Ticket costs and fees are simply spiraling out of control, and the secondary ticket market certainly has a lot to do with it, considering people pay sometimes 70% over face value for tickets nowadays. I understand the concept of “free market,” but seriously, can the government not step in at any point and regulate this ridiculous industry? Music fans are suffering and we can’t take it anymore

I tried to purchase lawn tickets to a new LN venue show. How convenient that this show isn’t part of the promotion. LN keeps digging themselves deeper and deeper by cloaking with promotions.

How nice of LiveNation to only partially screw us one day out of the week.

And I am sure Springsteen is “outraged”.

I recently bought lawn seats for the Jane’s Addiction/NIN show at PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ. The ticket was $19, extra fees came to another $15. The fees were 80% the cost of the ticket itself! That’s a lot more than 1/3!

These Live Nation people don’t sound like they are very smart…

They’re not “sacrificing” quite as much revenue as it appears, as anyone who can do basic math will see.

I thought I’d take advantage of this promotion, so I just bought tix for Kid Rock/Skynyrd at the PNC Bank Arts Center from Live Nation. Turns out it was cheaper to buy a 6-pack than take advantage of No-Fee Wednesday, as the 6-pack price per ticket is $24.85, while the No-Fee Wednesday price per ticket jumps 23% to $32.25. As such, we opted for the 6-pack. Here is the itemization of what we paid:

Ticket Charges: $69.00
Ticket Fees: $80.10

Is it just me, or is something SERIOUSLY wrong here?

Here’s the detail:
Tickets: $69.00
Parking: $30.00
Ticket Fee: $50.10
Total Ticket Charges for Event: $149.10

The best part? You pay the $6 “parking fee” per person…even if you take a bus, a cab, or bike to the show.

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.

are they serious. as if buying tix isnt hard enough. just put a final price on it and be done with it. maybe we wont know how much ur screwing us.

this whole clusterfuck of a no fee weds is a joke! ill go to the venue and purchase thank you!

There needs to be a revolution about this. We cannot allow these corporate giants to continually screw us over and over again. We, the consumers are suffering and the artists themselves are suffering, cause they don’t reap the rewards of these jacked-up ticket prices, the middle man a.k.a. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are enjoying this. You’d think in this economy that they’d try to be fairer to the public, but I guess they just get greedier. Physical album sales are at an all-time low, so an artist’s main source of income is the tour revenue. The last thing they need is for fans to get so pissed off by ridiculous ticket prices that they decide to not bother buying tickets at all. Somebody oughta pass legislation on this. I can’t blame bands like Nine Inch Nails for not wanting to do anything with these guys, they’re a bunch of greedy, self-serving bastards.

Such a half-assed attempt to further their chances of a monopoly merger with Ticketmaster. EPIC FAIL.

This is crazy business! First I planned a vacation around seeing blink in Saratoga- then they changed the date they’re playingthere, so, canceled my vacation. Now I’m trying to buy tix to see them in Hartford, CT and good ol Live Nation is trying to charge me so much in fees and taxes, I wanna frickin’ scream!

Excessive service and “convenience” fees at big arenas = good news for bands at small clubs.

Liars
The email I got from Livenation says “all tickets” purchased on Wednesday. Not true.
The lawn tix for Coldplay in Indy are $41.50 without the fees. The $29.50 lawn tickets that I and TWELVE friends had planned to buy STILL had extra fees bringing the $29.50 tix to $42. SO LOST SALE. It’s not the extra $11/ticket. We aren’t going because you’re deceptive and have ripped us off in the past, too. Never again!!!

LiveNation= SCAM Nation

Purchased tix for a show. Paid for delivery. Never delivered. I contacted LiveNation. After several emails, they refused to re-mail the tickets, said I had to pick up at Willcall, even tho I’d paid for delivery and there were WEEKS before the show. Got to venue– THOUSANDS of fans were in line at will call because Livenation never sent the tickets out. Missed the opening act.
Live Ntn SUCKKKKKSSSSS

SCAM Nation

Purchased tix for a show. Paid for delivery. Never delivered. Contacted LiveNation. After several emails, they refused to re-mail the tickets, said I had to pick up at Willcall, even tho I’d paid for delivery and there were WEEKS before the show. Got to venue– THOUSANDS of fans were in line at will call because Livenation never sent the tickets out. Missed the opening act.
INEPT SCAMMERS

Screwball, laughed my ass off to your post.

stop buying concert tickets.

