For months, TicketsNow, the secondary ticket company owned by Ticketmaster Entertainment, has been the focus of scorn and ridicule from fans and brokers alike for the way it handled sales of Bruce Springsteen tickets and other high-profile debacles. But, with one fell swoop yesterday, June 16, the company took a bold step in an effort to improve its reputation.
The company is launching a radical ticket transparency initiative, called “Fans Up Front,” that will post the face values of tickets the company resells and alert fans if primary tickets are still available on the parent company Ticketmaster’s Web site.
In a prepared statement, TicketsNow President Shawn Freeman, who took over for the departed Cheryl Rosner late last year, said the move is part of its long range plans to bolster consumer confidence. “Since our acquisition by Ticketmaster last year, we’ve been working on our long-term strategy to evolve the resale ticket buying experience, based on what customers are telling us they would like to see. ‘Fans Up Front’ is the beginning of this exciting effort.”
Reaction from brokers, however, has been mostly negative, as evidenced from the tone of the comments from the half-dozen that TicketNews spoke to, and from the opposition to the plan that has sprung up on industry message boards.
“This won’t help TicketsNow,” said one Massachusetts broker, who uses the company’s EventInventory broker software system and who spoke to TicketNews on a condition that his name not be used for fear of retaliation. “What this means is that consumers will become more confused because there will be too much information in one spot, and they won’t know what’s going on. I think this initiative will be abandoned in a month.”
How TicketsNow will specifically address the face value question, whether it will disclose the price with all of its fees included or not was not disclosed, and some brokers questioned whether all of Ticketmaster’s ticket information will be available to TicketsNow only or to all brokers. If all brokers do not have access to the same data, TicketsNow could have a distinct market advantage over other brokers.
In addition, some brokers said that TicketsNow could have some issues with correctly mapping ticket locations that will show the true value of the seats for sale compared to the primary seats it also shows.
“I think it’s an interesting public relations move for Ticketmaster and TicketsNow but certainly doesn’t make that platform more attractive to prospective sellers,” said Sean Pate, spokesperson for StubHub.
Pennsylvania broker Bob Chipetz of Center Stage Tickets said he thinks it could be a positive for consumers, which in turn could translate into a positive for the secondary market.
“The more confident consumers are that they’re getting the best deal, the better for all of us,” he said, adding that a lot of sports and live entertainment customers are pretty savvy and have already scoped out potential deals from Ticketmaster and other sites, so TicketsNow is not necessarily hurting their sales by divulging more information.
“They’ll always be a few people who will be confused by all of the information, but in this case too much information isn’t a bad thing,” Chipetz said.
Broker Steve Stone said he was reserving judgment on the plan, in part because he could see pros and cons to the initiative. “If done correctly, I could see how it might benefit consumers if the true face value is reflected, but will they include all the service fees they charge? I don’t know.”
In a letter to TicketsNow’s broker clients that was sent out at the same time of the announcement, Freeman spelled out some of the reasoning for the move:
To Our Valued Partners,
It’s a time of change in the resale ticketing business. We are all operating in a dynamic environment of increased visibility and new transparency. In a move designed to proactively lead change in the ticket resale industry that is positive for all of our stakeholders, TicketsNow is today announcing the launch of Fans Up Front.
It’s clear that the industry is seeking more transparency. And by proactively increasing the amount of information for fans in the ticket-buying process, our goal is to position TicketsNow as the most trusted online marketplace in the industry. For us and for our partners, this ultimately translates into enhanced customer satisfaction, with more favorable positioning for both our brand and the industry overall. It’s about responding to what the fan wants in a way that supports a viable resale industry.
Fans Up Front features include:
-Total Price Transparency – TicketsNow will display the original ticket price in addition to the reseller’s price. While consumers can easily find this information on their own, we are making the face value of tickets readily available to help shoppers make the choices that are right for them – thereby increasing customer satisfaction and understanding around their purchase.
-Know Before You Buy – TicketsNow will tell consumers if original price seats are still available on Ticketmaster. By letting customers know what options exist and providing them with the right tools to make informed decisions, we can position our marketplace as a trusted source of information and develop customer loyalty.
