The promoter is scamming us

USA and Canada (April 1 - June 4, 2009). Special concert for fans in NYC (February 19). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
Walsh75
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:54 am

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by Walsh75 »

da2008 wrote:So what's so sleazy about AEG promoting a Michael Jackson's tour?
Michael Jackson
kolesen
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Joined: Tue Feb 18, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Anaheim, CA USA

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by kolesen »

Actually the most telling point is that the American Express presale was before the "fan club" or "friends and family" presale times. Good, bad, or indifferent, at this level big time music (or entertainment of any kind for that matter) is more commerce than art when it comes to concerts, promotion, merchandising, and so forth. Good for the artist, good for the promoter, good for the business of music, not so good for the average fan. Supply and demand, it's as simple as that. I got tickets for LA, about 1/2 way back roughly in the center. At first as big a fan as I am of Leonard Cohen I couldn't get excited about the idea of paying $500-$600 to go (unfortunately I find myself more often than not being one of those people that just has to be up front, best seats, package deal, whatever it takes, etc etc). But this time, maybe it's age, maybe it's in the context of current events, it just bothered me. My wife reminded me that a big part of it is just being there. Being part of the event. Experiencing the music of Leonard Cohen at this time of his life and ours. Just happy to go. Everyone gets from it what they want most.
Keith
giddi
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Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:52 am

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by giddi »

Walsh75 wrote:
da2008 wrote:So what's so sleazy about AEG promoting a Michael Jackson's tour?
Michael Jackson
why?
da2008
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Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:01 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by da2008 »

^^ get ready
Walsh75
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:54 am

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by Walsh75 »

The fact that Jackson has ruined all his credibility due to various legal issues over the years.

Outside of maybe an LA or NY show he can't draw anywhere near sell outs in the US. He tried seveal years ago and it was a total dud. Rather that was because of high ticket prices, ppl actually thinking he's a pedo, or his outdated 80's sound, who knows.

He still seems to do fairly well internationally.

Right now, based on his website, all these final shows so far will be at The O2 in London. They said at his press conference, if those do well, more shows will be added.

But knowing Jackson's rep. I can almost bet if he pulls off the first few shows, the rest get postponed or canceled with him saying he's sick and/or in the hospital again.

And if you take a look at the message board on his site, ppl were complaining about the ticket process for those shows too.
da2008
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Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by da2008 »

Walsh75 wrote:And if you take a look at the message board on his site, ppl were complaining about the ticket process for those shows too.
To be honest, this would probably have something to do with the demand for this show. No matter who would promote it thousands of people won't get tickets/will complain about prices, etc
blue_94_trooper
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:50 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by blue_94_trooper »

kolesen wrote:Actually the most telling point is that the American Express presale was before the "fan club" or "friends and family" presale times.
The chronology of the presale isn't neccessarily indicative of the seat quality. Each presale is assigned a subset of seats and the promoters work out the specifics. Also, don't forget that being in the "fan club" means only that you have mastered Google to the point where you could find this website. That's little more qualification than being an AmEx cardholder.
da2008
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Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:01 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by da2008 »

The fan presale only worked because the password was announced at the time ticket went on sale, which gave all of us a few minutes to try our luck. Radiohead's fan presale is another good example, but their server tends to crash. This forum didn't and that's something to be appreciative about.
blue_94_trooper
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:50 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by blue_94_trooper »

da2008 wrote:The fan presale only worked because the password was announced at the time ticket went on sale, which gave all of us a few minutes to try our luck. Radiohead's fan presale is another good example, but their server tends to crash. This forum didn't and that's something to be appreciative about.
Radiohead's fan presale start at an unannounced time, so that requires some level of dedication. They also host the sale itself which is why the servers tend to crash. This site needed only provide the password, Ticketmaster did the rest (and was well compensated for it!). But at least with Ticketmaster you know your seat location immediately. With the Radiohead presales you only have a vague idea of where you'll be located (and for the last tour, my seats kind of sucked).
mark.yoder
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:47 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by mark.yoder »

same deal in Oakland. this is the ticketmaster scam of sanctioned scalping. what happened to the days when you waited in line at the record store with everybody else?
blue_94_trooper
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:50 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by blue_94_trooper »

mark.yoder wrote:same deal in Oakland. this is the ticketmaster scam of sanctioned scalping. what happened to the days when you waited in line at the record store with everybody else?
I suppose you could start with the fact that there are no more record stores.
honeyrose
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:46 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by honeyrose »

According to the press here in London, AEG who are promoting Leonard's tour, and the new Michael Jackson shows at 02, are scalping the tickets for the Jackson concert, via secondary market operator viagogo.

"AEG Live, the company behind the concerts, has agreed with Viagogo, an online ticket reseller, to sell hundreds of so-called premium tickets for each performance at the 17,000-capacity O2 arena, in East London, at about £500 each, compared with their face value of between £50 and £75.

The move means that both AEG Live and Viagogo stand to make huge extra financial returns, while reducing the availability and standard of seats to those fans trying to buy seats through the official, “primary” route, via the Ticketmaster website.

But The Times understands that outside the official sale of the tickets, AEG Live approached secondary ticketing companies — which allow people to resell tickets to sporting and music events — offering to provide them directly with between 500 and 1,000 tickets for each performance.

It is thought that AEG Live offered the tickets on the understanding that they were sold at about £500 each, with 80 per cent of the revenue returning to AEG Live and the secondary ticketing company taking the remaining 20 per cent.

