Everyone Hates Ticketmaster — But No One Can Take It Down

In offices around the US, the scramble is on to find an alternative to Ticketmaster.
Illustration: Ivan Minsloff

On June 3, employees of the iconic alt-rock band the Pixies gathered outside the Troxy theater in London for an experiment. Armed with five iPhones and customized barcode-scanning software, they spent two hours selling admission to nearly 3,000 fans who had learned of a surprise concert through word of mouth or email. The Pixies created the system with Topspin Media, a company that helps artists like Eminem, Metric, and OK Go market their music and wares directly to fans. “There was no surcharge, no booking fee,” says Richard Jones, the Pixies’ manager. “Thirty pounds is thirty pounds.”

Almost anyone who goes to concerts understands why this is significant. No service charge. Zero. The Pixies and Topspin had sidestepped the seemingly inevitable fees tacked onto any ticket. They had, in other words, sidestepped Ticketmaster, the juggernaut that sells more than 130 million tickets a year for everything from Lady Gaga shows to monster-truck rallies.

Check out the Wired article. Well worth a read...