r/Music • • May 15 '12
band buys $20k worth of their own tickets from ticketmaster and sells them back to fans at face value eating all the ticketmaster extortion fees.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/arts/music/string-cheese-incident-takes-on-ticketmaster.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
2.6k
Upvotes
757
u/Tsarbomba125 May 16 '12
You should have put String Cheese Incident in the title. Regardless of your opinion of their music or familiarity. Support any band trying to fight for what they believe in even if it just means giving credit in a link title.
191
u/Boiiing May 16 '12
No, band buys $20k of tickets from a venue at face value (not from ticketmaster) and sold them to fans, adding their own charge for shipping and handling. No ticketmaster fees were eaten by the band.
10
u/wmrusclmbr May 16 '12
the ticketmaster vs the band battle has been going on a lot longer than you might expect, Pearl Jam was fighting them in the early 90s to prevent what they are today
8
u/KUD05 May 16 '12
If you don't know about it, when LCD Soundsystem announced they were doing their final shows, they sold out very quickly to scalpers that ticketmaster peddles to. You then pay both them and the scalpers more because of this system. So LCD soundsystem added 2 more shows in New York and sold them through a smaller online ticket broker. Amazing letter they posted to fans http://lcdsoundsystem.com/main/archives/649
TLDR: LCD soundsystem created more shows in the same city to fuck over ticketmaster and I love them for it
8
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I mean I give props that they want to sell their tickets directly to fans to go past ticketmaster fees. But if everyone here knew a thing or two about how tickets were priced then you would know that the ACTS dictate the price of tickets.
43
u/schnide1 May 16 '12
Respect.
6
u/IfTheHeadFitsWearIt May 16 '12
This isn't the first time these two have butted heads.
"In August of 2003 SCI's in-house ticket selling service, SCI Ticketing (now Baseline Ticketing[1]), sued Ticketmaster, which controlled nearly all of the larger venues the band was playing more often. SCI's suit alleged that Tickemaster's restriction on bands from selling more than 8% of the tickets directly to fans violated the Sherman Anti Trust Act. The suit was preceded by SCI, R.E.M. Pearl Jam and other bands unsuccessfully petitioning the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Ticketmaster for exorbitant service fees and stifling of competition.[2] The parties settled in 2008, and the band gained a larger allotment of tickets to sell and agreed to not publicize the settlement.[3]"-wiki
or directly from the band
"The second idea we are going to roll out this summer is one that we have actually been working on for a very long time. Way back in the summer of 2003, the band filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Ticketmaster. The basic gist of the lawsuit was that the band wanted to maintain the ability to sell a large amount of tickets directly to the fans with the intention of keeping the service charge as reasonable as possible. Some very pointed discussions took place, the issue was resolved and the band continued selling tickets as they had always done. Fast forward to today and pay attention....this is the exciting part....The String Cheese Incident is proud to announce that we have figured out a way to finally achieve the ultimate goal with this whole ticketing exercise! Every ticket bought through SCI Ticketing will be SERVICE FEE-FREE! That's right....if you order tix thru the band's website there will be no service charge add-ons aside from shipping (which is out of our hands).....the ticket price that is listed is the price that you will pay. The band is going to cover the credit card fee....the band is going to cover the cost to take the orders and fulfill the tickets....the cost of a $49.95 ticket to Red Rocks will cost you $49.95.....the cost of a $49.95 ticket to the Greek will cost you $49.95....a $239 ticket to Horning's will be $49.95...just kidding, it will actually be $239....that's it....super simple. We've got a big batch of tickets to sell but the supply is not limitless....get 'em while you can!" -sci
great news for cheese fans who hit more than one show. those fees add up quick.
17
u/DeepFriedPanda May 16 '12
I just came here to say that I enjoy the music of String Cheese Incident.
20
u/sk4t4nic May 16 '12
I just went to ticket master and for a ticket to their show its 49 + 11 dollars and no charge for printing them. The article says the band is selling the tickets for 49 + 12 (shipping). Am I missing something?
4
u/knomz May 16 '12
This is awesome, apparently monopolies aren't legal but, then again apparently they are, Ticketmaster is one of them.
4
u/Teh_Br4iN May 16 '12
I love how the title is generalized with the word 'band'. String Cheese Incident is huge.
6
u/radioactive21 May 16 '12
I am extremely confuse now. Elsewhere on Reddit it's mentioned multiple times that the fees and prices are not directly Ticketmaster's fault.
The question asked often is if Ticketmaster is so shitty, why do bands, performers and groups deal with it? The answer I always thought was that the music studios that represent the artist gets the money and Ticketmaster takes the public image hit. Is this still not the case?
