Thursday, February 23, 2012

This problem needs to be addressed


Tickets for Fiona Apple's two New York shows went on presale today and were sold out within minutes. The same thing happened for Kraftwerk at MOMA, and to some degree, Bjork's residency at the Hall of Science. What's absolutely maddening is where these tickets are ending up. The above screen shot are the aforementioned presale tickets for Fiona, already being marked up and sold on StubHub. 

When will this end? How do we fix this problem? I briefly considered going to the show at Music Hall Of Williamsburg, but I'm not going to even try to get tickets now. I'm guessing the price is between $40-$50, the usual going rate for MHOW, which is all General Admission. You do the math. 

This is an outrage and we as fans need to step up and say enough is enough. It is not right that music lovers are not able to purchase tickets to see an artist that does not tour the area often. Not when scalpers are buying up the tickets on presale and tripling the price. We need to send a message to the scalpers and the artists that we aren't going to stand for this anymore. 

I don't know how to fix the problem, other than to plead with you to not purchase scalped tickets. Do not pay more than face value for them. Let that jerk up there who got their hands on 16 tickets eat $640 (my guesstimate). Maybe that will teach them a lesson. It's frustrating not being able to see a show that you really want, but nothing is going to change unless we speak out. Sites like StubHub need to take responsibility for this, too. Prices should be limited. I don't think people should be able to sell tickets for more than what they paid, including the fees. Why are these individuals making money off the musicians? Artists are playing smaller venues like MHOW to be able to give fans a more intimate experience. They aren't charging an arm and a leg for their tickets. Why are we rewarding scalpers and paying these outrageous prices?

Please feel free to repost this. Spread the word. Start a conversation. It's not going to stop until we do something about it. 

 

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