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Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, others agree to show ‘junk fees’ after Biden pressure


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Several large companies, including Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, are vowing to end surprise "junk fees" following a pressure campaign from the Biden administration.

 

"Junk fees" are extra costs tacked on at the end of purchases, often for concert tickets, resorts and rentals. President Joe Biden has made ending the practice a priority and invited representatives from Live Nation, Airbnb, SeatGeek and others to meet with him Thursday


Both Live Nation and SeatGeek agreed in advance of the meeting to commit to show all fees up front for ticket purchases, the White House said. Iowa venue xBk is expected to as well. Airbnb in December began including all fees in the final price after calls from the White House to do so.

 

"Today's voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout," the White House said in a statement. "It is also just a first step towards addressing junk fees in the economy."

 

"This is a win for consumers in my view, and proof that our crackdown on junk fees had real momentum," Biden said Thursday following the meeting, adding that there is more to do.

 

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Live Nation and SeatGeek agreed in advance of a meeting with President Biden to commit to show all fees up front for ticket purchases.

 

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Event ticket prices are absolutely batshit insane these days. Performers like Taylor Swift and Beyonce get a lot of attention because they're so expensive, but I bought my wife 4 tickets to see Le Tigre this summer and it was almost $250, 30% of which is fucking fees for digital tickets. It's criminal.

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I’ve started going to more local sports events, and I appreciate that Seat Geek has an “include fees” option when browsing tickets. I’ll pay $22 to see a Reds game, but I bristle every time I see a $12 ticket and then get $10 in fees. 

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Ticket prices in general are insane. For pretty much everything... concerts, comedy shows, sporting events, theme parks, museums, movies... everything...

 

I feel like the prices of tickets has gone up faster and much more aggressively than most other things.

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2 hours ago, ort said:

Ticket prices in general are insane. For pretty much everything... concerts, comedy shows, sporting events, theme parks, museums, movies... everything...

 

I feel like the prices of tickets has gone up faster and much more aggressively than most other things.

Definitely. With concerts it used to be exciting to get tickets for your favorite musician.  Price really wasn't an issue.  Now you're fighting ticket resellers like crazy and all the bullshit fees.  Soured any love I had for concerts.  

You also could not keep me out of the movie theater in my teens and early twenties.  Last week my family of 4 went to the theater.  4 tickets, 3 drinks, large popcorn, and 1 bag of candy was $85. It's not affordable. We had "fun" but not $85 fun.  Theaters for us are now a once or twice a year deal. Younger days I would see 3 movies per month.

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7 minutes ago, DarkStar189 said:

Definitely. With concerts it used to be exciting to get tickets for your favorite musician.  Price really wasn't an issue.  Now you're fighting ticket resellers like crazy and all the bullshit fees.  Soured any love I had for concerts.  

You also could not keep me out of the movie theater in my teens and early twenties.  Last week my family of 4 went to the theater.  4 tickets, 3 drinks, large popcorn, and 1 bag of candy was $85. It's not affordable. We had "fun" but not $85 fun.  Theaters for us are now a once or twice a year deal. Younger days I would see 3 movies per month.

I have some clothes with deep pockets, so I save a lot by bringing my own snacks and drinks.

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26 minutes ago, DarkStar189 said:

Definitely. With concerts it used to be exciting to get tickets for your favorite musician.  Price really wasn't an issue.  Now you're fighting ticket resellers like crazy and all the bullshit fees.  Soured any love I had for concerts.  

You also could not keep me out of the movie theater in my teens and early twenties.  Last week my family of 4 went to the theater.  4 tickets, 3 drinks, large popcorn, and 1 bag of candy was $85. It's not affordable. We had "fun" but not $85 fun.  Theaters for us are now a once or twice a year deal. Younger days I would see 3 movies per month.

