Ticketmaster fees are horrible, and we’re all about bands using clever means to combat the monolith, but The String Cheese Incident is doing it wrong.
The String Cheese Incident doesn’t want fans to have to pay any ticketing fees for its summer tour, and it’s resorted to an unorthodox ploy to make sure people pay face value for admission. The New York Times reports:
With money advanced by the band, each person had enough to buy eight tickets at $US49.95 apiece for the group’s show in July. Once all tickets were in hand, almost 400 of them, they were carried back to String Cheese headquarters in Colorado and put on sale again through the group’s Web site – for $US49.95.
The band is right that fees are a rip-off for fans, but this stunt is an awfully expensive way to get it done. There are alternative ticketing services out there that charge very reasonable fees — Brown Paper Tickets comes to mind. Tickets cost money to sell, so that service commands a fee. The problem is that Ticketmaster’s fees are exorbitant and misleading. The band may have run into problems with an alternative seller because the Greek Theatre likely has an exclusive contract with Ticketmaster, but that’s not the only place to have a concert in Los Angeles. You are artists! Think of a creative solution. If you want to take a stand against the man, the worst way to do it is by handing the man your money. [New York Times]