tickets

Live Nation hopes to sell higher-priced tickets

When I first heard about the proposed merger of music promoter and venue-owner Live Nation and ticket broker Ticketmaster, I predicted that ticket prices for big-name musical acts would rise. Now that the merger's completed and ticket revenues are down for the first part of 2010, Live Nation is admitting that it's hoping to charge higher prices for desirable concert seats.

The reason? Simple economics. As long as customers are willing to spend $500 or $1,000 on front-row seats, why sell those seats for $150 and let a scalper or broker make all that extra money? In … Read more

Crave giveaway of the week: Ticket to the Webby Awards

We interrupt this weekly Crave giveaway to make the following important announcement: CNET.com and CNET TV have won a total of three Webby Awards.

Earlier this week, we learned that CNET TV picked up the People's Choice and the judge's award in the technology category, besting video offerings from Al Gore-funded Current TV, Engadget, and The Onion (of which we're big fans).

Additionally, CNET.com was the People's Voice Winner in the guides/ratings/reviews category, out-polling Web sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Metacritic, another property of CBS Interactive that earned the judge's … Read more

Apple patent suggests ticket sales on iTunes

Apple wants to sell concert tickets on iTunes and deliver the goods directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch, according to a patent filed by the company.

The system is called Concert Ticket +, and the folks at Patently Apple have whipped out their Slap Chop and broken it down into easily digestible chunks. Concert Ticket + features the ability to include special offers with the ticket, such as discounted food at the venue, or fire off media files to a ticket-holder's phone, such as a recording of the concert.

The 404 537: Where we're hoarding empty bottles of hot sauce (podcast)

With Wilson nursing a flu, Natali Del Conte comes in to save the day and somehow manages to work up the nerve to challenge me to a habanero chili pepper eating competition. Clearly she doesn't know I was president of Edison High School's Fire Eater's Club and eat Scoville units for breakfast. Then again, her last name is Del Conte, which automatically gives her an advantage. May the best Justin Yu win.

Due to the depressing rain New York suffered over the weekend, the three of us spent the last two days indoors--and how each of us passed our time reveals a bit about our personalities. Natali checked out the 3D showing of "Alice in Wonderland" to see if the movie lives up to the hype; Jeff gives himself a pat on the back for finishing three video games in two days; and I discovered the marketing magic that is The Dragulator, a promotional campaign for RuPaul's show "Drag Race" that lets you see how you'd look as a drag queen, and I'm not gonna lie--I make this look gooooood.

It's been a long time coming, but Fandango launched a new "mobile ticket program" today that enables moviegoers to download a scannable bar code to use in lieu of a physical movie ticket.

The service will definitely save time and paper, but it also opens up a whole new world to hackers, who could easily forge a ticket using a fabricated bar code. The program is currently being tested in more than 100 theaters, including a few in NYC, so we'll try it out and bring you a special report soon.

EPISODE 535 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Four men charged in computerized online ticket scam

Four men accused of using a network of computers and automated software to buy up online tickets to concerts and sporting events and selling them at a profit were indicted on fraud, conspiracy, and computer hacking charges, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

They allegedly made more than $25 million by re-selling more than 1.5 million of the "most coveted tickets" to performances by Bruce Springsteen, Hannah Montana, Bon Jovi, Barbara Streisand, and Billy Joel; shows including Wicked and The Producers; sporting events such as the 2006 Rose Bowl and 2007 Major League Baseball playoff games at Yankee … Read more

Police set up Olympics e-crime teams

London police are setting up two specialist teams to deal with aspects of e-crime and ticketing fraud surrounding the 2012 Olympic Games.

One of the teams will be dedicated to tackling e-crime related to the Olympics, such as attempted hacks on computer systems and fraud aimed at sponsors and prospective visitors. The other will focus on the prevention of ticketing fraud and other physical crime and will investigate ticketing Web sites. Recruitment is under way for the Olympics e-crime team, which is already investigating Web sites suspected of being set up to launch phishing attacks.

The computer systems at the … Read more

FanSnap--another way to find cheap concert tickets

Tuesday's post on using Craigslist to buy secondhand concert tickets drew a response from a company called FanSnap, which uses live feeds to aggregate ticket listings from online marketplaces and broker sites (such as StubHub and TicketNetwork) and eBay auctions.

FanSnap would argue Craigslist is fine for price-sensitive fans who don't need to go to a particular show and who are willing to meet and negotiate with other individuals, pay cash where necessary, and run the risk of buying a fake ticket. (Although the only time I've ever seen a fake concert ticket was in 1989 on … Read more

Will Craigslist drive scalpers out of business?

Ticket scalping has been a hot topic in the music industry for years, causing a lot of uproar and complaints among music fans.

The sad fact of the matter is that lots of parties in the music industry try to sell secondhand tickets for a markup. Ticketmaster owns a premium resale service called TicketsNow. It also owns a resale exchange, TicketExchange, which lets any individual (including scalpers) buy or sell a ticket. Even artists and managers frequently take their allotments and sell them on broker sites for a markup, as The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Worst of all is … Read more

Poll: Are concert ticket prices too high?

Let's face it: Musicians' income from CDs and downloads is on the wane, so they have to make a buck where they can.

Ticket prices for local venues in New York City can be pretty steep. Small jazz clubs can easily run $30, plus a two-drink minimum.

Steve Knopper's "High Ticket Prices Could Hurt Concert Business" article in Rolling Stone at least pointed to relative "bargains" among the big summer tours. Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen's shows have ticket prices under $100; Dave Matthews Band's seats go for $32 to $75; Pearl … Read more