There are few things this divided country can agree on. But with the presumed exception of its owners and executives, it's fair to say pretty much nobody likes Ticketmaster.
Music fans of all stripes have been complaining about the various service fees that Ticketmaster adds since shortly after the company was founded in 1976.
One of the first major flareups against the company occurred in 1994, when the alternative rock group Pearl Jam filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. The band claimed the company had cut them out of venue bookings in a dispute over fees; this led to an investigation into what the Los Angeles Times referred to as “possible anti-competitive practices,” though ultimately no real action was taken against the company.
Pearl Jam would go on to boycott the company for a while, but eventually relented, because in many ways Ticketmaster is the only game in town.
While some small to medium venues either sell their own tickets directly or use smaller services such as Eventbrite, Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) have exclusive partnerships with many (arguably most) of America’s sports venues and large music halls.
And no one is happy about this, except for the people who directly benefit from this arrangement.
A hatred of Ticketmaster might be the only topic upon which ultra-progressive Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder could possibly find common ground with Kid Rock, aka Bob Ritchie, who is one of the vanishingly few high-profile celebrity musicians that have publicly aligned themselves with Donald Trump.
Ritchie told Rolling Stone, “They’re taking a f***ing five-dollar service charge,” in a recent interview. “It’s 25 percent of the f***ing ticket! That’s f***ed up, but I’ve beaten them up as much as I can.”
But others are joining the fight in the wake of the recent release of tickets for rock icon Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 tour. A strong social media backlash that ensued, has demonstrated that Ticketmaster has accomplished the impressive feat of making people hate the company more than ever. Congratulations?
Why Are Bruce Springsteen Fans Mad At Ticketmaster?
Next year Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will kick off a world tour. They’re a live unit known for four-hour, marathon shows, and this will be their first outing since 2016, as The Boss has been busy with his acclaimed Springsteen on Broadway show for the past few years. (Well, that and not touring during a pandemic.)
Springsteen fans are a devoted lot, and it’s very common for super fans to catch multiple shows during a tour, so demand was very high.
But when tickets went on sale this week, fans were shocked to discover that prices continued to fluctuate as the sale went on, with some good-but-not front of house tickets going for $4,000 to $5,000 at times, according to Variety.
For the past several years Ticketmaster has been rolling out a dynamic pricing initiative for major tours by Paul McCartney, Bad Bunny and Harry Styles. What are termed “platinum tickets,” which can be at any part of a venue, will continue to rise and fall in price in reaction to ongoing demand.
The company has claimed this is an approach similar to what many airlines and hotels do, and it’s seen as a move by Ticketmaster to compete with scalpers, and for the company and artists to get the monetary value that otherwise goes to the secondary market.
Dedicated fans have gotten begrudgingly used to the cost of tickets rising over time, especially as the cost of gas has risen and artists had to charge more to make up for the fact that album sales, uh, aren’t what they used to be. And many fans have forked over the cost of a rent payment to a scalper because they just have to see their favorites.
Dynamic pricing has been around for a little while now, and was even covered in a recent “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” takedown on Ticketmaster. But many music fans were apparently unaware of the practice, and were shocked to see how much some Springsteen tickets cost, and that in many cases there were no fixed prices.
(Though not all the tickets on tour were subject to variable pricing, as there are reports of some fans able to get $60 tickets in very distant sections, while others were able score tickets in the $300 or so range, still high but a bargain by comparison.)
Springsteen Twitter Is Not Happy With Ticketmaster
It’s unclear how much control Springsteen has over variable pricing; neither his publicist or Ticketmaster have responded to The Street’s request for comment, though guitarist Steven Van Zandt has clarified it’s certainly not his fault.
But for a guy who has made singing about the lives of the working class his entire raison d'etre, it’s an awkward look, and many of Springsteen’s most dedicated fans have taken to Twitter to vent their frustrations. Some people also had jokes, because it helps to laugh.
Interestingly, the New Wave band Crowded House (best known for "Don’t Dream It’s Over") has drawn a line in the sand against premium ticket pricing. It will be interesting to see which other artists speak out against the practice.
