As a music writer I go to concerts in Guadalajara, and I am sometimes confronted with the need to buy tickets through Ticketmaster, even in medium-sized venues, Some time ago I decided there as probably no artist I needed to see so badly that I had to deal with the company that some say is the poster boy for customer abuse. So I cheered when the US Justice department sued to break up the Ticketmaster-Live Nation Monopoly and the bewildering fees and markups that it has inserted into what used to be a simple, fairly-priced ticket buying process.
The Mexican government has noticed Ticketmaster’s bad behavior. Mexico has some of the most popular music festivals in the world and its bands are blowing away audiences nationally and in the US. But like with all festivals and concert lineups, things happen and headliners cancel, as happened to the Pa’l Norte festival with the cancellation of Kendrick Lamar.
Ticketmaster ‘s response was to insert a clause in their ticket contract with fans that if an act cancels, there is no refund.
What? You buy a ticket, you get the music or you get a refund. That’s how it works.
The Federal Consumer Prosecutor’s Office of Mexico (PROFECO) agrees and issued a preliminary order to suspend Ticketmaster’s contract clause saying that “Venta de Boletos por Computadora, SA de CV (TICKETMASTER), has 48 hours to rescind the clause. The order requires Ticketmaster to pay a 20% fee to the ticket buyer for the cancellation (Ticketmaster has to pay fees!! Yea!!). The order also specifies that legal action will be taken against Ticketmaster if it does not comply.
So kudos for the Mexican government for doing something the US government has not been able to do – rein in Ticketmaster, even in a small way (Live Nation Entertainment has been accused of not following the restrictions on its DOJ-approved merger). Hopefully the US DOJ suite will be successful, but that may take years. For the time being Mexican fans won’t have to worry about cancellations. I don’t know if Ticketmaster has tried to pull that stunt in the US, but if they do, the US gov should do the same thing as the Mexican government.
In the US, Ticketmaster has some form of control over more than 70 percent of the ticketing and live events market. Live Nation controls many concert management agencies, venues, and concert promoters. If you’re an artist, a venue, a promoter, or a fan, the only way to avoid Ticketmaster is to Just Say No. Easy for fans, tough for bands.
Mexico’s slapping Ticketmaster’s greedy rule change on cancellations is small potatoes in the overall picture, but it is a model the US and other governments can use. While fighting a year’s long anti-trust battle, the DOJ and regulatory agencies can start picking Ticketmaster apart on small things. They can issue rules cancelling this fee, and that fee, or this policy on refunds or that action against clubs. Make Ticketmaster fight a 1000 rules while DOJ enforces them.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino’s total compensation package hit $139 million in 2022. In my opinion that is obscene. I don’t object to innovators earning the rewards from their work; but I do object to obscene amounts of money from a monopoly where there is no innovation involved, just bullying.
Hopefully, Mexico and the DOJ will keep up the pressure. In the meantime, if going to a show means buying a ticket through Ticketmaster, just say no. Buy an album download instead, direct from the artist.
