Presale explained

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I can't verify the information, but it was posted on Facebook by a knowledgeable person whom some of us know.

 

"Alright. Let me shed some light on pre-sale. I worked in Marketing for Live Nation for 8 years. Here's the truth...

1.) "Verified fan." It doesn't exist. Pre-sale has nothing to do with ensuring only fans get tickets. What it does is establishes the value. When you register, the system scans your account to see what tickets you have purchased. New account? 5% chance of getting in. Only ever bought lawn? 30% chance. Bought floor? 70% chance. VIP or platinum? 100% chance. It comes down to ability to spend. Not if you are a fan. This is important because YOU are the control group. You set the initial price in the dynamic pricing.

2.) The control group. There is no such thing as Face Value in pre sale. It is based on dynamic pricing. Each venue is gauged to see what the average spend on tickets is. In the old days, the average between highest and lowest set the face value. Now, pre sale does. It is an active system that watches in real time how many sales are closed vs how many people enter the pre-sale. 70% close ratio is the target. If it averages 100% close ratio, ticket prices increase. If it is lower than 70%, the pricing decreases. This will fluctuate until the 70% is a flatline. So if you are seeing pricing the same now as you did 2 hours ago, it's because the system has flatlined at 70%.

3.) The timing. The 2 to 5 minutes you have to close the deal has nothing to do with released tickets and everything to do with allowing this system to adapt to the trend.

4.) If you are one of the first 500 people to purchase you are ABSOLUTELY paying anywhere from 20 to 60% more for the exact same tickets as the last 500.

5.) No. It absolutely does not matter whether you are buying lawn seats or platinum VIP. It's ALL part of the charade.

6.) Dead & Co has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's a monopoly as set by live Nation and bands have zero control of it.

7.) Over half of the well known resale sites are owned by the same shareholders of Live Nation. They double dip. It's how it works.

Stop buying into pre-sale and you will see prices become reasonable again."

whoa. that was a fascinating read, thanks Judit. 

talk about a lack of equity!

another reason why i never wanted to go into corporate marketing.

not sure i agree w/ #4, always seems like the prices increase... maybe there's a detail I'm not understanding...

For sure. Today in real time I saw the same Shoreline DeadCo tix increase in price as I was poking around in the pre-sale. 

Also, for their last tour (Hollywood Bowl show) I did buy tix in pre-sale and, after a whole lotta hype and massive price spikes, probably did pay more than the last 500 sold in/around that section or equivalent caliber of seat 

...it seems like they help create and rely on the hype, possibly withilding seats at different "peak" times, to maximize interest/sales.

I miss the days of creating an art envelope, filling out the index cards and sending it off to San Rafael. Always got a ticket and it was fun. 

Me, too, Stringtwang.

6.) Dead & Co has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's a monopoly as set by live Nation and bands have zero control of it.

This statement is totally false. 

A band with the drawing power of Dead & Co. has the power to negotiate changes to sales policy with any promoter. The artist(s)/management decide if they want a higher payout and for that payout they cede levels of control to the promoter. Basically, it's all about the money. They get more payout the more they allow the promoter to handle all the details. In reality, Dead & Co has EVERYTHING to do with this because they can say no and choose not to. 

4 is wrong. Or very misleading. The first 500 vs last 500. First of all the first 500 are generally buying better seats so naturally the last 500 are not going to be as expensive. Second of all for the same seats, pricing generally increases until just before the show. Official "resale" tickets are another scam altogether to increase demand and justify further increases 

I'll drink your health, share your wealth, run your life, steal your wife.

 

Two lawn seats at Bethel is $375, face.

Um, kind of fuck that!

Today it is $375.   Closer to show will be a third of that.

briank fence jumping and gate crashing is now tollerated

briank fence jumping and gate crashing is now tollerated

What if I get left for dead in Bethel?

I paid $175 per seat for DnC in section 100 of the outfield at CitiPark a few years ago and could barely hear it. I will NEVER prebuy tickets to ANYTHING ever again. I watched BoxOffice tickets for Sublime w Rome drop from $45 day of show to 35 then $25 an hour before showtime. This was at Westville but yeah it happens everywhere.

I've worked every Deadco show that's come through here so I could see it for free but I don't want to deal with the people this year. I poked around yesterday and floor tix for Boulder were 400 a pair. Poked and noped. 

> [#6] is totally false.

I was going to say. D&C chooses to do business with these legal scalpers. The bands are not clean in this.

Unless it's something where you absolutely need to get a ticket right away, the best plan of attack is to just wait it out and start checking the resale market a few days prior to the show. 