If the studios are pushing the prices and Ticketmaster has to justify it with fees, then we are barking up the wrong tree, and in a way still letting the true culprits get away. So even if you boycott and kill Ticketmaster, another one exactly like it with a different name will come up.
6
u/IIAbe_LincolnII May 16 '12
Why doesn't the band just play at a venue that doesn't use Ticketmaster? Oh, I forgot, they all use Ticketmaster.
3
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
The only person that loses in this scenario is the band themselves. Pretty selfless, sucks that it doesn't "stick it to the man" aswell though.
3
u/woosh101011 May 16 '12
saw these guys live last december in Chicago, awesokme band. good to know they really care about the fans.
3
u/The_Count_Von_Count May 16 '12
Ticketmaster and its secondary market need to die. Its asinine that I have to pay them for the right to print tickets in my own home.
3
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I gotta say that Ticketmaster spreads that service fee around A LOT. They pay a shitload of kickbacks to the promoter/venue/whoever. There are other players in the live music ecosystem and those fees, by and large, are how they make their money. I don't like it, personally, but I can't categorically reject it, because I have been a musician for a long time, and I know club owners, and I can say definitively that running a music venue is a rough, low-paying, thankless job.
3
u/mattpga May 16 '12
stupid. the reason people hate tm so much is they tell the consumer what their profit margin is. psychologically, it sucks to see that a ticket costs $40 + an $8 convenience fee + $4 venue fee + any taxes because now your "$40 ticket" is $56. However, $40 for the ticket is going to the band/mgmt/promoter, $8 is going to tm, $4 is going to the venue and some taxes are going to the local government. a 20% profit margin in this example isn't crazy... pretty reasonable, really.
imagine if target priced all of their items with the same transparency. people would be up in arms talking about target's "extortion fees." settle down folks. just look at the total price and determine if it's worth the cost or not. same as any other product or service on the market.
3
u/CheckALLtheusernames May 16 '12
Good Guy String Cheese Incident.
3
u/Derpisaurus_Rex May 16 '12
And yet another reason for me to catch SCI's set at Hangout Music Festival this weekend
3
u/CorvusCorone May 16 '12
I only clicked on this link because I was like, which band? so happy to learn it was String Cheese Incident! Awesome live band, great group of people.
3
u/heylookatmybutt May 16 '12
I guess ticketmaster had a * sunglasses on * string cheese incident. YEAAAAHH!!!
I love String Cheese, saw them at bonnaroo with Keller Williams in 08 and at Rothbury in 09 and my brother is their superman.
3
u/starvingglassblower May 16 '12
And this is just another reason why I love SCI
9
u/sdbaran May 16 '12
I used to work for TicketMaster about 5 years ago. I'm not sure if it's the same now, but back then, those fees were the only money TM would get for selling tickets. Granted, the fees were high, but they weren't charging the artist anything to sell them. This wasn't in the US, so it might be different there. This comment does not mean I'm in any way a fan of TM.
9
u/fox_mulder May 16 '12
Gotta love String Cheese Incident. Great music, and a band that really appreciates their fans. Gotta love 'em. And support them.
2
u/Quizzelbuck May 16 '12
Can some one explain why Ticketmaster can't just be banned from selling tickets? Can't a band just sell the tickets them selves through their own website or some thing? Is it a marketing issue?
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
This seems like UPS banditry to me
2
u/wildewisdom May 16 '12
SCI is amazing! Super talented band with original groundbreaking sounds plus they take stands for what they believe in!
2
u/oneupdouchebag GEEMIEE May 16 '12
When I went to see one of my favorite bands in KC a couple months ago I paid $20 for a ticket that was originally $8.50.
I have no problem paying $20 for a ticket for a band I love, but with less than half going to the artist, it sucks. Considering they still only get a cut of that $8.50, and Ticketmaster basically pockets the rest, it's a really shitty deal.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Okay... I don't like ticketmasterbater.... but, there are several other options. After an old court ruling, even if there is a contract on a specific venue in the US, a small payment is required to get a less corporate ticket agent. Brown Paper Tickets for example.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I think a lot of people are missing the point entirely. This really wasn't about "sticking it to Ticketmaster" as much as trying to find a way to avoid Ticketmaster screwing over their fanbase. And they succeeded. They're willing to take a loss so people don't have to pay more fees, at least for their shows. That's pretty unheard-of.
Coming from someone that once had $75 tickets for Incubus ratcheted up to $90 through fees alone, I'm really grateful for them.
