Jump to content
Jambands.ca

Ticketmaster variable pricing


mark tonin

Recommended Posts

I remember reading about this a while ago. It looks like it may happen fairly soon, if it hasn't already. Has anybody seen this in action yet?

-------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/business/19pricing.html

Ticketmaster Plans to Use a Variable Pricing Policy

By BEN SISARIO

Published: April 18, 2011

Buying concert tickets may soon be more like booking an airline flight: what you pay could be determined by when you order.

The concert giant Ticketmaster announced a partnership Monday with MarketShare, a data analyst, that will look at ways to introduce what is known as dynamic pricing, which allows promoters to adjust prices according to demand. In theory, this would allow promoters to sell the most sought-after tickets at a higher price, while filling up the least desirable seats by charging less. Not every event would be sold that way. But it would also allow the company to compete more effectively against scalpers like StubHub.com.

“Efficient pricing is one of the most important and untapped opportunities to unlock value for fans, clients, artists and teams,†Nathan Hubbard, chief executive of Ticketmaster, said in a statement.

Ticketmaster, a division of Live Nation Entertainment, sold about 140 million tickets last year. But as more ticketing companies enter the fray, the company is under pressure to develop more competitive technology. Fred Rosen, Ticketmaster’s chief executive in the 1980s and ’90s, recently began a new ticketing company, Outbox, a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil and the promoter A.E.G. Live, Live Nation’s biggest competitor.

Ticketmaster said it would begin to introduce its new pricing policy for concerts and sporting events this year. Notably, the announcement said it would be introduced at Live Nation’s amphitheaters, where low attendance contributed to the company’s $228.4 million loss last year.

Some sports teams, like the San Francisco Giants, have been experimenting with dynamic pricing for years, but the music industry has been slow to adopt it. Concert promoters and theater owners tend to favor it as a way to sell more tickets and squeeze out scalpers, but artists often worry that they would appear to be exploiting their fans’ loyalty by maximizing price.

In the announcement, Mr. Hubbard said that Ticketmaster was “relentlessly focused on improving the fan experience and giving our clients amazing tools to sell more tickets.â€

Some critics of the industry say fans play little part in the deal. “The people who run dynamic pricing want to pitch it as a benefit to fans for lower-priced tickets to some events,†said Joris Drayer, an assistant professor of sport and recreation management at Temple University, who studies the ticketing industry. “The reality is that this is a purely revenue-driven concept.â€

Despite last year’s losses, pay for Live Nation’s top executives rose last year, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The total compensation for Michael Rapino, its president and chief executive, was $15.9 million, more than double his 2009 pay of $6.7 million. Irving Azoff, the executive chairman, made $22.8 million, and Mr. Hubbard earned $5.7 million.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man, how many ways can one company screw us over?

First they take their service fees. Then they get a piece of the secondary market with Stubhub and now they hope to take an even bigger piece of the pie by utilizing "dynamic marketing"?

Won't this just force higher prices in the secondary market as well?

Damn.

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scalpers deal directly in the "what the market will bear" area of pricing and Ticketbastard continues searching for a way to get in on it.

The result will not eliminate scalping, it will eliminate the original retail end of the process. Ticketbastard will get rid of scalpers by replacing them and selling tickets themselves for what the market will bear, right out of the gate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

curious as to the formulas defining dynamic pricing

would this result in ticket prices for the pixies at the civic centre being reduced and some senators matchups going through the roof?

perceived sellout rates over time plus actual sales equals percentage increase in price lol

wow consumer protection has gotta trump this

are concert tickets like oil speculation

i think i might be staying local

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're right Hey Now, concert tickets are getting to be like oil speculation. It's gonna get crazy.

I think I might soon be done with going to the high priced shows. Most of the bands I like to see will either be retired or dead in a few years anyway.

I'll stick with the local festivals which I hope will still be priced reasonably.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not really sure why TB has to "compete against scalpers". This will have zero positive consequences for the general public. We have lost once again.

That is why this is such a joke. TBastard tries to spin it so that they are doing US a favour by "competing" with scalpers.

Huh? If one is competing with scalpers, then one is doing business as a scalper. This is not an attempt to STOP scalping, it's simply an effort to get the profits that scalpers are making and getting them back to TBastard. I highly doubt any of the artists will be seeing any increased revenue from these tactics whatsoever.

Fuck you again TBastard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...

Ugghhh.... The 2019 Barrie Stones ticket buying experience explained in 2011

Nicely tucked away in Ticketmaster's website as well https://www.ticketmaster.ca/h/how-are-ticket-prices-determined.html?_ga=2.250383046.1126587937.1551232815-1285241308.1542215830

And explained in a link edger found in another thread here https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swifts-ticket-strategy-brilliant-business-or-slowing-demand-630218/

So gross.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/20/2011 at 10:16 AM, Freak By Night said:

You're right Hey Now, concert tickets are getting to be like oil speculation. It's gonna get crazy.

I think I might soon be done with going to the high priced shows. Most of the bands I like to see will either be retired or dead in a few years anyway.

I'll stick with the local festivals which I hope will still be priced reasonably.

Wow.  I said that almost 8 years ago, and followed through on none of it! I go to more high-priced shows than ever, and pretty much all of the bands I like are still on the road.

Edited by Freak By Night
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...