# Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program



## Guest (Sep 19, 2018)

'A public relations nightmare': Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program | CBC News
_
Box-office giant Ticketmaster is recruiting professional scalpers who cheat its own system to expand its 
resale business and squeeze more money out of fans, a CBC News/Toronto Star investigation reveals.

In July, the news outlets sent a pair of reporters undercover to Ticket Summit 2018, a ticketing and live 
entertainment convention at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Posing as scalpers and equipped with hidden cameras, the journalists were pitched on Ticketmaster's 
professional reseller program.

Company representatives told them Ticketmaster's resale division turns a blind eye to scalpers who use 
ticket-buying bots and fake identities to snatch up tickets and then resell them on the site for inflated prices. 
Those pricey resale tickets include extra fees for Ticketmaster._


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

I am not surprised. Corporate altruism is long since nothing but a myth.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Fuck I hate scalpers. By extension, I now hate Ticketmaster.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

#supportlocalmusic


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

It's like the opiod company being allowed to sell an opiod treatment. 

"He who has the gold, makes the rules".
Sickening.


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

I caught a bit of the CBC investigative report the last couple of days during lunch hours on CBC News.

Calling out TicketBastard for the high ticket costs and fees? They say blame it on the artists and promoters. Well, Live Nation is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) concert promoters out there and they merged with TicketBastard about 10 years ago.

If they could go after Micro$oft for anti-trust, what couldn't they go after TicketBastard/Live Nation? The ultimate scalper, this lot.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

cboutilier said:


> Fuck I hate scalpers. By extension, I now hate Ticketmaster.


I’m surprised to learn of someone that didn’t already hate Ticketmaster.

A few years ago I took my daughter to a Jays’ game & saw the same assholes that I’d seen at a concert in Sarnia earlier in the year, so I had to explain to her what “scum” was. 

“You know when you find a yogurt container in the back of the fridge that’s been expired for a couple of months & it gets a smelly crust on top? That’s scum. These lazy bums are the scum of the earth. They’re 2 notches below bill collectors & 1 above politicians”.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Roryfan said:


> I’m surprised to learn of someone that didn’t already hate Ticketmaster.
> 
> A few years ago I took my daughter to a Jays’ game & saw the same assholes that I’d seen at a concert in Sarnia earlier in the year, so I had to explain to her what “scum” was.
> 
> “You know when you find a yogurt container in the back of the fridge that’s been expired for a couple of months & it gets a smelly crust on top? That’s scum. These lazy bums are the scum of the earth. They’re 2 notches below bill collectors & 1 above politicians”.


I already disliked them. This is a step further


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

As society has all but destroyed the revenue generated by CD sales, artists now have to make a bigger portion of their living from live performances.

The fact that Ticketmaster is supporting parasitic scalpers makes it even worse.

I’m sorry but the bubble is going to burst. I’m just not going to spend $200~$300 each for my wife and I, then add transportation, dinner....

I priced decent seats at a Queen show a few years back and by the time I was done adding everything up I was easily into a grand.

I have a nice big OLED TV and a great sounding surround system and subwoofer.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2018)

Milkman said:


> I have a nice big OLED TV and a great sounding surround system and subwoofer.


That's my choice too.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

laristotle said:


> That's my choice too.



And it's a bit sad that it has to come to this, but the only way things will change is if we stay home. The change that could come from that may not be what we want or expect, but it will be a change. I'm wondering if music will ultimately move back to the kitchens, living rooms and house parties in reaction to the crazy prices we must pay to see our musical heroes.

Add to this the Auto-tune technology that allows people who have no business making music to become stars. Anyone listened to Drake? Without Auto-tune I'd say he sounds a bit like...


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2018)




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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

I just don’t go anymore. I refuse to pay scalpers.


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2018)

Ticketmaster sued over alleged ‘double-dip commissions’


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I attend a few hockey games down in Columbus, Ohio.

I often have an extra ticket or two come game time.

Last year I was walking in with a few business associates and a scalper offered to sell me a decent seat for $100.

I told him I had two spares (exellent seats) and I would sell them to him for $50 each.

He offered me $20 for both.

I laughed in his face and walked in.

Between the first and second periods, I walked up to the nose bleeds and found a father and son sitting in a shitty area and brought them down to our area (two rows behind the home players bench).

It was that, give them to a sclaper, or tear them up.

You should have seen the look on that boy’s face ( not to mention his dad’s).

I got much better value (and some positive impressions on the customeer).

F*#k sclapers.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2018)

Milkman said:


> I got much better value


Similar situation here.
Back in the 80's, I was visiting cousins in Chicago.
Reading the paper, I seen an ad promoting a weekend concert (Ozzy with Metallica) in Wisconsin, ~90 minute drive.
My only interest was Metallica (Cliff Burton days). Already seen Ozzy twice up to that point.
I was prepared to buy tickets off a scalper but the ticket booth still had some.
8th row center, amphitheater setting.
As we're leaving after Metallica, I tried selling the seats at half price as we're walking back to the parking lot.
No buyers. Gave them to a young couple who were very gracious.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

We have talked about tickemaster and ticket pricing for many years now. We all know by now that the major money comes from live shows over album sales. So it's not surprising that scams are taking place. There has been a huge secondary market for many years now and to date no control over them. They routinely sell tickets for well over the face value. That's the reason ticketmaster got into it in the first place. They seen a huge opportunity for cashing in on a ticket twice via fees. They could not get their hands on Stubhub, eBay beat them to it so they created the "reseller" option on ticketmaster, those pink colored seats you see at 3-5 times face value? So the battle is where and who is getting the scalper business? Ticketmaster wants it. The only answer to the problem is stop buying the tickets. The last time Ozzy was in Toronto I checked a few times leading up to the show. At show time there were still about 200 good seats unsold. Priced at $250 a pop face value it's not surprising. What is surprising is that about 14,000 people paid a minimum $250 a seat and many paid a lot more, to witness an aging rocker that can barely get through the same 10 songs that he has been trying to sing for the past 30 years. So as long as people are willing to throw that kind of money around, the ticketmasters of the world will dupe them.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> ...What is surprising is that about 14,000 people paid a minimum $250 a seat and many paid a lot more, *to witness an aging rocker that can barely get through the same 10 songs that he has been trying to sing for the past 30 years.*


Thanks for my laugh for the day. 

What are these large venues going to rely on once the aging rockers stop touring? Seriously.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

greco said:


> Thanks for my laugh for the day.
> 
> What are these large venues going to rely on once the aging rockers stop touring? Seriously.


Christ, maybe the Jays & all the other CDN NHL teams (the Leafs will sell out regardless) will finally spring for winning rosters?


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

greco said:


> Thanks for my laugh for the day.
> 
> What are these large venues going to rely on once the aging rockers stop touring? Seriously.


Hologram of the retired/dead rocker with a live band, me thinks.

EDIT: Oh $h1t, Roy Orbison Hologram tour in TO next month. A 3-year Amy Winehouse hologram world tour will start in late 2019. 

Roy Orbison died 30 years ago but will perform a Toronto concert — as a hologram | CBC News
Amy Winehouse hologram tour set for 2019


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