At least they are trying something! You guys are all haters.

I hate Sally. And Live Nation.

this is why i am only going to 2 concerts this summer instead of 5 or 6.
it seems like every show is near 100$ for good seats

Yeah Jermemy great idea !!! Let’s be total douches and not spend money on things we like. … or are you such a hipster shithead that you want tickets for free ? I hope you loose your job becuse no one wants to support what you do… asshole.

i dont even bother with big venues. ill stick to the small places in nj, and nyc to see my shows for $15 to $30. guess i gotta miss some of the big names. rather miss than fatten the doushe bags pockets from live nation.

I just bought tickets for the No Doubt concert in NJ- got lawn seats & what i paid for 2 yesterday….. my friend paid for 1 today! thanksss LIVENATION =)& i have no complaints abt no service wednesday.

Pete – you planned a vacation around seeing Blink-182? Seriously, dude?

I bought tickets yesterday solely b/c of this promo. I always purchase through the box office’s in order to avoid the fees.

Screwball, loved your comment about Livenation only partially screwing us. They still screwed us in their no fees Wednesday. They know how to deceive the consumer in many ways. I hope Congress and Ol Chuck Schumer are paying attention as Livenation and Ticketbastard are trying to become ONE BIG EVIL. But cannot help but to comment to Bobby. How is the secondary market to blame for the convenience fees. Are you blaming the brokers for us being charged for parking in our tickets? I don’t see the brokers charging a “Charity Fee” either. This article is about gouging from the primary seller, not the secondary market. Did you understand the article??????? If you don’t think the artist is out for any extra cash, have you seen the Iloveallaccess packages that the artist participates in selling. If fans are suffering it is because we have not stood up to the artists and told them they are gouging us, gouging us in higher face values, fees when our pockets are not as deep as they use to be.

I’m glad I got a chance to see just about every band I wanted to already. I don’t see how people in their teens and 20’s can every afford to see a concert.

I used to pass on a concert if it cost more than the bands CD. So $15 for Springsteen, Dire Straits, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, elvis Costello. Then it bumped up to $25-$30, then $45..then The Eagles, CSN etc started to have the $100 ticket. Now every show is $75-$100 for a decent seat. I never had $50 let alone $100 for a show when I was a kid!

And you wonder why the music biz is a mess.

Add the Ticket Fees that cost more than the ticket should

They should do a better job of explaining the fees for these shows. I just purchased a 4 pack of lawn tickets for the Killers at pnc arts center in nj. There was a discount for purchasing four at once rather than each individually . The tickets went on sale 2 days before the “no fee” day so there is no guarentee that there will even be tickets left. Not to mention if you purchase tix on the no fee day are the four pack tickets still available? Not to mention they have really went crazy with no tailgating policy at this venue seems to me like you are paying extra money to park which they never did until now and to pay for extra security because a few people dont know how to contol their drinking and crash their cars on the way home and ruin it for the rest of us!

They should do a better job of explaining the fees for these shows. I just purchased a 4 pack of lawn tickets for the Killers at pnc arts center in nj. There was a discount for purchasing four at once rather than each individually . The tickets went on sale 2 days before the “no fee” day so there is no guarentee that there will even be tickets left. Not to mention if you purchase tix on the no fee day are the four pack tickets still available? Not to mention they have really went crazy with no tailgating policy at this venue seems to me like you are paying extra money to park which they never did until now and to pay for extra security because a few people dont know how to contol their drinking and crash their cars on the way home and ruin it for the rest of us!

They should do a better job of explaining the fees for these shows. I just purchased a 4 pack of lawn tickets for the Killers at pnc arts center in nj. There was a discount for purchasing four at once rather than each individually . The tickets went on sale 2 days before the “no fee” day so there is no guarentee that there will even be tickets left. Not to mention if you purchase tix on the no fee day are the four pack tickets still available? Not to mention they have really went crazy with no tailgating policy at this venue seems to me like you are paying extra money to park which they never did until now and to pay for extra security because a few people dont know how to contol their drinking and crash their cars on the way home and ruin it for the rest of us!

