OT - Phish fans furious at Vile Nation

[Madgrad]

[quote="sockii"]
I guess we can start calling them VileBastard, then?[/quote]


Yup.

[njperry]

[quote="Madgrad"][quote="sockii"]
I guess we can start calling them VileBastard, then?[/quote]


Yup. [/quote]

And that is on good days. other days (i.e., when you are tyring to buy tickets) the names are much worse.

[Throb]

This just got posted on Springsteen's fan site from Jon Landau after yesterday's disasterous presale for Bruce shows:


A Letter to Our Fans:

We know there was much confusion regarding Ticketmaster and TicketsNow during last Monday's on-sale dates. We were as confused as you were, as we were given no advance notice of the major changes in the Ticketmaster-TicketsNow world. (Bear in mind that we are not clients of any ticketing company, and that all those arrangements are between venues and ticketing companies.)

Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice.

We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest. Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges. TicketsNow is supposed to be a secondary site where people who already have tickets may exchange, trade, and, unfortunately, speculate with them. We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.

We know the many cynical arguments some make in favor of the Ticketmaster system: There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges--we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow--we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect "scalping" those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow--we do.

While many of you have sent notes to us and your local promoters, you may also send accurate informational letters to Albert Lopez of Ticketmaster [Albert.Lopez@ticketmaster.com] and he will try to address your questions.

A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.

The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours.

Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team

[njperry]

[quote="Throb"]This just got posted on Springsteen's fan site from Jon Landau after yesterday's disasterous presale for Bruce shows:

. . . A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.

The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours.

Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team[/quote]

Thanks, Bruce. Calling it as it is.

I am reminded of a scene in the Simpsons:

[quote] Burns: [chuckles] And to think, Smithers: you laughed when I bought TicketMaster. "Nobody's going to pay a 100% service charge."

Smithers: Well, it's a policy that ensures a healthy mix of the rich and the ignorant, sir.[/quote]

[IndyGirl]

Thanks for posting the letter, Throb.

[Throb]

Your welcome.
We are not alone in ticket problems.
I just saw a posting over on the Bruce site, some fan lost tickets to a Chicago show from TicketBastard then saw the same exact seats on ebay for 400 bucks!
Another posting said if only Bruce had an official fan site it would be so much better. heh heh, if they only knew.

This merger, if rumors are true, has got to be stopped!

[Susan]

Bruce rocks.

Glad to see Bruce's management is, within days, addressing fans' concerns and doing something about it. It doesn't fix everything but it is a start.

Just wait till they fuck with U2 fans. Like Bruce, U2 has the numbers, and, I hope, the balls, to not take this crap.

Thanks for posting this. I'll be sure to re-read and send letters as they suggest.

[irishrose1969]

OH christ my head hurts just reading that again with all the fuckups you would think they would learn from all of the nightmares they have experienced. NOT.

If Vile bastard merges, they are gonna have alot of problems and I have a feeling it will be worse before it gets better.

Oy.

[Susan]

I put my mouth where my money is and sent an e-mail to the Ticketbastard employee named on Springsteen's home page. Put in my complaint to NJ dept. of consumer affairs too. Will adapt it for letters to my Congressman as well as local representatives. We have a few young, ambitious state and city reps who love to get their hands on a cause just long enough to make a stink and get an attorney general interested...often it goes nowhere but you never know.

Problem is these big acts say after the fact that they don't want certain practices...but the damage was already done...not to mention how much of the fan's time is wasted.

[dafttart]

What a bunch of corrupt ****s!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7872905.stm

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Geez, all...this REALLY sucks. Hats off to springsteen for calling them on the b.s.

Bummer that eliot spitzer went down in flames. He actually filed suit against TM while he was AG of new york.

Hi folks! Just checkin in on iPhone. Having a great time, rode 80 mi on snowmobile today. Photos later. Xoxo dotd n

[Susan]

Oh yes, Eliot would've gotten somewhere. Sigh. I don't mind Andrew Cuomo but with so much going on in banking now, he may have even bigger fish to fry.