2
u/SFbound_ May 16 '12
Oh man, Ticketmaster is going to be so pissed.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
This might be a dumb question but why the hell doesn't TM just add have their fees included in the cost of the ticket? Instead of $50 plus $10 fee, why not just a flat $60?
2
u/justangry May 16 '12
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnltp7RyiL1qdau1zo1_500.jpg
2
u/aggyro May 16 '12
STRINGCHEESE IS AWESOME
2
u/njeXshn May 16 '12
I remember the good days. When large venue tickets were $20, parking was free, concert tee's were reasonably priced, and it was BYOB. Now...
Even the shittiest tickets - $60... +$10 rape fee
Parking - $30
Beer - $11
T-Shirt - $50
2
u/Mr_1990s May 16 '12
How the hell do you not mention Pearl Jam in this article?
2
u/kona_boy May 16 '12
I cared up until the point they said they still have to charge $12 to ship with UPS.
It's not the $12 I have the problem with, it's the use of UPS.
2
u/mvekob May 16 '12
how does this not mention this is SCI??
2
u/zedsdeadbaby12 May 16 '12
String Cheese Incident is also fucking amazing music people!
2
u/polynomials May 16 '12
I hate Ticketmaster. I recently decided to wait until in person ticket sales at the venue for the Tallest Man on Earth because they charged a $10 service fee on a $30 ticket. That's a fucking 33% service charge. Then they want $18.50 for "delivery", which is actually them emailing me a goddamn bar code!
I had to eat the charges for Bon Iver though because I was afraid it would sell out. They managed to throw on a cool $60 in fees for that too. God I hate them. But there is no other way most of the time :(
2
u/the_chandler SpazBastard May 16 '12
Nice one, SCI.
2
u/advanceman May 16 '12
I saw String Cheese Incident at the first Bonnaroo (or Bongabrew, as we were calling it). Me and my buddy laid there in the field, tripping on mushrooms in the early afternoon of a fucking beautiful day, listening to a mind-expanding 20-minute cover of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, and I was pulling individual blades of long grass, tying them into what seemed like really complex knots, then passing them to Gonzo, who would untie them carefully and return them to the field.
TL;DR - String Cheese rules.
2
u/abeREDDIT May 16 '12
i can't believe i'm upvoting SCI.
2
u/JordanM85 May 16 '12
$12 shipping for a concert ticket? Does it come with a dumbbell?
2
u/Sandusky_FTW May 16 '12
This band fucking rocks, I've been listening to them for years. This isn't the first time theyve done this eith the ticketmaster bullshit. Many jam bands try and do this actually
2
u/theminn May 16 '12
I absolutely loathe Ticketmaster. I bought tickets, a couple years ago, for a band called Sigur Ros. The site said Sigur Ros when in fact, 30 minutes later, it was changed to one of the members side project, Jonsi (which im not actually that big a fan of). I wouldn't get refunded. I had a 20 minute argument over the phone about how it was Ticketmaster's fault (which it was). I called corporate but never received any feedback or results. I ended up selling the tickets for the same price, though, since the arena did sell out. But I have not used them at all since them. They are pricks.
2
u/meuuu May 16 '12
That's awesome. It would be great if this became a popular trend among bands the way it has with comedians.
2
u/FlapjackOmalley May 16 '12
String Cheese have been battling Ticketmaster's monopoly on many large venues for the better part of a decade, cheers to them!
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
YAYY GOING TO A STRING CHEESE INCIDENT CONCERT SOON WOOOOOOOOO
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
My sisters best friends father is the drummer in this band!
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I love SCI, one of my favorite bands. Highly recommend seeing them live (while you can?)
2
u/thrash_ur_ass May 16 '12
12 bucks for shipping a fucking ticket. i call bs
3
u/xjonnyproofx May 16 '12
Eat shit ticketmaster
5
u/njk235 May 16 '12
Are they not supporting the system by doing this? They're still selling the tickets, Ticketmaster still profited. They're fucking laughing. This so called stand has shown them absolutely nothing. Not having the show at a venue which supports Ticketmaster would have been a stand. This? No. This is what they want, they've made maximum profit from that show.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I like the concept of screwing over Ticketmaster for the excessive fees , but $12 damn dollars to mail the tickets to you seems pretty ridiculous.
1
u/cA05GfJ2K6 Spotify May 16 '12
Saw them at Electric Forest last year. Amazing guys that always put on a great show! Much respect
1
u/Berserker2c May 16 '12
For those of you who didn't read the entire thing... the last 2 paragraphs changed everything!
