Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't

Re:Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't by TeMPOraL on Sunday September 24, 2023 @08:20AM (#37632430)

I understood there is no difference between what the comment I replied to is describing and what its parent is, because of the (brought by others elsewhere in the thread) fungibility of money. Whether the artists get their cut directly, or just enjoy cheaper venues because Ticketmaster happens to be owned by the same party that owns the venue, that's literally the same benefit - just instead of being paid directly, the artists get their expenses covered. That's my understanding of what's going on with plenty of those deals.

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Re:Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't by mattmaroon on Sunday September 24, 2023 @08:31AM (#37632506)

Artists don’t pay for venues, promoters do, so they’re not cheaper, but your point that Ticketmaster has more revenue (and thus more to pay the artist) so they may get paid more indirectly is valid. But also, Ticketmaster has a monopsony. Or nearly so. One might argue (and many artists have ) that the artists would get paid more if there were a market for their tour rather than one company owning the vast majority of large venues.

The only things I’m sure of are that A. consumers would benefit if there was an actual market and B. It is hard to imagine one happening without government intervention.

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Re:Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't by TeMPOraL on Sunday September 24, 2023 @05:28PM (#37637378)

> One might argue (and many artists have ) that the artists would get paid more if there were a market for their tour rather than one company owning the vast majority of large venues.

I think that's where the "reputation laundering" angle comes into play. With its unique position, Ticketmaster gives artists plausible deniability. "Nothing we can do about it", "evils of capitalism", "a monopolist captured the market, government doing nothing", etc. - say artists, for whom the image they project is a core part of their market value. With a properly functioning competitive market, those same artists would have to either get much less, or answer some inconvenient question about ticket pricing.

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Re:Why Scalpers Can Get Olivia Rodrigo Tickets and You Can't by mattmaroon on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @11:04AM (#37660438)

Yes that’s true but also, one may argue, as Pearl Jam did in court, that Ticketmaster has a monopoly on ticket sales and this hurts Artist revenues. Artists would get more from those fees if they could negotiate with multiple different ticket sellers. And that was before TM merged with Live Nation which is also now the exclusive promoter at most of the biggest venues in the world, and by most, I mean over 2/3.

It’s a monopsony.

The only real winners are Ticketmaster live nation

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