Outcry Over "Hannah Montana" Ticket Prices

(CBS)  The undisputed hottest concert ticket of the year is for 14-year-old pop star Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel show, "Hannah Montana."

Frenzied fans are so desperate for seats to the teen sensation's 54-date "Best Of Both Worlds" tour, kicking off later this month, that venues have sold out in as little as four minutes, and ticket brokers are getting four-to-five times face value and more, creating a torrent of complaints from frustrated parents.

Some ducats are fetching thousands of dollars each.

Using advanced programs to get into computer systems before tickets go on sale to the public, brokers bought large amounts of tickets, circumventing the promoter's rule of four tickets per transaction at a maximum of $65 a pop.

The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm, who found asking prices as high as $20,000 on one ticket reseller's Web site, told her daughters they couldn't go.

"They're dying to go to the concert," Storm says. "They've been asking since the summer. I've been trying for months -- on the Internet, pulling every string I know, making phone calls, all to no avail."

Florida state legislator Dan Gelber's (D, Miami Beach) young daughters have also been shut out -- and he's sponsoring a bill to do rein in ticket brokers in the Sunshine State.

What the brokers did, he explained to Storm Wednesday, is "use an automatic dialling system to basically, literally in minutes, take all the tickets to the Hannah Montana concerts in Florida. So, the result was that everyday people just calling to get tickets for their kids were shut out. I could take my kids to the concert, but it would cost about $2,000, $3,000 for a family of four to go to a Walt Disney concert, which is obviously outrageous."

Gelber says his bill "brings the practice of the automated dialing within our Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act in Florida. The second thing it'll do is require the resellers to file a bond and register with the state of Florida, the way telemarketers have to. That's an industry that also can have some concerns with what they're doing. This brings these Internet folks into the state physically, and requires some penalties if they do these kinds of, I think, pretty predatory practices."

[kevzgrl]

This is not the only concert it happens on, just the most outrageous. C''mmon, does anyone honestly think that some little 14-year old is THAT talented and THAT much of a showman that her concert tickets are worth $65, let alone hundreds or thousands of dollars? Give her a few years and much more polish, and she just MIGHT be worth the $65. Parents, do the smart thing and buy your kids her VIDEOS - you don''t NEED to spend that kind of money for a concert that at best might last 1 1/2 hr, before Hannah has to go take a nap.....

[keithle1]

She is, like, totally awesome. Omigod. If I can''t go, I''ll like, DIE!

[brianp55]

Who could possibly care about anything so meaningless and inconsequential?

[tinkerbe2l]

the tickets i was just speaking of were for sale in mid august for the hannah montana concert. tickets that officialy went onsale in late september

[tinkerbe2l]

Never mind buying tickets in bulk right before they go on sale. I could have bought tickets for anywhere from $200 to $1500 online and it was listed what seat I would be buying. That''s not buying right before the sale. That''s someone or someones getting blocks of seats from either ticketmaster or the colleseum way in advance which means their has to be knowledge on both sides. Maybe the legitimate vendors need to be scrutinized to make sure they''re not getting extra on the side by selling to scalpers long before ticket sales begin

[whatsup49]

why is this story posted under a health sub head? i don''t think this is really news . . . and i surely wouldn''t buy tickets to any concert with such outrageous prices. heck, i remember when concerts tickets were less than $30 for good seats . . . the last concert i saw ... the eagles hell freezes over tour, i paid $75 for a ticket on the floor. that''s about my limit.....

[sunchild45]

The only reason this is news is because the rich are having problems supplying their daughters with tickets to the concerts. If it had been just the Normal People, we never would have heard a peep about this. It would have been too bad for you, we have tickets and we are going, too bad yuu are not!!!

[hermit22]

hannah from montana, who aint even from montana,
outta stay home too. that''ll show them thar louts.

[tech_sharky]

I completely agree with the outrageous prices!! What is this, a Capitalist society? It Just isn''t right that the prices go up and down at the product holders choice to virtually any price they want. And what choice do we have? We have to pay it. Because they all work together to jack up the prices. I think it is great that the government steps in to put these price back down to reality!!
...oops, are we talking about Hannah Montana Tickets? I am sorry, I must be in the wrong forum. I was talking about gasoline prices.

[alicatsmom]

Unfortunately, I don''t make the big bucks like the Disney Reps, but the corrective answer is quite obvious. Why don''t they just offer the last Hannah Montana concert on Pay per view? All the tickets have been sold, we know that! Disney can only make more money if they do this and parents don''t have to worry about spending part of their mortgage on tickets. Yes, I know it''s not the real thing, but close enough for kids who can''t go because of location or cost. But no one in power will read this to get it done!SORRY Kids!