The new Fans Up Front features initially will be available for select performances on some of this summer’s largest tours, including:
-American Idol
-Elton John
-Green Day
-Jimmy Buffett
-Jonas Brothers
-Kenny Chesney
-Kiss
-Taylor Swift
-U2
Over the course of the year, we will explore extending the Fans Up Front features to an increasing number of live events as well as implementing exciting new features that will be announced at a later date.
There is nothing you need to do or change in terms of how you price or upload tickets into the marketplace. These efforts are being done to help improve the strength of the TicketsNow site so that we improve the customer experience, and, ultimately, the total volume of transactions and sales, which benefits all of our stakeholders – including you!
We sincerely thank you for your continued support. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Account Manager.
Best,
Shawn Freeman
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If Ticketmaster is so keen on being Transparent, why don’t they show what is available to the public on their sight when the tickets go on sale as well as all the seats that have been held back for the “Machers” (the big hitters) and have yet to be “sold”. That should be part of the when “Hell Freezes Over” over tour. Better yet, how about showing the breakdown of how many tickets go to Ticketmaster Execs, AEG and/or Live Nation, The Agents (CAA, ICM, WMA etc), The Managers (Front Line etc), the Sponsors, the Venues and how many go streight to Auction, TM “Premium Seating,” streight to TicketsNOw etc. BTW, how about disclosing how many Hannah Montana tickets went streight to Disney. Certainly brokers get some tickets on onsales, but I would bet my last dollar that more than a few come from the above sources. Supposedly, even the CEOs of Ticketmaster both past and present have had tickets “fall” into the hands of the EVIL Scalpers.
OK so this article states “the tone of brokers has been mostly negative” but bases that statement on six brokers who they won’t cite, and out of the two they did cite, one was positive and one was neutral. The more I read of this site, the more I think it needs to become a little more neutral and objective in its reporting for it to be a service to the industry. Right now, this is the Fox News of ticket news…that is, a complete joke.
That being said, the TN move is interesting. I think it’s a good move to increase consumer confidence in the secondary market (although I think this whole cry of lack of consumer confidence is exaggerated). However, at some point TN is going to alienate enough brokers from their system that they will lose consumers due to lack of inventory selection compared to other sites like StubHub and eBay.
Initially Ticketmaster tried to hustle customers over to TicketNow, that didnt work, so basically they are doing a Costanza, (the opposite) this is going to kill the fake posters and fake spec lawn ticket crew of brokers, the customer will be able to plainly see that the toby keith tickets they are about to buy can be found still on TicketMaster at Face Value and purchase tickets there. The whole thing sounds complicated and messy website wise, i agree, customers arent there to fiddle about, they are there to buy tickets, the more information obstacles Ticketmaster puts in front of the customer, the less likely they will buy on impulse (for lack of better term)
Who is the marketing executive at Tickets Now?
You are so right, this is the “Fox News” of ticket news. That is hilarious, these guys are pretty bad. I must say that Miley Cyrus article was absurb and I can recall several other stories besides this one that makes your statement so appropriate. One sided all the way, they push their agenda.
Are you for real? TicketNews is baeically writing a promotional spot for TicketsNow. Yea brokers are upset by this should be better for consumers going to their site. Anytime there are releases ticketsnow will send you to TicketMaster. Good for consumers bad for brokers.
I’m not sure you can consider anyone at ticket news an “executive”. Thats like calling a Fox news anchor a “journalist”.
Yeah, and there are so called journalists at CNN and MSNBC aka Keith Olbermann a former Sportscenter anchor. Give me a break and quit drinking the Obama Kool-Aid. Besides, TNow will probably screw this up because everyone knows face value is subject to quite a bit of interpretation when you add on the ticket service charges, parking fees, charity donations, etc.
I find it very interesting that they will show the face value of the tickets, but not the associated fees, or what the tickets actualy cost – especialy since that number refelcts the true cost of buying a pair of tickets.
I’m looking at a recent purchase for a pair of tickets – Face value 72.00, Total charge 93.33 ( with standard US Mail delivery ). That is an additional 30% over face value.
Why do you suppose that they don’t care to show those actual costs ( we are not talking about other overhead, just dollars paid to Ticketmaster to purchase the tickets )?
If they really want to promote transparency, why not acknowledge that their parent company has made money on any given pair of tickets before they even hit the secondary market?
All major media is a biased gaggle of clowns. CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC….nobody reports without their spin. This site is no different.
The fact that you are tuning in and commenting substantiates this channel as relevant.