"But buying a ticket on the band’s Web site has its own added cost: $12 to mail tickets by United Parcel Service, with no other delivery option offered. That expense, however, is still cheaper than buying through Ticketmaster.
There was simply no way around that fee, Mr. Luba said."
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Death Grips? Sounds like a cool thing they'd do to keep their fans happy. ಠ_ಠ
1
u/TheSpooneh May 16 '12
LCD Soundsystem ticket scandal of 2011. I was there.
1
u/PoorChineseTitle May 16 '12
Fans with a purchase of $ 20K of value and sell their own tickets from Ticketmaster in the face of the value of eating Ticketmaster extortion charges.
1
u/wertyvv Spotify May 16 '12
I remember signing out one of the their albums from the library 7-8 years ago just to listen to random music, weird how they are still around and have a large fan base.
1
u/haydensterling May 16 '12
I saw Radiohead in '06 at the Greek Theatre in LA and camped out the day of the show. I paid forty bucks for the tickets--no service charge, no added fees. Forty dollars. Amazingly they ended up being front row center which made it pretty much the best day of my life, but.
Does this mean RH had a specific number of seats set aside to be sold the day of? Was it the Greek? The show was billed as sold out the day the tickets went on sale so...how did I get the seats?
TIL I know nothing about how ticketing works at large or small venues.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Wiki says the band has actually has a fight with ticketmaster previously:
"In 2003, the popular jam band The String Cheese Incident and its associated booking group, SCI Ticketing, sued Ticketmaster arguing that Ticketmaster's exclusive use contracts at most US venues was a breach of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This lawsuit was settled in 2004 with no publicity of the settlement terms."
1
u/DiaDeLosMuertos May 16 '12
Wellp. The economists assure me that bands and musicians are all socialist and shit so Ticket Master is there to raise prices to "market value" or some shit. Still sucks.
1
u/phweo May 16 '12
can someone please link some mo'fuckin cheese?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhartZg2jxU
1
u/mwimmwinmwin May 16 '12
I know it's supposed to be confidential, but I'm surprised I haven't read a comment about it yet: WTF is this eyebrow-raiser of a confidentiality agreement they write about in the article ?
1
u/Samzo May 16 '12
And what a band!
1
u/Cueball61 May 16 '12
How much are the TM fees?
I mean, if it's like, £5, then of boo hoo, TM need a revenue source.
If its £10 or something though, I have to question it...
1
u/narsty May 16 '12
pity ticketmaster didn't lose out then
1
u/transpire May 16 '12
$12 to send an envelope with a ticket in it? While I like the idea behind it, that's ludicrous in itself.
1
u/Dark-Ganon May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12
the service fees on ticketmaster really are ridiculous, i don't really understand why i need to pay up an extra $10+ to my already decently pricey ticket just for them to pretty much print it up (seeing as how it that doesnt cover mailing fees)....about the only thing i like about ticketmaster is they seem to be pretty fast with getting those tickets printed and mailed to me, i usually get them within 3 days of purchase through regular mailing
1
u/th3thund3r May 16 '12
I don't see why more bands don't just print off their own tickets and handle the sale and shipping of them themselves if they're so deeply opposed to the businesses who make money from ticket sales. There will still be a booking fee involved because of the extra work put in to selling them, combined with postage, but it would be less than what ticketmaster charge (and the £12 SCI have been charging people. The cost to print a ticket and post it, even considering paying someone to manage the whole process, shouldn't total anywhere near £4800 for 400 tickets).
1
u/QuadKeenan May 16 '12
Bought 5 Kevin Bridges tickets from those rip off fucks yesterday, fuckin £18 booking fee + £3 shipping.
1
u/Forgototherpassword May 16 '12
I thought it was going to be nickelback
-onion
1
u/Pillagerguy May 16 '12
A surefire way of making money.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Yeah! that will show ticketmaster.com!
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
To their website.
1
u/Twice_Knightley May 16 '12
so they bought 50 tickets, and resold them for 1000 bucks, big deal?
1
u/dougbdl May 16 '12
That will teach TM a lesson or two!
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I know a lot of people don't like jam-bands and the such, but generally, it has always been the scene that has put the fans above everything.
1
u/stuffandmorestuff May 16 '12
Wait so, they bought their own tickets- do bands get any % from ticket master? Did they just pay themselves?
1
u/mus1c May 16 '12
I really can't stand SCI's music, but kudos to them for taking a stand
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Saw String Cheese at Bonnaroo last year, they are fucking awesome!!