Last night tickets for seats closest to the stage were on sale on Viagogo for thousands of pounds. Other seats in prime locations seemed to be on sale at surprisingly uniform rates, with many priced at £418 and £659.

AEG Live did not deny its links to Viagogo. The company previously said in a statement: “In an effort to ensure fans are able to purchase premium tickets and exchange tickets directly with other fans, AEG Live has entered into an agreement with Viagogo. The online site allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and guaranteed way.”

A source close to AEG Live said: “This is the hottest ticket of the decade. To suggest that there won’t be a premium market is unrealistic. We want to make sure it is done properly and fans are not buying the tickets in some dodgy back alley.

“This is only a small minority of tickets. The aim all along has been to make sure that the majority of the arena is filled with real fans. There are systems in place to make sure people cannot buy multiple tickets and sell them on.”

Concert promoters have previously been steadfastly against the secondary ticketing companies, which they accuse of promoting touting and depriving the live music industry of income.

AEG Live could face censure from the Concert Promoters Association, of which it is a member, if it is judged to have brought the organisation into disrepute through its actions.

Last month the Government announced a consultation into ticket touting and urged concert organisers to be innovative and come up with new ways of preventing touts from making money from selling on tickets.

One leading concert promoter said: “Selling tickets straight on to the secondary marketplace will sadly become more commonplace. The promoters are saying, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

Incidentally it seems most stars now take a percentage of sales on the unofficial/official secondary ticket market - while keeping their names out of it. Latest stars fingered are Neil Diamond and Bon Jovi.
honeyrose
Posts: 162
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:46 pm

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by honeyrose »

The fight back begins.....

Following the row about secondary tickets and scalping at the Michael Jackson London concerts, also promoted by AEG, the promoter has accused its secondary market partner Viagogo of bulk releasing tickets which enabled the scalpers to move in. The company says it has now taken out an injunction against Viagogo to prevent this.

"Things haven't gone entirely seamlessly for AEG since they put their money behind Jackson. Most tickets are being sold straight to fans for £50-£75. But AEG claims its premium ticket partner, Viagogo offered seats for re-sale in bulk, allowing touts and other re-sellers to push up prices. A court has now ordered Viagogo to stop selling to anyone not believed to be an individual fan, until a further hearing. "

and in Rolling Stone magazine

"As Rock Daily reported this week, the Wall Street Journal recently exposed artists who set aside their own tickets for sale on the pricier secondary market; This Is It! promoters AEG Live did just that with some of the best seats to all the MJ shows and stuck a deal making Viagogo the authorized secondary-ticket dealer for the shows. AEG CEO Randy Phillips told Billboard.biz, AEG cut a deal with Viagogo “to give fans access to premium seats and the market would set the price on only a small percentage of the house every night; and, secondly, to give fans a peer-to-peer platform where they know these tickets aren’t counterfeited.”

But then, “Viagogo did something really bad yesterday we had no idea they were doing,” Phillips said. Apparently Viagogo then took those tickets they received from AEG and started e-mailing other secondary ticket brokers, offering them packages and discounts and thus raising the price on the secondary tickets even higher. Plus, by pushing these tickets off on brokers, neither AEG or Jackson would see the additional profits from these tickets that sold in the trinary market. AEG Live filed an injunction against Viagogo to ensure that the site actually sells tickets to fans instead of brokers."

Nor is it just brokers:
"Brokers aren’t the only ones getting rich off the contentious secondary ticketing market: According to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, many artists are cashing in on their own concerts by saving some of the best seats and hawking them on re-sale sites like TicketExchange and TicketsNow. WSJ cites Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Van Halen and Billy Joel and Elton John as artists who have repriced and sold tickets via such vendors. Sources close to Diamond confirmed the set-up for the WSJ, while reps for the rest of those artists were unreachable or didn’t respond for comment."
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mirka
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Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by mirka »

Today's WJS writes n the Marketplace section: "AEG accuses ticket agent of scalping Jackson show"
Concert promoter AEG Live is fighting with a ticket-selling agent that it alleges was trying to scalp huge numbers of tickets to Michael Jackson's run of 50 concerts in London.

The controversy comes on the heels of revelations last week that concert-industry insiders routinely engage in coordinated efforts to sell tickets to the public at inflated prices, while disguising their origin.
[..]
On Friday, AEG scored a temporary victory in court. A judge ordered the agent, Viagogo Ltd., to agree not to offer or provide Jackson tickets to any resellers.

Viagogo Chief Executive Eric Baker didn't respond to three voice messages left on his cellphone over the weekend.

London-based Viagogo operates a Web site that is primarily used by fans and brokers to resell sports and concert tickets, much like StubHub in the U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1236988 ... outset-box
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Janet
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Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:35 am

Re: The promoter is scamming us

Post by Janet »

The exact same thing happened to me in Saskatoon. I am a huge fan and was greatly disappointed by the tickets i purchased in the fan presale. A friend of mine waited for the general sale and she ended up with way better seats than me, i am happy for her but i am upset that the promoted will not let me exchange my tickets or even upgrade them, as the upgraded seats were not avaliable when i bought my tickets, if they were i would have bought them. There are still better seats avaliable today, therefore i would not be unfairly attaining better seats, yet they will not let me exchange or upgrade them. Very upsetting.
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