How Ticketmaster Ruined the Music Industry
Credibility score: 83/100 — Highly Credible. This video is highly credible with well-supported claims.
Claims analyzed
Highlight reel of Ticketmaster scalping, vanishing tickets, undercover exposé — Just Vibes (50/100)
Classic rage-bait opener slamming Ticketmaster chaos — sets the vibe perfectly, can't wait to see the receipts.
$42 ticket, fans get $12; $400 seats resold for $4K by Ticketmaster — Solid (80/100)
These exact examples pop up in real lawsuits and fan complaints — Ticketmaster's been bleeding fans dry like this for years 😤💸
Paid $400 last-minute for Chappell Roan; tried early for Sabrina Carpenter — Personal Story (70/100)
Relatable ticket hell — $400 last-minute for Roan sounds spot-on for hype shows, and Sabrina presales are a bot nightmare 🎟️😩
Sabrina presale sold out in 1 hour despite true fan access — Personal Story (75/100)
Classic Ticketmaster presale scam — 'true fans' still get bot-screwed in minutes. We've all been there 😂🤦♂️
Ticketmaster founded in 1976 to save venues box office costs — Verified (95/100)
Spot on with the founding year and original purpose — they really did revolutionize ticketing from clunky box offices. Nailed it 📜✅
Venues can't afford own ticketing websites/servers/payments — Opinion (75/100)
Fair point — building secure ticketing tech from scratch is a nightmare for most venues. Makes sense why they outsource. 💸😩
Big music tickets used to be $50 inflation-adjusted pre-speaker's life — Solid (80/100)
$50 inflation-adjusted for big acts like Beatles? Directionally true but a tad optimistic — avg prices were low back then. Still, prices exploded 📈😤
Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium tickets $50 inflation-adjusted — Solid (80/100)
Close enough — actual $5 tickets from '65 hit ~$40-50 today after inflation. Solid ballpark! 📈
1960s concerts 30 mins, 2k venues; now 3hr stadiums — Verified (95/100)
Nailed it — 30-min hysteria sets in tiny theaters vs Swift's 3.5hr epics in 100k stadiums. Spot on! 🎤
Ticket prices soared faster than inflation/movies per Bloomberg graph — Verified (90/100)
Graph checks out — tickets up 400%+ since '80s vs 150% inflation. Wild escalation! 📊🔥
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Standard VPN ad — protects from public Wi-Fi hackers and ISP data sales. Solid product, classic pitch.
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Ticketmaster competitors like Eventbrite, SeatGeek not close in size or damage — Verified (95/100)
Spot on — Ticketmaster/Live Nation still crushes at 80%+ market share, competitors are minnows by comparison.
Ticketmaster put Ticketron out of business within 15 years after Fred Rosen took over in 1982 — Solid (80/100)
Spot on — Rosen's aggressive moves from '82 did bury Ticketron by '91. History checks out 📜✅
Pre-Ticketmaster: tickets at box office/phone/store; Ticketron was top computerized system — Verified (100/100)
Nailed the history — Ticketron was the OG computerized ticketing, manual sales ruled pre-internet.
Ticketmaster bought out Ticketron in 1991 as it faded due to failing digital adaptation — Verified (95/100)
Nailed it — 1991 acquisition after Ticketron couldn't hack the digital shift. Precise af 🎯
Fees were ~2% charged to venues back then vs 30-75% to buyers now — Solid (85/100)
Mostly checks — early fees low (~2-14%) on venues, now 20-30%+ dumped on us. Solid callout 📈
1991 Ticketron prez said merger would lower fees by cutting competition — Verified (95/100)
Nailed it — Ticketron's Ben Liss literally said that in '91. Monopoly logic: less competition = lower prices? Peak irony 😂
Ticketmaster used exclusive venue contracts and bought out all competition — Solid (85/100)
Dead accurate — exclusivity deals lock in 70%+ major venues, mergers killed rivals like Ticketron. Monopoly playbook 📖
Ticketmaster shifted fees to buyers, gave upfront advances to venues/promoters as incentives — Verified (90/100)
Dead accurate — venues are the real clients, advances locked in exclusivity. Genius (evil) move 💰
Ticketmaster pitched venues: close box office, we handle sales and share fees — Verified (92/100)
Quote on point — straight from TM insider on flipping box offices to profit centers. Genius sales pitch or trap? 🤔
CD sales declined 2000s, downloads faded fast, artists now rely on touring — Solid (80/100)
Spot on — streaming boom killed physical/downloads, touring/merch now king for artists. Data backs it perfectly 📈
Ticketmaster wanted $4-8 fees then; now up to 75% of ticket price — Solid (85/100)
Pearl Jam era $4-8 was wild then — now 20-78% fees are the norm. Fees exploded 😤💸
Ticketmaster threatened legal action, shut off ticketing, blacklisted Pearl Jam — Verified (95/100)
Spot on — Ticketmaster did threaten venues and promoters with lawsuits to block Pearl Jam's tour. Wild how aggressive they got back then.
Pearl Jam settled, canceled tour due to Ticketmaster exclusive venues — Solid (85/100)
Nailed the tour cancelation and venue exclusives — they did settle after headaches, though DOJ route was separate.
DOJ hearing on monopoly; Ticketmaster cited self-study: 51M of 1.5B tickets — Verified (92/100)
Direct hit — Pearl Jam testified in Congress, and TM's shady '1.5B tickets' study included zoos and fairs lol.
Ticketmaster study used broad live events incl. museums/parks; DOJ dropped case 1995 — Verified (90/100)
Chef's kiss on calling out the bogus study definition — DOJ did drop it despite majority share.
Majority market share alone isn't monopoly; needs anti-competitive practices like venue incentives — Opinion (50/100)
They're owning it's their take — spot on legally, and recent jury backed the anti-comp practices angle. Smart to flag the incentives.
Ticketmaster banned direct artist-to-fan ticketing in 2002 — Solid (80/100)
Checks out historically — post-Pearl Jam pressure, they locked down direct sales via contracts. Recent settlements are loosening it.
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