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Econwatch
June 8, 2009 10:59 AM

For Miley Cyrus Tour, Ticketmaster Goes Paperless

By
Daniel Carty
Topics
In The News
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Ticketmaster is using a novel strategy to take on scalpers – get rid of the actual tickets.

The ticketing company is going paperless on singer Miley Cyrus' upcoming 45-show fall tour – the first of its kind to sell exclusively paperless tickets, reports the Wall Street Journal ($) Monday.

Concert-goers will enter the show using credit cards they purchased the tickets with, making it impossible to resell or transfer them. That's put resale vendors on the defensive, charging that the paperless system will cause delays and possibly pose safety risks to fans. They also claim that the ticket agency will extend its monopoly over prices by essentially eliminating the secondary market.

While most states have legalized scalping, promoters object to the high mark-ups scalpers are able to charge, which they get no share of.

Scalpers predict longer lines and some even think that the system would increase the chance for sexual predators to prey on young fans with the promise of entry into a show.

Sean Pate, spokesman for ticket resale Web site Stubhub, told the Journal: "On Craigslist you're going to see these listings saying, 'Hey, 13-year-old girls, I'll meet you at the venue and get you into the show.'"

Promoters said they will have extra staff at concert venues to assist with any problems.

Cyrus' 2007 tour was a driving force behind the experiment in paperless tickets. Ticketmaster claimed that scalpers illegally snapped up tickets for the "Hannah Montana" star's shows with special software that gave them an advantage over normal fans.

Add a Comment
by Jpelc1998 June 12, 2009 8:11 PM EDT
What's to stop the scalpers from meeting their victims at the venue and just swiping them in? These paperless tickets only place an obsticle on the process, the mark up is still there, now the scalpers are charging more for the inconvenience of being at the venue. This does not solve the problem or eliminate reselling of tickets. It also makes the tickets more valuable due to the fact the scalpers are limited to four tickets, so I will assume they will charge more to make up for that fact? Marketing at it's best I say!
Reply to this comment
by Enigma4861 June 9, 2009 5:51 PM EDT
OK, so if I buy some concert tickets for my parents as a gift (Not Miley Cyrus, just hypothetically), then I would have to accompany them to the theater to wait in a long line to show my ID and credit card so that they could go in the theater? And then leave?
And if you, because of illness or other emergency, can't attend your event, you can't give your tickets to a friend? Oh wait, Ticketmaster has an insurance policy you can purchase, what a coincidence.
Yeah, I'd rather have scalpers around. Ticketmaster charges so many fees that we are accustomed to getting ripped off every time we buy tickets. At least with scalper seats available you have more control over the extent to which you are scalped...
Reply to this comment
by DefendLiberty June 8, 2009 7:04 PM EDT
So the legal scalpers (Ticketmaster) will be "policing" the "illegal scalpers'. What a joke. I wonder if the MONOPOLY called "Ticketmaster" will be reducing their fees on fees on fees that they add to ticket prices? Fat chance, huh?
Reply to this comment
by ianlou June 8, 2009 2:03 PM EDT
Good,
Scalpers are scum.
Reply to this comment
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