Anyway, NJ and CT are all over it:

By Chad Bray

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Attorneys general in Connecticut and New Jersey are probing Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. (TKTM) over complaints that fans trying to buy tickets to Bruce Springsteen shows on Monday were redirected to the company's ticket reseller.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram are seeking information about the company's relationship with its TicketsNow unit.

"This Springsteen sale raises disturbing questions about Ticketmaster's relationship with TicketsNow - and whether tickets that should have been available were improperly diverted," Blumenthal said in a statement.

Milgram, in a letter to Ticketmaster on Thursday, said the redirection to TicketsNow may be a violation of the state's consumer fraud act. New Jersey's Division of Consumer Affairs has received more than 1,000 complaints, she said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., also has asked the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department's antitrust division, to investigate the relationship between Ticketmaster and TicketsNow.

Monday was the first day fans could buy tickets for the U.S. leg of Springsteen's tour promoting his latest album, "Working On A Dream." Springsteen and his band, the E Street Band, played the half-time show at the Super Bowl the night before.

Blumenthal said he's received complaints that some consumers trying to use the Ticketmaster Web site were notified it was experiencing technical difficulties, while others were notified that tickets were sold out.

Tickemaster redirected fans to TicketsNow, where tickets could be purchased for what Blumenthal said was "hundreds of dollars above face value."

Tickets were being offered for $181 to $4,994 on TicketsNow late Thursday to one of two Springsteen concerts in New Jersey in May. Face value of the tickets were $65 to $95.

In a letter to fans on his Web site, Springsteen said he was "furious" with the situation and believed redirecting fans to TicketsNow was a "conflict of interest." Springsteen also questioned a reported tie-up being discussed between Ticketmaster and Live Nation Inc. (LYV).

"The one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing," Springsteen said.

Ticketmaster Chief Executive Irving Azoff issued an emailed apology to Springsteen fans over the TicketsNow situation. Azoff said the company was attempting to "do the right thing" by providing fans more choices to acquire tickets when they weren't available through the primary seller.

"We clearly missed the mark," Azoff said.

Azoff promised to never link to TicketsNow in the future in a manner that can possibly create confusion during a high-demand ticket sale.

Ticketmaster, in a letter to Pascrell, said tickets made available to the public are sold "in a transparent and fair manner on the primary market" and no brokers receive preferential access.

"We deeply regret that some fans have misconstrued our efforts at presenting additional purchasing options as an act of manipulation when it is truly nothing of the sort," said Joseph M. Freeman, Ticketmaster's assistant general counsel.

Ticketmaster was spun off from Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp last August.

-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; chad.bray@dowjones.com


Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd ... oMmw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2009 07:39 ET (12:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 07 39 AM EST 02-06-09

[Tamadude]

Where's the "crotch-grab, bird-flip" emoticon when you need one?

GYAALTF - (refer to diktionary for definition)

[Throb]

Bruce’s website put up the whole letter from Irving Azoff. There is a second LA Bruce show added. Onsale is Saturday as well as some other Bruce shows. Also shows go onsale Friday. Let’s see how it goes. I have never had much faith in Barry Diller and now he has turned over Ticketmaster to Irving Azoff to head it up whose big move so far has been to waive service charges for….Eagles shows! Surprise surprise. Azoff got the job when Ticketmaster bought Front Line Management. From Rolling Stone: Ticketmaster purchased the 30% share of Front Line, previously owned by Warner Music Group, for $123 million and will now call the new enterprise Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. Primary and secondary ticketing, e-commerce and fan clubs will all fold into the terms of the deal.
Can you say conflict of interest?
Any way here is the letter:
While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans.

We recognize that we need to change our course. We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce’s shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans’ specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions of fans.

If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket. (Please don’t abuse this good faith gesture – we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets.)

