Sturgill Simpson Promises to Take On Scalpers Amid Soaring Secondary Ticket Prices
There is nothing more fulfilling as an independent music fan than to watch your favorite artists and bands go from playing near-empty bar rooms for just a handful of folks to filling theaters to sold out capacity and even having to graduate to small arenas in certain markets, especially when that artist has been summarily ignored by radio and other mainstream media. Though some selfish fans want to see their favorite artists play small-capacity rooms until eternity so they never lose that intimate connection, this growth behind an artist is what grassroots support is all about—so that artists can still make music their own way, yet be successful enough to raise families and prosper.
The problem comes when your favorite artists get so big that no matter what the capacity of the venue, there’s an immediate run on tickets, and fans are forced to interface with the secondary ticketing market. For fans of Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan, they don’t know any other reality than signing up for fan clubs and credit cards they don’t need to try and obtain presale passwords, sitting beside their computer or smartphone the very second tickets go on sale to try and grab something at face value, and otherwise slogging it out on StubHub having to pay three to five times face value just to see their favorite artist.
Fans of artists such as Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, and Cody Jinks are having to face this new reality too as these artists nearly guarantee a sellout wherever they play, and unless you’re quick on the draw, you’re unlikely to get through.
On Tuesday (2-28), Sturgill Simpson addressed these ticketing issues with his fans who are seeing these immediate sellouts and tickets getting posted for $400 and up on secondary sites, especially after his popularity has taken a sharp rise due to his Grammy awards and nominations, and a viral Saturday Night Live performance.
“We are working on an experimental ticketing system that will (HOPEFULLY) prevent scalpers/bots from ruining the live music experience for everyone,” says Sturgill. “It infuriates me to see so many people who have supported us from day one being shut out from the opportunity to come to our show for a price I designate. I know exactly who I work for and my tickets will always be affordable and no amount of trophy’s in the world will ever change that.”
Sturgill is not the only artist taking on the secondary ticketing market for his fans. Recently Eric Church quite publicly canceled 25,000 tickets his team determined were purchased by scalpers and bots, and redistributed them to the public. Church has been vocal about the issues with scalpers and has done other such ticket cancellations previously.
In December 2016, Congress passed a bill and President Obama signed it into law forbidding the use of bots that are able to swoop in ahead of consumers, pre-fill information required by TicketMaster and other ticket sellers almost instantaneously, and reserve large groups of tickets that ultimately end up on StubHub and other secondary ticket sites. Despite stiff penalties, the new law does not seem to have put a dent in the practice. Working with anonymity on the internet, many resellers are able to avoid detection, and the risk of prosecution for them is low. Though TicketMaster and other ticket sellers say publicly they’re attempting to combat the problem, it also serves their best interests to sell as many tickets as possible to whomever is buying, and many of these companies have a stake in their own secondary ticket forums.
In a recent in-depth interview on Noisey, notorious ticket scalper Ken Lowson of Wiseguy Tickets, who is characterized as the “most infamous ticket scalper of all time” and was one of the first individuals to use bots to buy tickets (and one of the first to be prosecuted for it), details just how complex the ticketing issue is. According to Lowson, bots are only part of the problem, and presales are actually set up to facilitate resellers as opposed to putting superfans at the head of the line to avoid them.
Though there are efforts underway to combat the bots and scalping, the scalpers seem to always stay one step ahead. And with the exorbitant amount being made off of resales tickets, there is little incentive for the industry to truly reform.
The ultimate problem comes down to simple supply and demand. Artists who are not regularly selling out venues are not the target of scalpers. It’s only when scalpers know there will be more demand than supply do they target certain artists, venues, and events.
As Saving Country Music explained in an April 2016 dive into the ticketing issue,
For mid sized bands playing large clubs and small theaters, promoters and managers are encouraged to book venues slightly smaller than what demand might dictate, because you want to sell out every show on a tour.
The publicity that a sellout generates, and the precedence it sets for promoters is important to building up the guaranteed money and booking leverage an artist receives. Before an artist is allowed to play theaters, they have to prove they can sell out large clubs. Before they can move to larger theaters and amphitheaters, they have to prove they can sell out the mid sized theaters. Though this system ensures promoters don’t take a bath on any show or put a band in the wrong-sized venue, it means hot names in music will almost always sell to capacity for live events.
