A Fine Alternative to Ticketmaster
While the rock world chafes under the yoke of Ticketmaster, other parts of the entertainment firmament are trying to do something about it. For several years now a group of fine-arts institutions in Chicago have been looking into an alternative ticket-selling network. It’s not clear that the grand designs of the group will ever come together, and it’s interesting to note that they’re not even primarily motivated by frustration with the organization rock fans know and hate. But they do think they can create a better system, one with three distinct advantages: First, the groups could train ticket sellers to deal with the sophisticated demands and expectations of the fine-arts audience–everything from knowing how to pronounce a painter or conductor’s name to discussing the merits of various subscription programs. Second, of course, a nonprofit setup might make the charges cheaper for buyers. And third, a customized system could open up a brave new world of promotion and marketing opportunities–for example, by creating vast new mailing lists for the organizations involved.
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The project–dubbed “the fine arts ticketing consortium” by participants–had its genesis at the CSO, an organization that, primarily for reason number one above, has always had an in-house phone-ticketing system. In 1991 finance directors at the CSO, knowing they’d have to update the system eventually, began talks with groups like the Art Institute, the Goodman, and finally a whole spectrum of mostly nonprofit arts groups. Different participants had different motives: smaller groups–say, theater companies with no permanent box office–were glad of any opportunity to make it easier for prospective patrons to buy tickets; other, larger companies were concerned more about costs, staff quality, and, some say, the looming monopoly of Ticketmaster, which had recently bought out Ticketron. After “one thousand and one meetings,” as one participant put it, the group approached the Joyce Foundation for a grant to fund a feasibility study. The completed study bore the good news that a system that included major ticket generators–primarily the CSO and the Art Institute–could break even its first year. “It made sense for us to do it together,” says Tom Hallett, the orchestra’s director of finance. “We could save money, open new markets.”
Some enthusiasts see the consortium as necessary for the continued growth of fine arts institutions in a greatly competitive world. “Ticketmaster is great at selling 20,000 tickets to a Neil Diamond concert in two hours,” says Marlowe. “But if I’m a subscriber at the symphony I might call and want to exchange a pair of tickets and inquire about the program, and then order a sweatshirt and put a down payment on next year’s subscription.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Yael Routtenberg.
