Thanks for coming tonight. You've Been A Great Audience !

hungryheart

Is it just me, or are we getting ripped off in this country to go to Live Concerts ?

I saw my first live gig in 1974, Slade at Newcastle City Hall. Since then I have been to hundreds of live concerts, plays, and theatre shows.

However, the recent arrival of booking fees, credit card charges, secondary ticket agencies etc has spoilt my love of live music !


It is time the thousands of M.S.E members said enough is enough to the excesses of recent years. Namely ;

1) The likes of Ticketmaster charging £5.00 booking fees on top of concert tickets face prices ! Per ticket!!

2) Horrendous over the top postage rates. £4.00 delivery charge for putting two tickets in a first class envelope ! I think not.

3) The secondary ticket market getting fat on sold out events such as Take That, Please stand up Seatwave, Viagogo, and all the other ones advertising your weekend paper !

4) Golden Circle tickets/Corporate packages/ Travel deals which again take away tickets, and jack up the prices for Joe Public UK !

5) Worst of all is EBAY :mad: !
People are obviously buying concert tickets to make a fast buck, pure and simple. They aren't going to the gigs. Excess profit is the motivation ! EBay cannot sell Premier League football tickets onto a third party, and they should be stopped from selling on concert tickets too. NOW !


Touts used to stand outside the venue with a handful of tickets.

Now they have a laptop, an EBay site, or a posh office advertising in the Sunday press.

Is it just me or I am the only one who feels like this.

The UK concert business is fleecing us.

Ticketmaster and their cousins are fleecing us !

Secondary ticket agencies are fleecing us !

EBay with its hundreds of greedy get rich quick ticket sellers are bleeding us dry !


What can we do ?


I would love to hear your thoughts on this, because music is my life, but the parasites are slowing bleeding the live music circut to death.


This whole site is about saving hard earned cash, taking on the big boys, and giving us value for money.


It is time for Martin and the M.S.E. site to shine their torch in the direction of the UK live music/booking agencies ?

worried_jim

"parasites are slowing bleeding the live music circuit to death" I share this sentiment in principle, however live music has never been more popular with more events selling out then ever before so the evidence that the public is happy to go along with it as they vote with there feet and wallets- something is only worth what someone is willing to pay- the public are obviously willing to pay. Nice idea for a thread !

busy_mom_2

As long as people continue to pay the prices these companies will continue to charge them and yes I agree but then I sat there and bough take that tickets and payed the booking fess and postal fees.:rolleyes:

I do draw the line though at paying over ticket value. i buy quite a lot from ebay but i will NEVER pay over inflated prices and I don't agree with it. I could easily bough more than the 3 tickets I needed and sold them on ebay and ended up going for free but do't agree with it but again if people pay it then it will continue

greenface

agreed to it all i often wonder how much the artists get paid we all talk up Wayne Rooney on £xxx grand and Stevie g on £xxx k but ive just seen Mr Elton John in a decent seat at £120 each ticket and the venue was full holding thousands act lasted about the same time as a football match.
So my point is not only do we pay an extra £10 for our tickets in fees and postage (you often cannot pay cash at the venue so we dont have a choice on this )but the artists/venues themselves are charging over the odds for the act in the first place. I enquired about Amy Winehead tickets in the summer to be told £75 for decent seats (this artist and others like it havent even had a number one hit and are trying to command top prices.

Infidel

Welcome to the real World.

Music is just a business like any other and hence those at the top want to screw as much money as possible from those at the bottom.
To offset the high costs of gigs these days i personally try and download music for free, in other words, money saved by doing this helps pay for tickets.

I should add that Ebay could wipe out a large proportion of touting in one fair swoop if they really wanted to, but they make too much money out of it, so that's unlikely to be happening at a cinema near you soon.

floyd

I go to an average of 250 gigs a year both in the UK and abroad and the ticket charges are the same everywhere. We went to see the same band in London and Hamburg within days before Christmas and were charged the same pound for pound at both places and because of the crap exchange rate the beer was more expensive in Germany :eek:!!!

In the US the ticket prices are worse given the average 'joes' wages but they have alot more DIY shows as they don't have the same stupid entertainment license laws as the UK so you can hold a show in someones basement or car park (this does vary in some states).

