Radiohead/Ticketmaster
Hi Bob:Went online to get Radiohead tickets this weekend. I had a first draft of Master’s Thesis due (and I work fulltime) this past week and could not find the energy to get up at 9:00 and drive to a "nearby" ticketmaster…30-40 minutes away nowadays?! Jesus, they used to have ticket shops everywhere, now I swear they only have in person services at Macy’s – at least in Massachusetts…
Anyway, here is the receipt:
Radiohead — $55 bucks per ticket. Yep, I am one of those Radiohead fans, so fifty bucks ain’t no biggie to see them. But like most fans in America, and I am sure you get this all the time, what is the deal with the corruption of Ticketmaster? What is worse is Radiohead is on this tear about everything wrong with the system…then they book 30 Ticketmaster venues.
Convenience Fee = $11.85 per ticket — Ha! Convenient for who?
Building Facility Charge = $7.00 per tickets — I guess the suckers (I mean fans) are now paying for "renovations" to Great Woods (Tweeter Center). I mean seriously. Why the eff do I have to pay more fucking money to help rebuild Great Woods, when they charge $11 for a bottle of Bud Light or $6 for a Dasani Water inside? Is the owner short on cash? With those kinds of margins, these people seriously have to stick it up the ass of the fan one more time? God forbid some hack guy gets the ax in the bloated admin office to cut costs…
Processing Fee = $5.15 per ticket — Didn’t Ticketmaster already charge me $11.85 per ticket for costs? Another $5?!
Grand Total = $158 — Wow. And then to think they will charge me $20 to park, $11 for a watered down beer inside (or in most peoples’ case $33 for at least 3 beers to get some level of a buzz for the show) and maybe another $6 for a water on the way out. Add another $100 for two people…
I am a Radiohead nut. I loved the way they distributed In Rainbows and most of their business practices and fan friendliness, yada yada yada — the enhanced EP imports, etc. But their entire US tour is a HUGE carbon imprint (a thing they loathe and blast others for doing) and totally sells out to Ticketmaster. After their whole anti-label thing, they can’t figure out some way to work around these people? Maybe its just a symptom of playing in America and the structure of the system that is stacked against any band, but it just seems as if the band is not putting its total effort behind being against the system.
Phish did it better. The thing about Paluska was that he didn’t come out publicly all the time and denounce the system in a Holier Than Thou way. Their fans simply knew their actions would speak louder than words. Not that Radiohead are chomping at the bit all the time. But, Phish just did it when they could (which was often) and Paluska realized that THEY had the leverage. That’s right, the artist had the leverage. Phish, like Radiohead, could sell out just about anywhere anytime. So they just negotiated better deals when booking shows. Every venue wanted Phish. They just stuck to their guns, recognized some reality and chose their battles carefully and, most importantly, quietly. Their fans loved most of their moves and it sparked endless chatter among online web geeks about their intent. But they didn’t come out and blast Glastonbury, make a big artistic statement about the industry, announce war and then not let it add up in the end. While I think Radiohead helps fans more than most and stick true to many moral methods for fans, this is a critical year. Things are changing in the industry big time. But while this is happening they stopped short. I guess 2 + 2 does equal 5…at least for the fan.
Thom Yorke is my favorite songwriter who is still workin’ right now. In Rainbows is a great record. The band is as limitless as one can get and they treat the fan better than most. But Jesus…$158.00 for two tickets to a concert!!! Then add another $80 in goods.
Ugh…the Power is in tha Hands of the Band!!! When there is a will, there is a way. Radiohead figured out how to do this with releasing their albums. They seriously could not figure out how to do this on tour?! When their fans need them most! If anyone out there could have done this better, it was Radiohead.
A little irritated the Monday after buying tickets for a concert.
Jamie Hellen