Oh, and if it’s such a joke, don’t read it anymore idiot.
I guess the next move is that the NYSE will start to include the IPO prices of all stocks next to their current market values. What, that makes no sense? Neither does this. What an amazingly desperate move by TicketsNow. The value of this company is being destroyed before our very eyes.
Why should anyone care what a bunch of scalpers think?
The whole things sounds complicated? What are you, an idiot? You can somehow figure out how to steal tickets from fans but you can’t figure out how to use a web site?
I can easily see a customer buying tickets and then complaining because they thought the face value price was the actual purchase price
You post is non sequitur and wholly non-substantive. Suggest that you re-read, CAREFULLY.
BTW, a “scalper” is, by legal definition, one who violates the ticket resale law(s). Brokers who operate within the law are NOT scalpers.
1) Customer visits Ticketmaster, attempts to buy tickets for event X, and is automatically re-directed to TicketsNow.
2) At TNow, there advised that tickets are still available on TM, customer follows link provided; go to step 1.
Not really…as a broker, about 90% of the concerts I have tickets for have sold out anyway, so this won’t have any real impact on my sales. I know other brokers who do far more speculating on concerts, they may be impacted, but I guess we’ll see. I don’t think this will be that beneficial for consumers, because say your local U2 concert is sold out and you see a pair of tickets on there for $ 200 a seat and the face value was $ 95 a seat. So what, it’s not like you can get the $ 95 seats anymore.
I have to agree with the original comment… the “news” and “reporting” on this site is pretty ridiculous… If you want to read about what’s going on in the industry there are MUCH better sources.
So why do I keep reading this site? It’s like a train wreck… even though it’s terrible reporting, I’m glued to the screen just seem to if the new article of the day might top the last one as more bias, more slanderous and more misleading. It’s like reading those national enquirer magazines in the check out line… you just can’t help it.
Wow…there are a lot of angry people out there. There seems to be quite a bit of confusion on this. First of all, ticketmaster doesn’t send traffic to ticketsnow anymore so the visitor won’t end up in a vicious circle as stated above. Secondly, the displaying of original price is not confusing at all. It’s about as clear as you can get. Has anyone actually seen it?
It appears to me that this initiative is geared towards the customer. If that is the goal…I think it has been accomplished. If you satisy customers, more will come. If that is true, it would impact the brokers in a positive way. Of course stub hub and ebay (and every other TNow competitor) are going to criticize…they don’t have access to this information so they are unable to provide the “transparancy” that ticketsnow is providing to the secondary marketplace customer for the first time ever. If you’ve ever been privvy to the calls that these companys get…the number one complaint from the customer is that they thought they were buying tickets at face value. Now they can purchase tickets knowing exactly what the face value was and feel better about their purchase. Seems like a no brainer to me.
This site is most like Fox News in that not only is it biased, what they consider ‘news’ is laughable at best. And why all the name-calling, are you just bitter that you’ll be out of business in six months?!?
There isn’t a lot of interpretation needed…face value is usually defined as the value on the face of the ticket, which typically shows service fees, etc. TM could, I guess, define it simply as the regular price before fees. It really doesn’t matter either way, the new system is only going to drive more brokers away, thus limiting their inventory and giving a greater edge to other ticket vendors. I’ve heard rumors that Ticket Solutions will be fully linked in with StubHub within the next year. Once that happens, say goodbye to EI and TicketNetwork. Any broker with a brain will be with Ticket Solutions at that time.
What’s most ironic about the whole Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger is that Congress seems to be scrutinizing the secondary market because of a few incidents of TM manipulating the market but I haven’t heard a word about how the merger would basically set the sky as the limit for increases on the already inflated ticket fees. If you want to ‘protect the consumer’ why not start there?
Yes and no. You assume that Ticketmaster is the primary ticket agent for every event on TicketsNow, so they would have that face value pricing information. But they don’t. How will this system work with, say, Chicago Cubs tickets? The Cubs go through Tickets.com. It won’t be that easy for TN/TM to provide face value and availability on those events, and they make up more than you think. Secondly, eBay and StubHub could require users post that information, but its unneccessary, especially on eBay, which is based on free market prices of what consumers feel the tickets (or anything else for that matter) are worth. If a ticket has a face value of $ 50, it won’t stop a buyer from bidding $ 25 or $ 100, depending on what the ticket is worth to them.