Sturgill Simpson has made an effort to ramp up to demand, adding additional shows in markets where concerts sell out immediately and an additional date is available on the calendar. But when supply is still astronomical, the bots and scalpers will show up. So what can consumers do?
“In the meantime the only way to put a stop to this is for people to stop buying tickets from scalpers all together or to make so much noise it forces politicians/Ticketmaster to stop taking money from Stub-hub lobbyists that pay them fat stacks of coin to keep online scalping legal,” says Sturgill Simpson. “EVERYONE is fed up I assure you and we will be cancelling out bot purchased tickets and putting the reclaimed tickets back up for sale at normal price.”
It is rarely ever about the greediness of the artist when consumers see exorbitant ticket prices. Performers don’t see a penny of the revenue being generated on the resale market. As Sturgill alluded to, many fans are turning on him for raising tickets prices, when the rise in face value is marginal. Instead consumers should be turning on the entities that have made the secondary ticket market in the United States one of the most greedy industries, rife with shady practices and underhanded tactics, with the additional money generated not going to artists, support staff, or labels, but people taking advantage of a broken system that has no incentive to reform itself.
Big Cat
February 28, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Ah whatever; he’s not country
J
February 28, 2017 @ 7:09 pm
He’s contrary
ElectricOutcast
March 1, 2017 @ 7:48 am
Oh and Sam Hunt’s country? Don’t make me laugh.
Jack Williams
March 1, 2017 @ 7:55 am
Big Cat is being sarcastic.
Jim Bob
February 28, 2017 @ 6:51 pm
I paid secondary market prices to see him in KC in November. Totally worth it, but annoying as hell. Won’t do it again for St. Louis because fuck the scalpers. And because my wife won’t let me pay $100+ for a single concert ticket. Unless it’s Sturgill…once.
Kross
February 28, 2017 @ 7:02 pm
Sounds like church has the right answer. I’ve seen sturgill several times, but between the bad luck he’s had in Atlanta and the fact that his new album is kind of meh…?I really wasn’t planning on going to a show anyways. I did grab Jinks tickets the other day tho. I’m pretty excited about that.
KGD
February 28, 2017 @ 7:22 pm
We got Cody Jinks tix at Variety also. He sold out, though not immediately I don’t think. Second show added.
There were 4 of us trying the presale at the Fox for Sturgill and we did manage to get 6 tickets, but none of them are all that great. Considering we saw him from 10 feet away 3 times, it’s going to be different.
Also got 4 at Red Rocks. Looking forward to that one big time. Don’t even care about the seats, which are just OK.
Wouldn’t making all tickets will call solve the problem? I saw Prince’s last show and that’s how they did it at the Fox. What tickets were available “on the street” were barely above face.
Trigger
February 28, 2017 @ 8:42 pm
Garth Brooks does a similar thing, and scales the amount of shows he plays in each market to meet demand. If there is a huge demand for tickets, he may add matinee shows and play four or five times in three days. That way he makes more money, but scalpers are left in the lurch.
seak05
February 28, 2017 @ 9:57 pm
Yeah, but Garth has to book the arena for multiple days in advance, otherwise I’m not sure how that works? I’m not sure how many other artists are really in a position to do that consistently (Blake and Luke have occasionally done double shows but announced in advance, Kenny double stadiums in Boston).
RG
March 1, 2017 @ 12:55 pm
I’m with you Kross. Sturgill has had terrible luck in Altlanta! I wasn’t going for the Fox tix either but my wife jumped online and grabbed two as soon as it opened. Got em for $36 a piece. So for that price, I’ll take another chance on him here in Atlanta.
seak05
February 28, 2017 @ 7:50 pm
The truth is most resale tickets don’t even sell. If you’re willing to wait till day of (or day before) you can actually grab some great deals on the secondary market. The problem is if you can sell 1 ticket, to 1 person for 4x face, you’ve made money even if you have to sell the other 3 you bought at face or even below. And frankly even at face value ticketmaster (& others) are a total rip off with the service charges & fees.
I think KGD has the right idea with making all tickets will call (though you can buy them over the internet).
