nothing is cool.

I live in Los Angeles, and one of the many reasons I consider this to be a great thing is my proximity to really great live music all the time. I now can’t remember how one even procured tickets to such events pre-internet, but in my past 5-or-so attempts to buy them I have failed. Was I too slow? No. I’m on the right mailing lists and have pre-purchase codes whenever they’re actually a thing. I know the exact minute the tickets go on sale, I pay extra each month for the highest-speed internet connection offered residentially and I’m not only quick with a mouse but also fluent in captcha. I also never ask for more than 2 tickets in Best Available when purchasing.

So why then have I not been able to buy tickets to any shows in LA lately? Because StubHub buys up easily half of what’s available and then charges up to twice the face value for them. This isn’t so bad if it’s a $25/ticket show that gets sold at $38 instead (Roxy), but I just failed to purchase tickets to see Mika at the El Rey the exact second they went on sale, failed after 15 minutes of refreshing/trying and there are already 128 tickets for sale on StubHub from $74 - $90 each. For general admission. I don’t understand how this is isn’t scalping. I also don’t understand how they can sleep at night with their mission statement of “….provide fans a safe, convenient place to get tickets to the games, concerts, and theater shows they want to see, and an easy way to sell their tickets when they can’t go.” You know what used to be the easiest? Clicking a Ticketmaster link to buy tickets and being able to immediately do that. Or even do that an hour or so after the event went up in a decent-sized venue.

Ticketmaster’s ethics are already a bit much to stomach. Assuming one is lucky enough to actually buy the tickets that were advertised, there is all manner of financial lameness slathered onto the sale. I get it that album sales don’t drive the industry anymore; it’s all ticket and merch sales that keep the wheels greased and mouths fed. Why then, when it’s already so hard for actual artists and those that support them to make money are third parties jumping in the way and keeping me from seeing artists whose albums I’ve actually purchased, not given away on the internet and worn the fuck out in hopes of seeing them do it in my presence some lovely evening?

UPDATE: I actually hadn’t seen all the tickets available on StubHub. They go as high as $350. For a general admission show that just went on sale 40 minutes ago.