Do you people realize that ticket fees are the only way Live Nation gets paid by the artist? Don’t you know it’s the ARTIST you want to see who tells them how much to list? I mean COME ON I assumed people were smarter then this. Venues and Ticketing agent work for the artist, not the other way around. If you have problems with it send emails to the bands and performers you want to see. I mean come on people READ something for once.

I was going to get tickets for 311 in cleveland next week, but see how live nation turns a $36 ticket into a $53 ticket. just went through that last week for a jane’s addiction show. (tickets through live nation) paying the fees one time was it for me. i love how the live nation spokesman spins it, making it sound like ticket buyers should be thankful for thier generosity. anyhow, it is what it is, and i’m spending my future $ on shows at small clubs. those bands/clubs need the support. not live nation

At least through ticketmaster people were able to return tickets. LN is final sale, which makes absolutely no sense. Anyone know how to get in contact with customer service? Their customer service page shows only FAQs and no contact info.

If I go to a concert, I buy my tickets from scalpers instead of having to deal with the thugs at ticketing agencies such as Live Nation. My daughter however just purchased tickets from Live Nation for a concert that were advertised at $20 each and actually cost $35. I called Live Nation and the manager I spoke to seemed to think there was absolutely nothing wrong with their bait and switch tactics. The way free market enterprise works is that the seller induces a buyer to make a purchase based on the advertised or proposed price. If they buyer believes the price is a good value, the money is paid and both parties are happy (like E-bay). In the “Gotcha” world that banks, utilities, airlines and ticketing companies now operate, the simple value based purchasing decision is grossly distorted and one never know what they are actually getting and how much they are actually paying. Slime balls like Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation and his team of clever executives have figured out how to induce customers to buy a ticket then gouge them with outrageous fees on checkout. Michael has directed his team of thugs to explain that the advertised price is the “face” value of the ticket and the amount that the artist gets. From a consumer’s point of view, the face value is an arbitrary amount and doesn’t mean a hill of beans. When a potential ticket buyer considers purchasing a ticket, the total price to attend the concert is the only amount that matters. What is as frustrating and perplexing is that the artists allow these deceptive practices by Live Nation when so many of the artists are socially conscious and that so many of their fans are really angry. Artists speak out on all sorts of social issues but allow a slimy company to underhandedly profit to their fans detriment. All Live Nation would have to do is simply advertise the total cost to buy a ticket instead of some arbitrary, irrelevant portion of the cost. If they did, I might even consider buying a ticket from them.

LIve Nation sucks. I purchase premium parking for PNC center for Toby Keith. My account was charged on May 10th, I have a confirmation number and i have still not received my tickets for parking. Tried to contact them several times and just got the run around. Tried to contact PNC directly and they give you the number for LIve Nation. Just another way to get screwed in NJ.

Write to the CEOS of Live Nation, Ticketmaster, the groups you want to see that are hiking up the prices, and the Justice Department to complain about the TM/LN merger.

I have boycotted buying tickets for shows. I’m with others that have said they just about saw all the bands they wanted to see live. The prices are way out of whack with the economy. Never in my life could I afford a $100 ticket when I was just starting out at a full-time job.

I refuse to pay these “charity fees”, “parking fees” (that don’t pay for a parking space), etc.

Complain loud and clear to these parties because if TM/LN merge, it is back to small clubs and local bands. Refuse to pay these fees. Let the bands know–they are in on it.

Good grief, I get emails from Live Nation telling me about their wonderful $3,500 per seat VIP packages for outdoor venues in my area. Who has that kind of money? I’m going to lose more than that this year due to a pay cut instead of a lay off.

Wake up – we are in a recession and expensive entertainment is the first to be cut.

Also – what kind of a favor are they doing with “lawn seats”. First, there are no seats on the lawn. Also, how are handicap people supposed to get the cheaper lawn seats? Is this discriminating against handicap and older fans?

You know people with hip replacements are not supposed to sit on the ground, lest they pop the joint out. That means rockers like Prince, Eddie Van Halen, and Paul Stanley could not even get lawn seats to a show. What alternatives are being provided for less expensive seats?

The ADA and AARP could get involved with this–let them know!

