Austin L.

I am one of those consumers who refuse go to any event where I am forced to be a slave to the TICKETMASTER. I am a big fan of an up and coming band and they are booked for a concert (Rufus du Sol) in my town (Chicago) this May. The tickets are reasonably priced at $47.50, but I am forced to buy those tickets through the licensed scalper monopoly - TICKETMASTER. So the additional fees (service fee, handling fee, taxes, etc.) bring my ticket price to over $80 - about $33.00 extra. I have actually considered driving to see the band at their Indianapolis concert, where the tickets are sold through Eventbrite and the service fees total $7.50. No, it would not be cheaper after having to 6 hours, and paying for gas and lodging, but I would feel much better about not giving my hard earned dollars to the monopoly scalpers and making them richer. I refuse to do that, even if it means I don't see this band that I really like. I will end up just passing on this tour and hope the next time they come to Chicago, they have a different booking agent that will not rip me off. Sorry, Rufus du Sol, I love your music, but I have to stand by my principles. If you have weak ticket sales, it may not be that you don't have a strong fan base, it may be that you have a bad ticketing agent.
The only way entertainers and promoters ("LIVENATION" in this case) will get the message that they are losing ticket sales, is through messages like these from fans who refuse to be subjugated by the TICKETMASTER monopoly. This is not the first time I have not gone to a concert because of THE TICKETMASTER TOLL, but I am tired of missing out on entertainment because I have to pay the TICKETMASTER TOLL to enjoy that entertainment. Consumers need to band together and boycott the TICKETMASTER MONOPOLY SCALPER TOLL.
It's way past the time to LIBERATE the consumer (and the entertainers) from the TICKETMASTER.