We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward.

Sincerely,
Irving Azoff, CEO, Ticketmaster Entertainment

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Today's news, including a real thigh-slapper graf down near the end:

"The goal of this company is going to be to get more artists to work and fill more venues and fill more seats."

HAAAAHAHAAA! Yeah, right. The goal isn't to rake even yet still more millions into the pockets of the people who already enjoy near-monopoly status over America's popular performances and media outlets. And I have a bridge to sell.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_ ... cketmaster

Live Nation, Ticketmaster begin defending merger

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer – Tue Feb 10, 2:31 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. confirmed their merger plans Tuesday and got right to work addressing antitrust concerns that have taken center stage.

Ticketmaster Chairman Barry Diller, to be chairman of the new company — which would be called Live Nation Entertainment — sought to dispel the notion that the deal would lead to higher ticket prices.

"Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices," he said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue.

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would hold 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino would be the new company's CEO.
The companies estimated the value of the combined business at $2.5 billion and said the deal would help them save about $40 million annually. Assuming it gets approval by antitrust authorities, the companies hope to complete the merger in the second half of the year.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster argue that together they could better withstand the recession, sell more tickets and improve service to fans by bringing together their expertise in promotions and ticketing.

However, the merger comes just as Ticketmaster is under fire for recently redirecting people buying tickets to a Bruce Springsteen show from its regular Web site to its reselling subsidiary, TicketsNow. That site had more expensive seats above face value, even though face-value tickets were still available. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation, and a class-action lawsuit in Ontario claims Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert.

Diller blamed the Springsteen incident on a "technical glitch" by a credit card company, and said the Canadian lawsuit was "without merit."

"They are just chasing cars down the road," he said.

Ticketmaster had already apologized for the Springsteen episode, but the fallout remains. Springsteen recently posted a statement on his Web site saying the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing."

And Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., released a statement Tuesday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch" scam.

"It is very hard to trust Ticketmaster," said the senator, a member of the Judiciary Committee. "This merger would give a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concertgoers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands."

Diller accused Schumer of making statements that were "factually untrue."
Analysts believe the Ticketmaster-Live Nation combination could lower some ticket prices because the two companies could present a united front to artists when negotiating business deals surrounding tours. The companies are also seeking to fill more seats in venues that are going empty.

Ticketmaster sells tickets for more than 80 percent of the major arenas and stadiums in the U.S., according to concert tracking firm Pollstar. Live Nation is the world's No. 1 concert promoter and owns more than 140 venues. It has comprehensive rights deals covering the tours of such artists as Madonna, Jay-Z, U2 and Shakira.

In January, Live Nation launched its own ticketing service. That brought it and Ticketmaster closer to an all-out scramble for ticketing deals.
Now, Diller said Tuesday, the tough economy has increased the urgency to put the companies together.

"I have been trying and mostly consistently failing to put these companies together for many years now," he said. "Now is the time to do this."
After the Grammy Awards ended Sunday, Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, took a balanced view of the deal.

"I think it's not a black and white issue," he said. "Music's had a tough time obviously. So to the extent that there can be some efficiencies and you can run a better business, that's something that we have to look at as something pragmatic. On the other hand, the question becomes, `Does this create too much authority and power and control under one roof?'"

Irving Azoff, Ticketmaster's CEO, who would be executive chairman of the new company, told analysts on a conference call that other artist promoters would be given a fair shake in dealing with the new entity.

"We think that it will be a more level playing field, and there's no real barrier of entry for anybody to expand their promotion areas," said Azoff, the longtime manager of the Eagles. "The goal of this company is going to be to get more artists to work and fill more venues and fill more seats."

Live Nation shares fell 30 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $4.99 in afternoon trading Tuesday, while Ticketmaster shares dipped 27 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $6.30.

Both companies are well below their 52-week highs: $18.75 for Live Nation and $27 for Ticketmaster.