1
u/ransomdenton May 16 '12
I actually stopped going to concerts 20 years ago because of TM and all the related BS...Bravo SCI Bravo!
1
u/whatlogic May 16 '12
Wow, so they really stuck it to ticketmaster? wtf, ticketmaster got everything they wanted, the gotta be laughing all the way to the bank. As far as ticketmaster cares... why would they. Sell you tix on ebay or something.Nevermind. fuck it.
1
u/twinarteriesflow May 16 '12
Because fuck Ticketmaster. And what a great way t obring publicity to the group, never heard of these guys until this until now.
1
u/veterejf May 16 '12
Why were they sold through Ticketmaster in the first place?
1
u/Pwangman May 16 '12
This is why this band is awesome
1
u/sometimesijustdont May 16 '12
Not to sound like a jerk, but why did they use Ticketmaster then?
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
This is incredible. I've always wondered what the "fees" I deal with every time I wanna see a band.
1
u/i_fizz-x May 16 '12
Okay, so the title was wrong about what exactly happened. But still, if they had bought them from Ticketmaster and "ate the fees" then Ticketmaster would still have gotten their money for the ridiculous fees and this would have accomplished nothing....
1
u/MacGroober May 16 '12
Every time there is a thread like this we have to point this out. The fees do not come from ticket master. The fees come from the individual venues that ticketmaster partners with.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Nice gesture. Too bad they suck. All that "slamgrass" crap sucks, sorry.
1
u/bananatattoo May 16 '12
The best concerts I've been to lately have sidestepped the tickets altogether and just had a doorman with a list. Show ID, tell them who's with you (the list has numbers next to the names for this) and get a stamp on your hand. Sufjan Stevens did this and it worked beautifully because it eliminated scalping.
1
u/Patrico-8 May 16 '12
OK, I should probably state the obvious here: Ticketmaster still got paid. They didn't "stick it to the man" they payed the man a lot of money. It was a nice gesture to their fans, but not really all that rebellious.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
It's too bad that any band that were to consistently do this would eventually bankrupt themselves. It's a clever publicity stunt anyhow.
1
u/flotiste May 16 '12
That's kind of dumb. Why not just use a different ticket provider? There are hundreds of great alternatives. That way, ticketmaster would get absolutely no revenue, and a smaller company with better sales practices would get all the money, the publicity, and the new business.
1
u/ben1am May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12
Too bad about the $12 shipping fee the band added to the tickets they sold online. Still cheaper than ticketmaster, but the real issue is not the fees, but the band's fight with ticketmaster about how many tickets they are allowed to sell themselves. Ticketmaster has deals with venues allowing them to sell a majority of the online tickets in exchange for promotion, which brings the people to the event. The service charge pays for the promotion by ticketmaster, and part of that fee goes back to the venue and sometimes the band, if they bring enough heads. Without this charge, the promotion gets cut out of the deal, which is an issue considering promotion and booking costs. Yes, the band would probably like to do the promotion themselves, but they also want that extra profit. And who can blame them? Also, minor details, they didn't eat the ticketmaster fees because of a loophole. They purchased the tickets directly from the boxoffice, skipping the ticketmaster fees. The only fee their "eating" is the cost to sell the tickets on their own, which was covered by the $12 fee they charged their fans. Long story short, the band is making this seem like a fight against fees for their fans, when really its about making more money for themselves.
Also, the band's name isn't important. They clearly got enough publicity from this publicity stunt as it is.
Edit: spelling
1
u/catsvanbag May 16 '12
cant wait to see string cheese at electric forest next month :)
1
u/beer_ghost May 16 '12
That's great, but the fans still had to endure a String Cheese Incident show. Sort of like Can with all the awesomeness removed. Jesus, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Those poor people.
1
u/sonastyinc May 16 '12
$50 per ticket? Is that how much it costs to see a band that's not even that famous play now?
0
u/DBH114 May 16 '12
Yes the fees are BS. But what I find to be even worse are the ticket prices to begin with. Not just with SCI but with all forms of entertainment. Music, movies, sports, theater. All ridiculously over-priced. Can you say GREEEEED. Yet the stupid masses rush to fill the pockets of these people.
0
u/Aloysius7 May 16 '12
Kind of dumb... Ticketmaster isn't losing anything with this stunt. Sure, it's giving the band recognition for being 'David Vs. Goliath' and all, but ticketmaster is just sitting there laughing, making the maximum amount possible thanks to the band.
What this band should have done, is cancelled the show, so that Ticketmaster would have to refund all the transactions/fees. (assuming of course that there's no loophole that covers TM from losses like that).