I would recommend Ticketweb as they have started giving the option (for some shows anyway) of an E-ticket that you print yourself so you don't have to pay the hefty fees involved although I think there is astill a booking fee there aren't as many handling charges smashed on top.

I suppose I don't get as annoyed by stupidly inflated ticket prices as I don't go to big arena shows anymore because the atmosphere is rubbish. These days I would much rather support bands that have the heart to jump in a transit van with their gear and put themselves on a tour, not to make money but because they love playing to people. I am off to a free gig tonight that will probably be packed to the rafters, the beer will be cheap and I can get out of the car park in 2 minutes

Going to small shows like this, you get to see bands before they become famous and start charging big bucks.

DIY-music rant over

Stephb1986_2

I'm in total agreement with you. Like the Oasis gig later this year at Heaton Park Manchester, I seen tickets for £75 my OH found them for £45 the fact that its a park that was left to the public of Manchester by Lord Heaton doesn't matter they are still charging these extortionate prices, It was £50 per ticket for Ricky Hattons fight in Manchester, and i've also been to a few comedien acts last year the likes of Jimmy Carr, Ross Nobel. I also went to see the Foo Fighters while they was in Manchester at £50 a ticket too.

It is very expensive now to go and see live acts and im 22

Steph xx

hungryheart

Lets start with EBay shall we. :mad:

Go onto their site right now and there are thousands of concert tickets on sale at vastly inflated prices. Oasis.Take That. Uncle Tom Cobbly and all.

Who makes money ?

The seller who has no intention whatsoever of going to the show. They just want an easy buck ! Cold cash is their motivation, nothing else. Meanwhile 14 year old schoolgirls queue outside arenas nationwide in the rain and cold for Take That tickets,and don't get them. Why? Some shark has got them . And put them onto EBay at twice the price ten minutes after the gig sold out !!

AND

EBay. No doubt even at a small percentage of the ticket price, they will make millions from the fees.
They have been criticised for even selling tickets for charity shows such as Live8, but they dont care. Business is business.


Is it just me ? Is this not morally wrong ?

What can we do to stop these blood suckers from killing live music in this country ?

The credit crunch is here. People are feeling the pinch. SO WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THE LIKES OF EBAY MAKING HUGE PROFITS ON CONCERT TICKETS.

I don't have the answers I'm afraid.

But maybe someone on MSE has.



The technology exist for tickets not to be sold onto a third party for a profit. But as usual in this country big business rules. Joe Public gets fleeced.

Tom Waits played the Edinburgh Playhouse last year, and you only got in with proof of purchase of the ticket, the credit card it was charged to, and some form of photo ID. No tickets could be sold, so no profiteering on this highly prized show.

You cannot sell a Premier League football ticket on EBay. Its illegal. Time for the same to apply to the music business ?


Your thoughts please. Tell me I am not the only one who feels this way.

Stephb1986_2

Maybe a ticketless entry but have to scan the card you paid with?

Or maybe we should vote with our feet and not buy tickets from anyone anymore and not bother going to these gigs.

Steph xx

greenface

once again agreed about eBay and music = but then you have wrestling //// boxing tickets ///chelsea flower show ///theatre tickets where does it end ...???
HOW ABOUT THIS ONE AS A GOOD IDEA = PAY AT THE DOOR ON THE NIGHT
No just thought touts would get there first buy all the tickets and sell them 200 yards down the road at inflated prices

Blue264

floyd wrote: »

I suppose I don't get as annoyed by stupidly inflated ticket prices as I don't go to big arena shows anymore because the atmosphere is rubbish. These days I would much rather support bands that have the heart to jump in a transit van with their gear and put themselves on a tour, not to make money but because they love playing to people. I am off to a free gig tonight that will probably be packed to the rafters, the beer will be cheap and I can get out of the car park in 2 minutes

Going to small shows like this, you get to see bands before they become famous and start charging big bucks.

DIY-music rant over

:T

Totally agree with you there!
I hate arena gigs where you end up watching a tv screen rather than the dot in the distance. I tend to stick to smaller gigs by less well known bands and secret gigs by the better known bands...they still happen, especially in the run up to the summer festivals.

One of my mates has a knack for finding secret gigs by scouring the internet for rumours a couple of weeks before Glastonbury and the likes.