By Alfred Branch, Jr.

A New Jersey-based music promoter has launched a new ticket selling website that allows any venue hosting a public event to sell tickets.

Called Ticketmuncher.com, the site was created by Dan Gargano, owner and CEO of Audible Spectrum Records, and was born out of frustration with the current ticket selling business. “We do our own events and were going through Ticketmaster, but they were charging fees of up to $6 per ticket and required a sizable deposit, and frankly we didn’t have the money,” Gargano said.

Buy Sell and Go with confidence at StubHub

The site caters to venues and promoters seeking to sell a minimum of 10 tickets. There are no contracts and the venue or promoter can set the price of ticket, but Ticketmuncher.com charges a flat fee of $2 per ticket plus 1.9 percent of the value of the ticket. For example, a $20 ticket would carry an additional charge of $2.38, which can be passed along to the buyer or absorbed by the venue or promoter.


All ticketing for the event is handled electronically; once a purchase is complete the buyer will receive an e-mail with a PDF of the transaction that will contain a confirmation number. To gain entry to the event, they must have at least two of the following: the confirmation number, a valid picture ID, the credit card the purchase was made with or a copy of the PDF e-ticket. The venue hosting the event will receive a PDF “guest list” that will contain the first and last name of the person who is attending the show, the confirmation number and last four digits of the credit card to verify the purchase.

Buying and selling on the site is free and requires users to register, again for free. The venue or promoter selling tickets to the event, however, must provide a credit card on which Ticketmuncher.com will place a hold on of 20 percent of the total value of the total number of tickets the event hopes to sell. If the event goes off without a hitch, the hold will not be processed.

Audible Spectrum Records has worked with more than 3,000 bands through its various websites, including the music-rating site Getthedoit.com, DIY booking site Audiblespectrum.com and the message board Bandstory.com. The company promoted 180 shows of its own in 2006, according to Gargano, mostly rock and alternative. By July, Gargano hopes Ticketmuncher.com will carry at least 1,000 events. The site went live earlier this month and Gargano said they plan to launch a marketing campaign in the coming weeks. “Our goal is to automate the whole music industry,” he said. “We hope to be a full-service, one-stop-shop.”

Gametime ad touting concert tickets for 60% off prices at competing websites