Eric Church Exposes Ticket Scalpers on TV Investigation

both, sports teams and the artists scalp their own tickets along with their mgmt. what do you think VIP seats are all about?

Lana, I'm sorry but artists are not getting ripped off by scalping. Fans yes but artists no. The reason is that the tickets are purchased so the artist gets paid regardless of who buys them. In illegal downloads the music is not bought at all. Or else it's bought one time and then copied.

That being said, when I was young I shared music with my classmates all the time. I think it's pretty much the same thing as p2p sharing. Somebody got a new tape and they copied it for everyone. I see very little difference except for the fact that with the web it's not a worldwide share and not 30 people in a 4th grade class. I get the concern with that totally.

But unless people were sneaking into the concert without paying, the artist gets paid even if all tickets are sold and 10 people show up.

And to the other 2 who asked how it can be stopped, well I covered that. Stop paying the crazy prices. When there's no demand prices are cut. Think about it like a store. If Oprah mentioned a product on her show, demand went up and the stores upped the prices to maximize benefit. But once people stopped paying that price, the stores had to regulate prices back down to a level that the market would pay. It's the same for ticket scalping. As long as people are willing to pay $200 for a $50 ticket, the market will sustain those prices. But the minute a scalper is sitting on 250 unsold tickets and nobody budging at $200 he'll start lowering the prices. It's simple economics.

I can use the example of the All For The Hall show. When the show sold out tickets even in the upper level were priced on stubhub for $75 (2.5 x face value including ridiculous ticketmaster fees). Two weeks before the show tickets were down to $50. One week before the show they were $40. 24 hours before the show many were below face value just to try and sell them for something. Despite having Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, and Lady A on the bill the market would not withstand $75 tickets. Many of the tickets never sold at all even at a discount. This was a victory for the fans. If it happens enough, scalpers will tone it down.

Ticket scalping is 100% legal in the state of Tennessee. I don't know why he or any other artist is surprised. If you don't want scalpers to get your fan club tickets, don't allow mailing of the tickets. Make them pick them up at the venue with ID. I'm pretty sure Rascal Flatts does that. You don't even know where you're sitting until you get to the venue. Hard to scalp tickets when the ticket situation is that vague.

As for Ticketmaster and the like, well it's hard to keep scalpers from buying there. But you have to blame the fans for paying the price. I once had tickets to a concert I couldn't attend. I put the tickets on ebay just to try and get my money back. The bid went to about 6X the ticket price. I didn't set the price. The market did. If an idiot wants to pay me $300 for my $50 tickets, who am I to say no?

I can't blame sellers for getting what they can, but it's a business that's too high risk for me. Scalpers run the risk of getting stuck with a lot of tickets and losing money. While I might consider buying a couple of pairs to a hot show, I most certainly wouldn't buy into the hundreds. I'd love to see a report on how many tickets scalpers get stuck with. That will really cut into their bottom line.

If fans want to stop scalping, they will stick scalpers with more tickets by not paying the crazy prices. Once the willing parties stop buying, the prices will drop. I know fans want to go to shows, but I don't think any artist is worth $200, especially a current artist who is bound to come around again. Use some common sense and the problem will solve itself.

And in the meantime, we live in America. America is a free market system. As long as you're breaking no laws, then the tickets you buy are yours. And what you do with them is up to you. Now the bot issue is a different animal. But for people, even scalpers, who legally obtain tickets, in a free market they're free to sell them for what they can get out of them. We sure don't need any more government regulation telling us what we can do with our own personal property.

BTW if you want basement price tickets, just go out to the venue right at show time. The scalpers are practically giving away their remaining inventory. I've paid as little as $5 for a $50 show. Sure there are no guarantees and I can't control where I sit, but at least I get to see the show.

I'm glad he is talking about it but still, what can be done about it??? Is there really any way to stop scalpers????? They ruin it for us all, but how can we stop them?????

I thought I was the only one who cared about this issue...not only are the fans being ripped off but the artist as well!!! The industry was real upset by illegal sharing of music but no one seem to care about this!!! KUdos to Eric!!

Great info. Now what can be done about it?