Ticketmaster Update
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At the most recent set of hearings–held, for some reason, before the Transportation and Finance Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee–Congress began considering a new bill that would require the agency to print those fees on tickets. During the meeting, held at the end of last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group presented the results of a small study. (Ten PIRGs contributed information on a total of 80 concerts across the country.) Unsurprisingly, they found that two-thirds of the time the agency did not print service charges. They also found that the average service charge for the events they analyzed, which included both concerts and lesser-priced “family” events, was $5.10. The group purchased their tickets one at a time over the phone, which will skew findings a bit higher because of the per-order fee Ticketmaster adds on to phone charges. But it’s still significantly higher than the $3 average the company claims.
“We found all kinds of complicated ways they rip people off,” says Wood matter-of-factly. “At some venues the box office itself is a Ticketmaster outlet. In other words, you can’t get a $15 ticket for $15. It doesn’t exist.”
The Eagles canceled several shows because of unspecified problems with Glenn Frey’s colon. Insert your own joke here, or calculate how much a pain in the rear costs when it stops shows that would’ve grossed $2 million-plus a night.
Final Stones Item (Maybe)
