What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where acts utilize paperless ticketing to benefit their fans, to make sure those who really care can get inside the building at a fair price, and these same fans think they’re getting screwed and want the right to a paper ticket?<\/p>\n
StubHub has been e-mailing its patrons all day the following message:<\/p>\n
\nDear _____,<\/p>\nAs you read this, companies like Ticketmaster are working to implement a restrictive paperless ticketing system that could deprive you of your essential rights as a fan. <\/p>\n
With restrictive paperless ticketing, you pay for your ticket – but you don’t own it. The transfer of your ticket is controlled by the company you bought it from. <\/p>\n
This means you may not be able to give your extra tickets to a friend, sell them to another fan, or even donate them to a charity. This could also mean the end of competition in the ticketing market, making it so companies like Ticketmaster could charge whatever fees they wanted and you’d have no alternative but to pay. <\/p>\n
Fortunately, we can fight this. The Fan Freedom Project was created to give fans like you a platform to voice your outrage toward restrictive paperless ticketing, and to learn what measures you can take to protect your rights. <\/p>\n
We’ve signed on to support the cause. And we hope you’ll lend your voice to the fight today by registering at www.fanfreedom.org. <\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
The StubHub Team <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This is so fucked up I almost don’t know where to begin.<\/p>\n
No one trusts Ticketmaster, so it can’t take its own ads.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like Mubarak protesting he’s changed.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not about Ticketmaster changing, it’s about Ticketmaster doing what the acts say.<\/p>\n
Ticketmaster is not a rogue company out to screw the fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, we can argue all day long about their fees, and I’ve got no problem with competition, but so many of those fees have got nothing to do with Ticketmaster whatsoever.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re instituted by the promoter or the building in the name of profit, because the acts’ deals are so heinous.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a subterfuge to gain profit, these fees, which Ticketmaster gladly takes the blame for.<\/p>\n
So can we put to rest the fiction that the problem is TICKETMASTER???!!<\/p>\n
So let’s start with the acts.<\/p>\n
They want the fees so it makes them look good.\u00c2\u00a0 Look, I charge almost nothing!\u00c2\u00a0 You’re paying double face value because of big bad Ticketmaster! The real story is the promoter can’t make a profit at face value, he’d go out of business, but the act would rather you blame the businessman than the "artist".<\/p>\n
And then there are acts that scalp their own tickets and\/or get kickbacks themselves from Ticketmaster fees.<\/p>\n
And Ticketmaster only puts on sale what the act and promoter tell them to.\u00c2\u00a0 Ticketmaster doesn’t hold back seats, the act and promoter do!<\/p>\n
And then the buildings, so often cutting themselves in with "facility fees", hold back seats too, some to resell, others for season ticket holders, and this is seemingly impossible to stop and the end result of all the above?\u00c2\u00a0 YOU CAN’T GET A GOOD TICKET!<\/p>\n
So you go to the scalper and overpay to get inside the building.<\/p>\n
But what if the act was on your side?<\/p>\n
That’s what paperless is all about.\u00c2\u00a0 Making sure you get a seat, and making sure that the act gets all the profit.\u00c2\u00a0 You do want the act to get the profit, right?\u00c2\u00a0 Or would you really rather it go to StubHub or the broker?<\/p>\n
So if we go to paperless, resellers are fucked.\u00c2\u00a0 So like a coal company lobbying to blow up mountaintops so that you can get power, StubHub is telling you to eliminate paperless for your own good.\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
You see if we start conserving, if we go to alternative energy sources, the coal and oil companies are screwed.\u00c2\u00a0 So, like the tobacco companies they tell you there’s no problem with their behavior, it’s actually good for you!\u00c2\u00a0 Huh?<\/p>\n
The car companies eliminated the trolleys in Los Angeles for their own damn profit.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t a theory, it’s documented.\u00c2\u00a0 But if the Red Cars still existed, I’d be able to get downtown faster than driving, even if it was still the original hundred year old system!<\/p>\n
This e-mail is all about StubHub’s self-interest, not yours.<\/p>\n
Do you think Goldman Sachs is on your side?<\/p>\n
I have never ever resold a ticket in my life.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only because I’m not an asshole looking to profit on the back of the act, BUT BECAUSE I WANT TO GO TO THE SHOW!<\/p>\n
That’s why you’re buying a ticket, right?\u00c2\u00a0 Because you’re a fan and want to be inside the building!<\/p>\n
If you’re buying to resell…\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll ultimately get screwed, like day traders, you can’t compete with the professionals.<\/p>\n
And you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.<\/p>\n
In my life have I been unable to go to a show?\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, fewer than five times.\u00c2\u00a0 AND I GAVE MY TICKETS AWAY!<\/p>\n
Maybe because tickets didn’t used to cost an arm and a leg.\u00c2\u00a0 But truly, having unused tickets was not such a problem.<\/p>\n
The freedom of paper tickets?\u00c2\u00a0 THAT’S THE FREEDOM TO BE SCREWED BY RESELLERS!<\/p>\n
So who’s left out?<\/p>\n
The rich…\u00c2\u00a0 Who want to overpay to be at the event of the season and are not real fans.<\/p>\n
And people who are casual fans.<\/p>\n
Come on.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll wait all night to get inside the building and now you’re complaining that you can’t resell your paper tickets, which ultimately leaves you completely out of the building or overpaying to get inside?<\/p>\n
Paperless ticketing is the best thing to happen to fans in eons.<\/p>\n
And if you don’t know this, you’re ignorant.<\/p>\n
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