket at all - and, hence, determines the price point. Imagine the artist trying to influence ticket prices and sale methods! - it would be interference in the promoter's business venture.

Actually, as one who got 5th, 7th and 10th row tickets to 3 Montreal shows (from Fredericton) because of the pre-sale available only through this fan-site - I feel anything but shafted.

Please change the name of this post - it's disrespectful.

None of the UK tickets for the last Police, U2 or Springsteen concerts were auctioned by ticketmaster or sold via their ticket exchange.

They have just introduced this in the last few months, after failing to persuade the UK government to outlaw ticket reselling.

Even worse, they are trying to portray through their 'ticket exchange' that the tickets are those of previous buyers.

This is totally not the case, as the Cohen tickets for the O2, appeared about 10 minutes after the general onsale and it was the first 3 rows in the front floor blocks. All of them. The remaining tickets are up for between £300 and £600.

And no I won't chnge the post title because you disagree. Cohen's fee would have reflected the current ticket prices and the strategy to sell in this way.

So he's involved in my book.

[jarkko]

Leonard has absolutely nothing to do with the ticket sales. The tour is managed and organized by AEG Live and its local partners, and Ticketmaster is the authorized seller.
Textatemp, aren't you the guy who "knew" that the Benicassim concert is going to be replaced by another London gig?

[Pete]

It's a very long time since Leonard performed in the UK. I bet this is as new to him as it is to the likes of me.
I'm now led to believe that Ticketmaster have a group of people who buy tickets for big events(and, I presume are fast tracked through the system) in order to then provide the tickets for ticket exchange.

I've just had a thought..... if these auction tickets don't sell then the seats will be empty. I suggest everyone moves forward 5 rows.

Pete

[textatemp]

Hey Jarkko

What happened to free speech.

I've made a very valid point and Cohen will have received a fee, reflective of what the promoter and ticket agents were planning.

He could easily step in and say that's it's unethical, charging people £75 with a £19 booking fee on top if extortionate to start with and now they're selling for £300 - £600 a ticket.

You amaze me. Someone say's something you don't like and you wipe it out. How do you know Cohen has nothing to do with this. He could be in on everything.

But no. You won't have anyone say anything about your precious Cohen.

On your question. No I didn't ay that about him cancelling Beni. I said that that was what i was told by someone. There's a difference. You know. Passing on a comment heard by someone else.

For the record, I'm pissed off that he's playing Beni as he's fucking shite. I was hoping we could get someone better.

But it looks like they've had to succumb to his financial demands.

[Steve Wilcox]

textatemp - I just realized you're correct - Leonard's in on it - he even admitted it, and I quote

"everybody knows the dice are loaded . . . . everybody knows the good guys lost . . . .
everybody knows the fight was fixed, the poor stay poor, the rich get rich, that's how it goes - everybody knows"

[NewZealander]

Hey Textatemp..Ive been reading your posts for the past few weeks and thought that you were trying to get LC to play in Spain ...now we also read what you really think of him and his music....I have to ask "why have you come here then?"

I cannot sit quietly here and see that kind of abuse occur without responding...You are rude and disrespectful!What you are saying about the man (whoever he is!) is verging on libel...

[ForYourSmile]

Yes, the questions are: who is and why is here. Of course he is someone of the business. In Benicàssim's topic he raised a false hypothesis. In my opinion he acts for revenge projecting bitterness, unfairly, against Cohen and his fans. An anonymous... edited .

He does not deserve any hospitality here.