Congrats to the band and its corporate partners on what was certainly a lucrative launch to the upcoming tour, and sympathy to those, like me, who wasted hours yesterday under the delusion that there really were tickets available to ordinary fans. Those tickets were available only on the secondary market, but in a stroke of good fortune the primary broker for the NY shows, Ticketmaster, also operates in the secondary market. Nothing more convenient than one stop shopping.
I'm a bit dejected I won't be able to attend a show, but truly distressed that this has happened here, with regard to this. I re-viewed the band's appearance on the Colbert report from a few years ago, remembering the discomfort with teasing about corporate sponsorship.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/grlcgn/the-colbert-report-radiohead
Today, this has taken on a new meaning.
The shock and anger coming from the band are insulting. One response has been to caution against obtaining seats by the only means available. The warnings against purchasing seats on the secondary market are just a threat to punish those willing and able to pay the exorbitant, exploitative prices commanded on the secondary market, the only means to secure a seat. And what real expectation is there that these threats will be carried out? Ticketmaster certainly does not want to discourage activity on its secondary site, TicketsNow. None of the actors here are incentivized to enforce prohibitions against resale, and if those restrictions were enforced only fans would suffer, not those who have profited from all of this.
More insulting is the feigned shock that all of this happened. There is no doubt that the band did not willfully prevent fans access to tickets, or that they're the ones who profited, but the careless indifference towards ticket distribution, particularly in light of the thoughtfulness that goes in to other forms of interaction with fans, demonstrates a disregard that is disheartening. There was never a question that things would go down this way. Back in January, the NYT reported on the sanctioned corruption in New York's ticketing industry.
But well before that, in 2009, the New Yorker exposed malfeasance at Ticketmaster.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/08/10/the-price-of-the-ticket
"In 2008, Ticketmaster expanded its reach within the secondary market by purchasing TicketsNow, but in doing so the company set itself up for a potential conflict of interest. There appeared to be a strong incentive for Ticketmaster to get tickets into the hands of brokers who operate on TicketsNow, and to reap hefty commissions."
What happened yesterday has happened before, and it is disingenuous to claim surprise at yesterday's events.
Comments