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The Tragically (Un)Hip Practice of Scalping

3/6/2016

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Everyone is outraged that tickets for Tragically Hips upcoming concerts are not available through Ticketmaster.  The historical definition of scalping is to take the "head skin and hair as proof of death or a victory trophy". Is that how artists/musicians want their fans to be treated?  It seems unconscionable that those honest to goodness fans looking to buy tickets should be victims of legalized "extortion" as Elton John claims.  Once again, my mind shifts to preventions.
First of all, Ticketmaster should be able to isolate bots that are locked on to their site.  I can't help thinking that if Ticketmaster can't prevent bots from buying up blocks of tickets, then, they can't prevent other bots from stealing the credit card information of legitimate Ticketmaster customers, either.
Second, after Ticketmaster deals with their bot issue, set a limit on the number of tickets an individual can purchase,  
Third, the artists could do what Adele has done recently by insisting on paperless concerts. Meaning, the concert-goers have to produce the credit card that purchased the tickets and government issued photo ID.  
Fourth, has anyone checked into the possibility of licensing the scalpers?  I mean the individual ones that loiter outside the venues pre-concert.  Certainly, Ticketmaster and Stubhub both pay taxes on their profits. Whether, it's a scalpers primary source of income or secondary source, it should be taxable.  As far as I'm concerned, if you made it legal, the next logical step is to make it legitimate.  
Fifth, there seems to be a nefarious hand shake between Stubhub and Ticketmaster since the former sued the latter over unfair.business practices related to resale of tickets originally purchased at Ticketmaster.  Maybe the larger next step is another class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster.  It would be interesting if that lawsuit came from the artist/musician side.  If Ticketmaster and Stubhub are making a percentage on the resale of tickets shouldn't the artist/musician be entitled to an equal or greater percentage? The artists/musicians certainly flung their weight around when it came to the nickel and diming of the music streaming industry.   It only makes sense that they would chase down a percentage of the dollars from the concert resale ticket industry.      
It's time to seriously consider the above solutions, and any others, that would ensure tickets get into the hands of the fans and that the profits get into the pockets of the artists. Simply adding dates to your tour, as the Tragically Hip has done, is not a guarantee that fans will have direct access to purchasing tickets.  
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