andPOP » TicketMaster

Charlie Sheen Tour Sold Out In Minutes

Megan MacKay — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:39:41 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Charlie Sheen’s upcoming mini-tour to Chicago and Detroit has sold out in under 18 minutes, says TMZ.

The show, called “My Violent Torpedo of Truth,” set a Ticketmaster record this weekend as tickets were snapped up like hotter-than-hotcakes. Sheen’s camp is looking into adding more dates to the tour, as well as some additional stops in new cities.

Sheen’s website also claims that $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Red Cross to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

$1?! That’s a little skimpy considering some tickets are going for nearly 100 times that price!

This can’t be doing anything good for Sheen’s delusional huge ego… In fact, we’re sick of him already.

If Charlie Sheen comes to your city, will you be going to see him?

Live Nation, Ticketmaster Merge Gets Approval

Sara Harowitz — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:26:24 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

The U.S. Department of Justice approved the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merge on Monday, according to rollingstone.com. The joining of the two biggest pieces in the $4.4 billion (U.S.) worldwide concert business is sure to affect every live-music fan, artist, agent, manager, and promoter.

In a statement, Ticketmaster’s chief executive, Eagles manager Irving Azoff, called the decision “a great win for fans,” but some people in the business fear the combined power of the two companies will make it hard for outsiders to promote and sell tickets.

“It’s disappointing to me,” said Buck Williams, who represents R.E.M. and Widespread Panic. “It’s just another step in eliminating competition.”

“They’ve pulled the rug out from under the entrepreneurs, to some degree,” he added.

The new Live Nation Entertainment, which will begin its merge as early as tomorrow (Wednesday), will own a large chunk of the business: Ticketmaster’s Front Line management company represents the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, Christina Aguilera and many others, while Live Nation’s clients include Madonna and Jay-Z. Ticketmaster has exclusive ticketing deals with most of the major U.S. arenas, while Live Nation owns and operates 140 top venues overall, including most of the ampitheatres. And Ticketmaster alone sells about 140 million tickets a year.

These combined assets make some people in the business optimistic. “My hope and belief is that there is going to be an expanded opportunity for touring artists to [experiment with] a variety of different products,” said Jim Guerinot, manager of the likes of No Doubt and Nine Inch Nails. “And I look forward to trying those things.”

Azoff and Live Nation’s CEO, Michael Rapino, said that the new Live Nation Entertainment would have the power and flexibility to make more money, cut costs, and ultimately reduce ticket prices and service fees. The Justice Department mostly agreed, but before approving the merger, U.S. attorneys forced Ticketmaster to license its software to top competitor AEG Live and forbade the combined company from retaliating against any concert venue that uses a non-Ticketmaster outlet.

The agreement “promotes robust competition for primary ticketing services and preserves incentives for competitors to innovate and discount, which will benefit consumers,” said Christine Varney, an assistant attorney in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, in a statement.

Some artist representatives are still skeptical. “I don’t think prices are going to come down,” said Tom Windish, an agent who represents Animal Collective, Hot Chip, and dozens of other top indie artists. “I don’t think it’s going to change that much. I don’t see Live Nation getting less money, I don’t see artists getting less money and I don’t see Ticketmaster charging a surcharge that’s lower than [what] they can possibly get. If anything, it’ll be higher.”

Ticketmaster Intoduces ‘All-In’ Price For Perez Hilton Presents

Vanessa Baker — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:24:30 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Perez Hilton at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards

For the upcoming “Perez Hilton Presents” Tour, Ticketmaster is doing something groundbreaking – they’re actually charging customers the price advertised on their tickets. Those purchasing tickets for the North American tour will not pay any hidden convenience or service charges. Even taxes will be included in the price, although customers choosing mail or UPS delivery for their tickets will have to pay an additional shipping cost.

The tour – the first put on by the celebrity blogger – will feature Ida Maria, Ladyhawke, FrankMusik, Julian Perretta, Eric Huchinson, Semi Precious Weapons and Sliimy.

Metallica Uses Paperless Tickets In Canada

Joelle Tomlinson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:49:56 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Ticketmaster is using “paperless “ tickets for the first time in Canada for Metallica’s October 12 concert at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. This system was implemented in order to ensure that the tickets will go directly to those who purchase them. In other words, it’s bad news for scalpers.

Instead of buying a normal, printed ticket when they went on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday, fans purchased an electronic ticket using their credit card. According to charttack.com, they’ll then have to swipe their credit card and provide another form of identification to gain entry to the venue.

Ticketmaster told CBC News about the change in ticket distribution. “It eliminates the ability for you as a purchaser to transfer that to somebody else,” said MTS Centre general manager Kevin Donnelly. “You physically need your credit card to now enter the building, so you cannot then resell it unless you’re giving your credit card away at the same time.”

This is not Metallica’s first time with the “paperless” ticket approach. They also used the ticket system at a show at London, England’s O2 Arena.