Need for ticketing innovation

Posted by dylanml at 3:41 PM


A recent article in Wired magazine titled, “Everyone Hates Ticketmaster- But No One Can Take It Down,” highlights the struggles that startups are having in cracking into the lucrative ticketing business. Ticketmaster is the unquestioned giant in the ticketing industry, and despite its lack of innovation and how despised it is among consumers, it continues to dominate the industry while facing only minor threats from competitors. While new online ticketing companies like Ticketfly and Veritix are slowly gaining business, they still face an uphill battle in challenging Ticketmaster’s dominance.
This is a sobering reality, as one would think that Ticketmaster’s widespread unpopularity due to gouging customers on ticket prices would lead to an innovative upstart to begin to seriously cut into their market share. This hasn’t happened and it is vital to examine this when one discusses the possibilities of innovation, especially in relation to challenging the established corporate structure. What becomes evident when reading this article on Wired, is that individual consumers have very little power in changing the dynamics of this industry. Ticketmaster is able to continue to reap huge profits because it provides concert and sporting venues with what they want, high margins on ticket prices. Ticketmaster can continue to charge exorbitantly high prices as long as they are benefitting the concert and sporting venues that host these events. Because of the nature of the industry, it is the venues, rather than the end consumers who ultimately dictate which ticket provider is used. Thus, until widespread boycotts are organized by disillusioned concert goers, or venues decide to take an ethical stand against such high “service fees” being charged to consumers, it looks as if Ticketmaster is here to stay.

 

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4 comments:

  1. Aric Rindfleisch said... November 28, 2010 at 11:25 PM

    Like many of us, I have been victimized by Ticketmaster as well. This is another domain that is in need of democratization. It will only be a matter of time before this wall falls as well.  

  2. jessicamclinden said... December 1, 2010 at 9:44 PM

    I am the typical consumer you are referring to: I have left one purchase experience feeling used and overwhelmed with anger just to return many more times. You bring up a good question, how do we as individual consumers stop this vicious cycle? As many times as I say "note to self: don't use Ticketmaster again", I do because they dominate selling tickets. I believe that in order for Ticketmaster to lose its place as the leading ticket selling forum, some event that had a serious negative impact on their reputation would have to occur. For example, if Ticketmaster sold a large sum of tickets to a Cubs game, yet all of the tickets were faulty, all of the consumers would get together to collaborate with their anger of this situation in common. Unless some event like this that brings a large portion of the Ticketmaster users together, there is no reason the users will ever intervene and act upon their anger.  

  3. dylanml said... December 4, 2010 at 9:41 PM

    I think artists and venues that oppose the ticket selling system of ticketmaster will have to come forth if they ever want to see a change in the the ticket distribution market place. Individuals would be hard pressed to pass on buying a ticket to see their favorite band because they are protesting ticketmaster. But is a large venue, say Madison Square Garden, or a huge touring act were to protest ticketmasters practices, I believe we would see real change in the industry.  

  4. TJ said... December 6, 2010 at 9:01 PM

    I also have to admit to hating Ticketmaster but using it for nearly every concert I have ever gone to. I would like to see someone on campus create a program peerly to distribute student tickets so students don't have to sit in waiting periods but instead just go by time like most concerts.  

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