“Why the Black Keys shut out hundreds of fans, causing chaos at the Wiltern”

This is the best thing that ever happened to Safetix.

Now most people know.

Technology solves problems. It enables a step forward. But something is always lost in this transition.

For years, the touring industry discussed “paperless” tickets. Now, everybody going to a concert has a smartphone, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford the ducat. So, just like in recorded music, physical has gone by the wayside, enabling the act to control the ticket.

Who controls the ticket? That’s another thing debated for decades in the business. Is it the act, the promoter, the ticket-seller or the building or..?

Now I’m not saying brokers have not provided a service. I’m also not saying that acts don’t take advantage of the secondary market. But if the acts want to control who gains entry, isn’t this their right?

Never forget, Ticketmaster always gets the blame. It’s got to be somebody’s fault that little Trevor and Madison can’t see the show. But the acts are revered, it can’t bet their fault, so the blame is shifted to Ticketmaster, which is paid to take the heat. Ticketmaster just does what the acts tell them to do, but no matter how many times this message goes out, no one seems to believe it.

Then there’s the problem getting the message out to begin with.

How big a Black Keys fan could these excluded buyers be if they didn’t know this was a non-transferable ticket show?

Oh, maybe Ticketmaster and the Black Keys didn’t make the message clear. But next time they will.

But now that it’s news, more people will know how Safetix work. That’s how hard it is to get the message across these days. In a world where Fox and the rest of the media are arguing whether the whistleblower is a bad actor.

Acts hate the secondary market because they don’t get the uplift.

Unless they sell directly to the secondary market to not only gain more profit. but guarantee sales.

But concerts are different from other products for sale, the customer is not always right, even though an ignorant press often says he is. In a world where if you complain, someone’s afraid to speak to the veracity of such a claim, where you can return stuff with impunity at Costco, enabled customers think they can beat the system. But when demand exceeds supply, the tables turn. Those who get tickets are thrilled, and those left out just can’t wait to go the next time. As for those complaining today, do you think they’ll stop seeing concerts in the future? Of course not! They’ll become more informed, the same way they learned about Stubhub, et al, to begin with. And now the secondary market will have to police its wares. Shouldn’t resellers know what can and cannot be resold, isn’t this their business?

Then again, the purveyors have screwed up ticketing to begin with. You’ve got to join the fan club, get a credit card…by time of the public on-sale date, oftentimes fewer than 10% of the tickets are available. Why do acts do this? Because the credit card company and the fan club pay! It’s extra money. The acts say it’s for marketing, but the truth is it goes straight to their bottom lines.

So, if a gig is “oversubscribed,” if all the tickets are gonna sell instantly anyway, with Safetix shouldn’t we also go to randomized ticketing? As in everybody who says they want a ticket signs up and then the computer picks buyers at random?

Now in theory Safetix shuts out the secondary market. But it won’t be long before scalpers sell the smartphone the tickets are purchased on. Yup, a cheap smartphone for expensive tickets. It’s a war I tell you.

But now the act and ticketing company have a new weapon.