a friend was telling me they've started doing this for some shows. it is the wrongest thing i have ever heard.

well, maybe not ever. but it's pretty bad.

you could fly out to coachella for the weekend and see her plus over 100 other bands for cheaper!

They should be boycotted! But that was already tried and failed when Pearl Jam did it in the 90s. It's just reinforces the fact that Ticketmaster is one of the biggest and ugliest monopolies in enterntainment. I'll stick with Ticketweb anyday, even though they cant handle more than 10 people on their site at once.

As far as the ticket auctions on ticketmaster go, the extra revenue is likely being split up by the Artist and the promoter (Live Nation formerly known as Ron Delsener presents formerly known as Clear Channel). It's a limited number of premium seats and I think it's better that the Artist is getting some of this extra income instead of the scalper.

I'll stick with Ticketweb anyday, even though they cant handle more than 10 people on their site at once.

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HAHAHA...TICKETWEB is also run by TICKETBASTARD.
'Nuff said.

you are obsessing over madonna. fyi...

yeah, why the crazy madonna fixation? it's obvious that she's going to charge assloads of money and that morons will willfully oblige...

The government should disolve ticketmaster and break them up into regional companies - $10 service/processing fees on a $15 ticket, etc. etc... - this is turning into a ridiculous bell-esque monopoly. How much fn $$$ does it cost to put two tickets in a white envelope and slap on a 39 cent stamp?

it's been pointed out to me before that ticketweb is owned by the evil ticket company. and it's true, but the experience still feels different. they got fees, but fewer of them, and you never get that damn five bucks or whatever added on at the very end. and they don't scalp their own tickets. but hey, maybe i only don't mind ticketweb becasue ticketmaster has stuck it to me so hard that *anything* cheaper feels great.

Fwiw, last time Madonna played MSG (at least four sold out shows), I bought several pairs of tickets to scalp. Many other people had the same idea - craigslist was flooded with listings - so as the concerts approached tons of tickets were available at much less than face value. I had to sell mine at half price to get rid of them. So if you are patient, you should be able to get hold of tickets for these shows at a decent price.

Fwiw, last time Madonna played MSG (at least four sold out shows), I bought several pairs of tickets to scalp. Many other people had the same idea - craigslist was flooded with listings - so as the concerts approached tons of tickets were available at much less than face value. I had to sell mine at half price to get rid of them. So if you are patient, you should be able to get hold of tickets for these shows at a decent price.

Isn't that illegal. . .
but w/e if some rich parent wants to buy their child overpriced tickets to see a 40-something, kabbalah follwer dancing in a leotard and doing squats on stage from approximatly 1/2 a mile away. . . GO FOR IT!

I can't believe they are auctioning off seats to any show. I think it's greedy and rediculous. I love how musicians who are into spiritual enlightenment can have front row seats for $2,000.

Yep, Ticketweb is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ticketmaster. I try very hard to never use Ticketweb, but it's not always possible. In particular, Southpaw has been particularly bad about selling tickets ONLY through Ticketweb (although now a few shows are sold through OM). I'm a bit surprised that local NYC clubs do not band together and start their own version of Ticketweb. This way they could handle tickets in house AND make an extra profit. Better yet, why doesn't someone go create their own version of Ticketweb and sell all the big NYC clubs on the new system. I'm sure someone can do it cheaper, and the entry costs of starting the business would not be prohibitatively expensive. If someone were to do this, and was already friends with many of the club owners/promoters, the guarantee of future business would reduce much of the risk. So, if your looking to start a business, and you hate Ticketmaster, get to it!!!

As an aside, I've heard through a friend of a friend, that the guy who started Ticketweb made a few million by selling out to Ticketmaster, plus the guy was one of the nicest most down-to-earth guys the friend knew. So, at least someone good benefited from the Ticketmaster monopoly.

Madonna ticket auctions. Ticketmaster has been looking to do this for many years (and might have started doing this long ago with other shows?). Ticketmaster basically wants a chunk of the huge scalping/ticketbroker business. A smart business move on their part, but it may have unintended consequences. By doing this, it gives the appearance that the artist is somehow OK with or is benefitting from the scalping/ticketbroker business. This may piss off fans and rub artists the wrong way. I'd predict that some bands are going to come out strongly against this kind of arraingement.

Its cool for the rich parent to do it. Unfortunately, most fans don't have rich parents:P

It would have sucked if I was a teen that alot of my favorite acts were priced out of my range to see them live.

Best way to oppose high ticket prices and fees is not to buy the tickets at all, from anyone.
Sucks for the artist, and for you, but if you really believe that prices are too high, don't buy them.

fuck for $2000 !!!!! - I rather plant my ass on the beach in St Tropez for a few days

It's not scalping... this is in fact a benefit auction:

http://www.livedaily.com/news/Madonna_Elton_John_others_join_Music_Rising_benefit_auctions-9925.html?t=97