Unlike last year when people were holding a lot of tickets from postponed tours, I've been told (by someone in the music industry) that this summer/fall is going to be somewhat of a free for all, with many undersold shows and tours. Lotta cheapies will be out there.

PS. DeadCo is a straight up money making endeavor. That's why is was formed. That's why it keeps going. You think Billy and Mikey would be dragging the GD catalogue through the mud with John Mayer if they weren't receiving massive checks from their corporate tour overlords? Yea right.

 

A couple of years ago I got regular sale tix for Gilette @ $50 each, $70 including fees. Those same seats today, at presale, are $190.

>>PS. DeadCo is a straight up money making endeavor. That's why is was formed. That's why it keeps going. You think Billy and Mikey would be dragging the GD catalogue through the mud with John Mayer if they weren't receiving massive checks from their corporate tour overlords? Yea right.

Damn, Tatters, that's pretty cynical. Although I don't think they mind the $$ at all, I also think they're doing it because they love it. While you say "dragging through the mud," hundreds and hundreds of thousands of others are enjoying the living shit out of it and think they rock.

#1 is wrong, too. "[Bought] VIP or platinum? 100% chance [of getting presale access]." I have bought VIP before and I never get presale access. In recent weeks I was "waitlisted" (denied) for both Pearl Jam and Deadco. I think the opposite is true. If you have VIP in your purchase history, they don't want to give you access to the face tickets released at the start before the dynamic pricing takes over because they think you will spring for the higher priced tickets.

Also it appears CID and TM are working together. Yesterday I considered (but did not buy) a CID hotel package. I was watching what seats came up in different packages. The CID hotel packages were selling desirable rows in groups of two. When an isolated single would be left, it would immediately pop up on the TM site as available (for $700 or $800 LOL). 

Live Nation needs to be broken up for monopolizing the concert ticket industry, their assets seized, and their governing board imprisoned.

A decent strategy to see most of this tour on the cheap would be to vend the shit out of the larger weekend shows and then kick back and enjoy the weekday shows at the smaller music theaters the GD used to play such as Shoreline, Deer Creek, Pine Knob, etc. For example, Dodger Stadium tix are double the price of those for Shoreline. Same for Wrigley Field vs Deer Creek. Rip off the weekenders like the band does and then see them in actual music venues in a likely more relaxed set-up. LOL

 

Just stop giving your money to live nation? It's really easy.

 

^What?!? And avoid the opportunity to pay $26 in fees PER TICKET?!? 

Can't remember the last time I gave live nation money. Probably FTW in SF.  But nothing before that for awhile.

tix start at $35 for edgar meyer playing scottish muisc here. 

 

I'm a newer deadhead. What I mean is, I started listening heavy to the Grateful Dead in the early 90s. Their last tour in 1995 I was 16, and thankfully, my efforts to run away and go to Pittsburgh show failed. So I didn't see a show or go on tour until after the death of the fatman, beginning in 1997. Then I toured until Fall 2001.

I say all that to say that I'm highly invested in seeing members of the band, and have tried to do so, but my dollars were pretty scarce for many of those post tour years when we had children and we really didn't see any shows.

So from the beginning I've thought the Dead & Co prices were too steep. I totally understand how business works and how artists need to be paid. I went to one Dead & Co show, in 2016. It was a lawn seat. It was overpriced but I got it at a discount from someone who couldn't make it.

I'll be honest, Dead & Co doesn't meet my standard for Grateful Dead music for the pricepoint. That makes me a little sad, but its true. I can't believe people would pay what they pay to go see them. If you can afford it, go for it. If you love the product, go for it. There is music where I'll pay inflated prices because I think the product benefit meets the cost, and everyone has their spot.

But dude, these tickets are costly.

Also, when I went to that show in 2016, I realized it had been a long time since I saw a show at an amphitheater (I went to Riverbend in Cinci) and totally forgot how basically, I think seeing shows at those huge venues sucks. Horrible beer selection, horrible bathroom lines, oppressive searches, horrible food.

I'll be honest, I've been spoiled from seeing music at smaller venues.

Caught that Edgar Meyer - Bela Fleck tour, great.

we need pearl jam to clean up this mess 

 

Whatever happened to GDTS? Didn't they get a piece of FTW?

I think GD50 was the last hurrah for GDTS but, wow, what a juxtaposition between the 'then & now', huh?

>Caught that Edgar Meyer - Bela Fleck tour, great.<

i did as well but this is something different.

https://www.soka.edu/soka-performing-arts-center/calendar-events/edgar-m...