Trent Reznor Tells Fans "Don't Buy From Scalpers," Criticizes Secondary Ticket Market

With tickets for the upcoming Nine Inch Nails tour with Jane's Addiction set to go on sale to the public on March 20th, Trent Reznor took to the NIN forum to map out his thoughts on the secondary ticketing market, or "scalping" as it used to be called when the practice was illegal. As Rock Daily reported last week, many artists often keep the best seats in a venue and sell them on the secondary ticket market for a huge profit. Trent Reznor is not one of those artists, as "it's not something we morally feel is the right thing to do," Reznor writes.

"There are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock/pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this," Reznor says. Nine Inch Nails get 10 percent of seats in an amphitheatre for themselves. Usually they're the best seats in the venue, but rather than pass them on to a re-seller to make a huge profit, they offer them to the fans in a presale, taking measures to ensure buyers don't turn around and profit off the tickets.

"We limit the amount you can buy, we print your name on the tickets and we have our own person let you in a separate entrance where we check your ID to match the ticket," Reznor writes, arguing that the entire secondary ticket market could be eradicated by following a similar protocol for all tickets. "The ultimate way to hurt scalpers is to not support them. Leave them holding the merchandise," Reznor tells his fans, "Don't buy from scalpers."

While it might seem hypocritical for Reznor to criticize Ticketmaster's role in the secondary ticket market and then align the band with concert giant Live Nation's venues for the actual tour, Reznor explains, "I fully realize by playing those venues we are getting into bed with all these guys. I've learned to choose my fights and at this point in time it would be logistically too difficult to attempt to circumvent the venues/promoter/ticketing infrastructure already in place for this type of tour." Still, Reznor told fans to be leery of a potential Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger, as "they'll move to an auction or market-based pricing scheme — which will simply mean it will cost a lot more to get a good seat for a hot show. They will simply BECOME the scalper, eliminating them from the mix." Presale tickets for the NIN/Jane's tour went on sale this morning.

Related Stories:

• Report: Artists Marking Up Own Concert Tickets to Profit Off Secondary Market
• Trent Reznor Reveals Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction Tour Dates
• Chris Cornell Quotes Scripture, Responds to Trent Reznor's Twitter Slam

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Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

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