 

@sblfilms

 

d07LRBH.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:p 

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10 minutes ago, Nokra said:

 

@sblfilms

 

d07LRBH.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:p 

 

 

It is the thing I tell people at industry events all the time, if anything will kill movie going it is US going crazy on pricing. 

 

My indoor theater is actually relatively inexpensive. $6 for all ages 3+, and you can get 2 large drinks and a large popcorn for $14.

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36 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

 

 

It is the thing I tell people at industry events all the time, if anything will kill movie going it is US going crazy on pricing. 

 

My indoor theater is actually relatively inexpensive. $6 for all ages 3+, and you can get 2 large drinks and a large popcorn for $14.

 

Is this part of your online advertising budget you sneaky sumbitch?

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4 hours ago, ort said:

Ticket prices in general are insane. For pretty much everything... concerts, comedy shows, sporting events, theme parks, museums, movies... everything...

 

I feel like the prices of tickets has gone up faster and much more aggressively than most other things.

 

Tickets to see even mid tier comedians at hit point are fucking ludicrous. And if it's a headliner, fucking forget about it. It was $80 to get tickets in the balcony to see John Mulaney in Boston before fees, so $100+ face value, they got snatched instantly, and the secondary market had them at $250+. It's bananas. 

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15 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

Tickets to see even mid tier comedians at hit point are fucking ludicrous. And if it's a headliner, fucking forget about it. It was $80 to get tickets in the balcony to see John Mulaney in Boston before fees, so $100+ face value, they got snatched instantly, and the secondary market had them at $250+. It's bananas. 

 

Yup, same here in Portland when I saw John Mulaney. I think tickets were about $150 each after all of the fees. 

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2 hours ago, Jason said:

 

because Ticketmaster scalps their own tickets

Even if they're not directly doing it themselves, they have no incentive to do anything about it. Bots pay "convenience fees" just like everyone else, then the ticket gets re-listed on their own platform, from which they take another cut again.

 

Then factor in that Ticketmaster either has an exclusive deal with or straight up owns like 80% of show venues in the US and Canada, so there's no way around them. They can make the price whatever they want. Artists can't do anything about it (if they even want to), fans can't do anything about it.

  • True 1
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16 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

Even if they're not directly doing it themselves, they have no incentive to do anything about it. Bots pay "convenience fees" just like everyone else, then the ticket gets re-listed on their own platform, from which they take another cut again.

 

Then factor in that Ticketmaster either has an exclusive deal with or straight up owns like 80% of show venues in the US and Canada, so there's no way around them. They can make the price whatever they want. Artists can't do anything about it (if they even want to), fans can't do anything about it.

 

Can't artists do something about it? Genuinely asking. I recall someone limiting the sales of their concerts or stand-up shows to just through their website (unfortunately, the example of Louis C.K. comes to mind as I recall) which is one way to circumvent this? You might limit your audience, your ticket sales, or available venues, but artists can do something about it can they? They're incentivized not to, of course, but still.

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Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

Can't artists do something about it? Genuinely asking. I recall someone limiting the sales of their concerts or stand-up shows to just through their website (unfortunately, the example of Louis C.K. comes to mind as I recall) which is one way to circumvent this? You might limit your audience, your ticket sales, or available venues, but artists can do something about it can they? They're incentivized not to, of course, but still.

It's probably doable for someone like Louis C.K., but most average touring artists/comics can't afford to just voluntarily blacklist themselves from Ticketmaster/LiveNation venues.

 

LiveNation also has a management division called SME that's a pretty massive player in the entertainment industry. So there are a lot of artists that are also managed by LiveNation.

 

The company has become so massive that they are unavoidable pretty much every step of the way.

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  • 3 months later...
6 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

Good luck enforcing that.

I feel like Ticketmaster doesn’t really need to hide their shitty ticket prices anymore.  Even with inflation and everyone complaining about ticket prices, they all seem to sell out no problem.  It’s a needed change for sure though. This is also desperately needed for things like Airbnb. I’ve seen hosts try to charge insane fees.

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