Live Nation Sucks, Will never buy a concert ticket promoted by Live Nation. Share Holders in the company should be outraged at the ignorance of the company and it’s lack of oversite of it’s own assets. Venues are in poor condition and venues that have been closed, have been forgotten and let to deteriorate.

Never will I again buy tickets for Live Nation promoted events. Discounted tickets are a bait and switch scam that has been going on for years. I don’t buy it for 1 sec.

Live Nation has been offering a $10.00 upgrade ticket for concert goers who have lawn seats. Basically, any unsold pavilion seats are available for upgrade to any people holding a lawn ticket, and all you pay is an additional $10.00. I have purchased lawn seats for three concerts so far this seaston and have upgraded each time. For Kenny Chesney we bought a 4 pack of seats on the lawn at $25.00 each(purchased at the venue so minimal service fees), at the show who opted to upgrade for the $10.00 and ended up sitting in what would have been $80.00 seats for a total $35.00. Same thing for No Doubt. $10.00 lawn seat purchased on No Fee Wednsday, then upgraded at the venue to a seat that would have cost $49.50. For a total of $20.00 we had greats seats. I imagine they are doing this in most markets. If you do your homework and are smart about it, these Live Nation promotions can really work to your advantage.

ConcertFan: where can I learn more about this $10 upgrade? That would be wonderful!! I have searched the LiveNation website and googled without much luck. Thanks for any info you can share!

I am pissed about the parking fees!!! It’s not fair!!

No-service-fees are another scam. They tried to pull the bait and switch on me when I tried to buy DMB tix this Wed (6/24). You link from their site, click on “the Gorge” (venue), click on the band, click on find tix (re-direct to ticketmaster), and bada-bing!, fees back on. Sorry suckers…Live Nation doesn’t sell those seats (but we can show you who does!). They’re laughing all the way to the bank as people question the merge…the merge doesn’t need to happen, it’s already here!

Bobby it’s not the scalpers who are to blame. It’s the fact that people are willing to pay as much as they do. LN and TM hear this so they figure they can rip you off. If a scalper doesn’t sell his tickets he loses $$$. If LN or TM don’t sell some tickets they don’t lose, they just make a little less.

I REALLY AM SORRY FOR EVERYONE ELSE’S PROBLEMS WITH LIVE NATION. BUT I HAVE BOUGHT SEVERAL TICKETS FROM THEM FOR ABOUT 3 SHOWS NOW & I HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH THEM EVERY TIME. THE MOST RECENT ONES WERE NO DOUBT. I BOUGHT MY $15 LAWN SEATS ON A SPECIAL “NO FEES” DAY & THATS EXACTLY WHAT I GOT..NO FEES. & I JUST BOUGHT LIL WAYNE TIX YESTERDAY FOR THE SPECIAL “NO FEE” WEDNESDAY FOR 29.99 & USUALLY THE LAWN TIX START AT 35.75. PLUS WITH THESE TIX WE GET FREE HOT DOGS & SODA AT THE SHOW. NOW BECUASE OF HEARING THESE STORIES IM WORRIED THAT THE DAY OF THE SHOW WE COULD VERY WELL COULD GET RIPPED OFF ON THE FOOD, BUT REGARDLESS..MY TIX WERE STILL CHEAPER THEN THE AVERAGE LAWN PRICE. 29.99 FLAT..NO TAX OR FEES.

I got Blink 182 tickets that were $6.75 each.. so I bought 8.. The total should have come out to $54, instead it came out to $110.. meaning I paid a $56 service fee on 8 tickets (supposedly for parking). That is a $7 service fee on all the tickets.. what kind of bullshit is that? THEIR system is a complete scam.

thanks a lot

thanks a lot

thanks a lot

thanks a lot

I just bought tickets through live nation.com for a club show that were listed at $25. The total charge ended up being $26.50…a dollar and .50 venue fee. I really don’t think that’s very bad. Are you people kidding me???

We are avoiding Live Nation Events. “Cheap Trick” was a no show at Darien Lake in June. No partial refund. Fans of Cheap trick came from other states to see them, even though they were an opener. Too many fees and charges for me. I’ll buy a CD or DVD of my favorite groups and stay home!

I bought “all in” Blink 182 tickets and was sent to the $20 parking garage when I got there. “All in” my ass.

you’re all losers. i agree with jeremy, stop buying tickets if you don’t like it.