OFF: TicketMaster bidding

[Paul Mather]

On Thu, Sep 18, 2003 at 02:45:32PM +0100, M Holmes wrote:

=> The models which would generate highest revenue would be individual
=> ticket pricing with each going to its own highest bidder. The simpler
=> model, adopted by Singapore when auctioning licenses to use cars in the
=> city, is to auction N tickets with the price being set for all at the
=> level of the Nth highest bid.

This is a Dutch Auction, in eBay terms, for those that know about
eBay.  Will TicketMaster be using the Dutch Auction model in its
bid-for-tickets system?  The only thing I remember the article saying
was that in their boxing trial run, a minimum bid was set by
TicketMaster, and the highest "winning" bid was $7000.

=> This loses some revenue but gains on the
=> administrative convenience of tickets being sold at the same price.

...and TicketMaster is all about convenience. :-\

=> 3) This is good in that it garners the consumer surplus previously
=> available to scalpers to the ticket sellers, and gives it, assuming
=> some sort of efficient market, to the acts and promoters themselves.

Well, since TicketMaster deals a lot with sheds that it owns
(indirectly), then I guess they've found a way of diverting money from
scalpers to themselves.  Unfortunately, as the SCI lawsuit shows,
TicketMaster are a bit greedy about sharing the wealth, and would
rather be exclusive ticket sellers for events.  But, hey, why
complicate matters by allowing some kind of choice as to where you can
buy your ticket? ;-)

I do agree that higher ticket sales may allow promoters to solicit a
higher performance fee, so some of the increased profit may "trickle
down" to the actual acts.  Unfortunately, because TicketMaster also
owns the venues, too, in many markets, then are in a position to
dictate terms strongly: accept this deal or find somewhere else to
play!  (Good luck, buddy!)

=> The job of the auction is to find those people who
=> want to spend the money on the ticket rather than other things and those
=> will be the most keen fans.

If you can tell me a way to write off ticket prices as a business
expense, then I'm sure I *might* have a fighting chance showing how
"keen" a fan I am against corporations that routinely buy choice seats
to schmooze clients.  (I know someone who worked in sales for a very
large industrial firm that had to do precisely this kind of
schmoozing.:)  But even then, I doubt my pockets are as deep.  So I
guess I'm not as "keen" a fan after all.  (Note that said schmoozer I
know said he often had tickets go unused, either because the client
wasn't interested in that event, or because he'd have a basket of
things from which to choose.  The upshot being that some of the
"keenest" fans at some concerts were totally invisible...;)

I've heard tell that a lot of those small-theatre shows that the
Rolling Stones played "for the true fans" on their USA tour were
mostly populated by Hollywood stars and corporate types that needed to
be seen to be there.  Luckily, I think it's easier to prove your
loyalty as a fan when you earn $20 million per movie than when you
don't. :-)

=> People who'll travel internationally to see
=> a band won't cavil about paying more for the ticket if it guarantees
=> they'll get one.

Yeah.  I don't know of anyone who complains when they have to pay more
for something.  It didn't happen when Virginia Tech started selling
"guarantees" of getting your free student ticket to Virginia Tech
football games.  (NOT!)

(Prior to that, the actual "keen fans" would camp out on the lawn
beside Cassell Coliseum a day or so before tickets would become
available for a given game, to be sure they were first in line and
could get one.  Now, "keen fans" only have to be sure to get their
[extra] $39 cheque into the Althletics department on time before the
season starts.  On the non-student side, the amount of your "voluntary
donation" determines from which crop of seats you may choose.  The
higher your "voluntary donation," the better your seat will be,
although---it should be stressed---all tickets cost the same price, we
are assured.  It's only the "voluntary donation" that differs.;)

=> In short, IMHO: Bravo Ticketmaster!

Yes, thank you for realising that you, too, can get in on the scalping
game due to the handy monopoly you exercise (at least in the USA).

It seems to me that this is just moving money from scalpers to
TicketMaster, but effectively extending scalping to all seats, not
just the prime ones.  I like TicketMaster about as well as I do
Microsoft, so forgive me if I don't join in your round of applause. :-)

Perhaps one day there will be reached a price level at which large
numbers of people decide it's "too expensive," and hence prices will
have to come down to increase attendance.  Until that time, I guess an
ever-shrinking number of buyers will dominate the prices upwards.

I know that I have stopped going to a lot of live events because I can
no longer afford to.  I'm not the only one, too, who is tired of the
ever-widening and increasing "convenience charges" being piled on.  I
know it rankles others, too, when you pay half as much again as the
face price in "convenience charges."  But, because TicketMaster is the
only game in town in many cases, you either have to lump it or not go.
If ticket prices increase, more people will choose the latter, I
believe.  Bravo TicketMaster!

IMHO, TicketMaster is a de facto monopoly, and they are increasingly
exploiting that position.  Bravo TicketMaster! :-(

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa