Unaffordable concerts | A racing machine

Yany Grégoire, professor of marketing at HEC Montréal, makes an implacable judgment on Ticketmaster: the American company “thinks of maximizing [son] profit almost at all costs,” he said. “It’s legal, but not necessarily moral. »

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

For him, it’s the whole resale system that causes a problem. “In industries where there is dynamic pricing, there is not this aspect of resale. The firm normally retains some control. Whereas there, with Ticketmaster, we really lose control. »

The expert points out that for moral reasons and out of responsibility towards their customers, many large companies are committed to keeping prices reasonable. “Ticketmaster, they are really in a system of wild capitalism, he notes. To maximize their profits, they team up with resellers and whoever pays the price, in the end, is the consumer. »

On Ticketmaster, presales, resale and dynamic pricing are the cogs in a gear that generates a price increase. First, by offering a portion of the tickets to “fans” before the general sale, Ticketmaster promotes the demand effect, which increases prices through dynamic pricing. Then the resellers, through mass purchases, also influence this impression of strong demand.

Several media in recent years have also reported that the company does not put all of its tickets on sale at the same time. This results in an increased impression of scarcity. A show may sell out one day and have tickets available the next. Customers feel pressure to buy a ticket quickly, which drives up prices.

Ticketmaster imposes a floor price on resale and receives a capital gain through fees paid by the buyer. This income is added to the first commission obtained during the initial sale.

Ticketmaster in court

Consumers who purchased resale tickets on the Ticketmaster site filed a class action claim in 2018 against the box office and Live Nation, owner of Ticketmaster since 2010. They accuse the defendants of not having clearly indicated “that the price of the verified resale ticket could be several times greater than the face value of the ticket,” the court documents state.

The Press Checked to see if the issue still persisted. Following the steps up to the time of payment for platinum tickets ($417) for the Arctic Monkeys show, we were unable to see at what price these seats initially went on sale and therefore how much extra we asked us to pay.

This request for class action in Quebec has been canceled by the plaintiff’s lawyers since two identical cases have been brought before the courts in Saskatchewan and Ontario and Quebec plaintiffs can join them.

“The proposed class actions in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Ontario relate to the Defendants’ alleged conspiracy [Ticketmaster et Live Nation] with third parties to facilitate the resale of tickets at inflated prices due to the use of ‘bots’ or automated shopping software,” reads the motion to stay the action.

In 2020, a deal was approved in Quebec following another class action that accused Ticketmaster of selling its tickets with hidden fees that could drive prices up to 65%. The following year, a class action lawsuit was filed by a Montreal Canadiens fan who paid over $1,600 for two playoff tickets. These were resale tickets and the original ticket price was not shown.

“When you see a company that has a lot of class actions against it, it’s usually because there’s a problem with the balance between reasonable profit and customer satisfaction,” comments Yany Grégoire, of HEC Montréal.

evenko, Live Nation and Ticketmaster

When an international star is visiting Montreal, she usually performs in one of evenko’s venues: Center Bell, MTELUS, Corona, Place Bell, Parc Jean-Drapeau. The Montreal promoter has been a partner since 2019 of Live Nation Entertainment (LNE), born of the merger, in 2010, of Ticketmaster and the promoter Live Nation. LNE continues to promote shows, but also oversees ticket sales (via Ticketmaster), owns performance halls and manages artists. The new evenko-Live Nation Entertainment joint venture promotes LNE artists in Quebec. Of course, all evenko-Live Nation ticketing transactions are done through Ticketmaster.

Promotion, ticket sales, room rental and sometimes even artist management: everything takes place under the same banner. Regarding dynamic pricing, evenko states in an email response that “this is a common practice that is not unique to our industry and has been going on for several years in North America.” “With regard to our agreements with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, these are confidential agreements whose content we do not wish to share”, adds one.

The case of Place des Arts

Doing business with Ticketmaster does not necessarily mean operating purely according to the rules of the American giant. At Place des Arts, where the system was adopted during the 2016-2017 season following a public call for tenders, this ticket office was chosen on several conditions, including keeping the brand of the cultural complex while using the technology of Ticket master. “We use the platform to sell tickets, but we don’t lose the customer relationship. We sell on the Place des Arts site and not via the Ticketmaster site,” explains Esther Carrier, director of customer service and box office at Place des Arts, where we broadcast more than 900 shows a year. , both local and international artists.

The cultural complex rents its rooms and the broadcaster sets its own prices. Box office proceeds go back to the producer, who shares the profits [entre les artistes et artisans du spectacle], while Place des Arts collects the service charge on each ticket. Dynamic pricing can be used in Place des Arts theaters, at the request of producers, specifies Esther Carrier. But the system is not operated by Ticketmaster. “Sometimes it makes tickets more affordable, it fills rooms. It plays on both sides. As for resale, it is impossible to do so on the Place des Arts platform.