Following in the footsteps of sister venue the 9:30 Club, the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland has dropped Ticketmaster as its ticketing company and replaced it with up-and-coming ticket solutions provider TicketFly.
The move is of little surprise because the outdoor amphitheater is owned by promoter Seth Hurwitz’s company I.M.P., and Hurwitz has been critical of Ticketmaster and its new parent company Live Nation Entertainment since the two companies’ recent merger. Separately, Hurwitz has sued Live Nation over alleged anti-competitive business practices.
“We started selling 9:30 Club tickets through Ticketfly at the end of last year,” Hurwitz said in a statement. “They’ve had zero learning curve, and sold a ton of tickets, so we’re giving them the next shot. We were able to work out lower service charges, and no extra charge for printing at home, which was driving everyone nuts and rightly so.”
In addition to the pavilion and the 9:30 Club, TicketFly has also signed ticketing deals with the Knitting Factory chain of venues; Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco; the Troubadour in Los Angeles; and the Brooklyn Bowl in New York City.
Andrew Dreskin, CEO of Ticketfly, said in a statement that he was “fired up” to be working with Hurwitz again and the larger venue. “Not only is it one of the top amphitheatres in the country, it’s one of our favorite places to see a show. We couldn’t be happier that Ticketfly’s move into larger facilities begins with Merriweather Post Pavilion.”
Last Updated on February 20, 2010 by By Alfred Branch Jr.
4 Comments
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I hope more people follow in his path, ticketmaster/ livenation are evil
Great move!!!! TicketFlys website seems pretty simple to use.
Hopefully we will finally see lower charges tacked on to our ticket purchases especially the surprise “convenience charge” that seems to pop up at the last minute at final checkout. Ticketron, Teletron, now Ticketmaster. All that changes is the name. The charges just get higher and higher. Enough is enough!
I think Hurwitz was wise to make this move, when the industry realises they aren’t paralysed by the merger then it will force competitors to increase their ‘game’. Healthy competition is no bad thing and so far Live Nation Entertainment seems to be complacent of this. The fact that the UK competition commission is reconsidering its ruling shows that nothing is concrete so ticket sellers and promoters should remain proactive. The fact that such a large and renowned promoter has made this move will lead the way for others and the competitors should be ready to receive them.
http://blog.fatsoma.com/2010/01/26/fatsoma-ltd-optimistic-in-light-of-the-recent-live-nation-and-ticketmaster-entertainment-merger/