(or you can just accept the cheap terrible arena seats, those aren’t getting bought and resold for anyone on the country market).
hoptowntiger94
February 28, 2017 @ 8:39 pm
I figured that out a couple years ago and haven’t paid face value for a ticket since. Yeah, I have to wait until day of the show, but most venues scan your phone now so you can wait in the parking lot until the gate opens to buy tickets. I’m watching Tom Petty ticket that were $300-$400, now $150-$200, I bet I pay $40 for them day of the show.
Now, the more people figure this out, the less chances those tickets are there day of. And the more artists try to fix the system, I’m out of luck!
CountryCharm
March 2, 2017 @ 2:00 pm
Adele tickets at my venue were will call and you had to have the credit card you purchased the tickets with as proof. People still tried to buy tickets on craigslist and got scammed.
EW in DFW
February 28, 2017 @ 7:55 pm
The only seconday market ticket I have ever purchased was to see Sturgill play a small club in Dallas in 2014. There was no way I was missing that show!
I have seen Nine Inch Nails many times. Some tours have presale tickets available at will call that have your name printed on them and you must show ID to pick them up and you must go directly into the venue when you get them.
Geezy
March 9, 2017 @ 8:07 am
That was at Club Dada, right? I don’t live in Dallas anymore but read a review of that show. What a great place to see him! I lived in Dallas in the early 90’s and saw the Old 97’s play there a few times. If you were around Deep Ellum in the 90’s you remember the Starlight Diner across the street from Dada, and if you ever ate there and had a terrible waiter who screwed up your order, that probably was me!
EW in DFW
March 9, 2017 @ 12:23 pm
Yes it was. They had planned to play outside but it was cold and rainy so they moved it inside. He played two shows that night to accommodate everyone. It was amazing!
Jtrpdx
February 28, 2017 @ 8:32 pm
It would be a bit of a pain in the ass, but the only way to stop this is to require original receipt (or just only do e-tickets with name on them) at the door and check ID’s. If you have tickets and can’t go to the show, you can sell them back to the venue for a refund less fees, and they would then sell them to the next person on a virtual waiting list that would be in order of first to sign up. It would make gifting tickets tougher, but I suppose there could be some system where you go online, log in using your original credit card used for purchase, and have the ticket re issued under a new name and the old ticket canceled. That is my solution, and that is after about 4 beers, so I don’t know why the experts can’t figure it out.
Jtrpdx
February 28, 2017 @ 8:34 pm
Although I guess that “gifting” idea could be used by scalpers as well, so that part might not work!
KGD
March 1, 2017 @ 3:53 am
Have a couple more beers and you’ll solve that one! 🙂
Vin
March 1, 2017 @ 4:56 am
Like to see that he’s standing against this .. not sure me much can be done but either way go see sturgill live it’s worth almost any price tag.
Corncaster
March 1, 2017 @ 7:55 am
“Scalpers” make money because artists don’t charge what people think they’re worth.
Listen to Vin’s comment above: “either way go see sturgill live it’s worth almost any price tag.”
If Sturgill is concerned, he could play more shows, and even free shows for poor communities (increase supply). His fans could refuse to pay the price of tickets and not go see him (reduce demand).
But if you bought a ticket, it’s your property. Re-selling your ticket for more than you paid for it isn’t wrong.
What artists might do is stipulate in contract that all tickets must be purchased in person and that no more than (say) ten tickets can be purchased by a single individual. But no, everybody wants everything to come as easily as clicking a button. And artists should be able to jet or drive around the world, coming right to them, or waah, mommy the bad man no want to come to my room, waah. What people want is to sit on their a**es, select a few fields on a screen for an artist subscription online, and consume consume consume through a website like Patreon or something. Everything virtual, preferably free, with next to no effort. Artists will exist in pure competition for eyeballs and money. And artists will want to be popular, to get rich, and to thump their chests about fairness and Mah People.
So in the end, Sturgill can pound sand. I’ll go listen to my locals play music about our lives and let the national acts wring their hands, price fix, etc.
I’ll pay no more than $60 for a single show. I know my limit, and I can deal with it.
Obviously, YMMV.
Jack Williams
March 1, 2017 @ 9:40 am
My practical limit is around $75 plus typical fees (I got a ticket to see Dwight in May at that price). Maybe $100, but it would have to be something REALLY special. Last year, I passed on getting a good seat for an Elvis Costello show at a 1,700 seat capacity theater for about $150 (face value, too). I’m a big fan and would love to see him, but couldn’t justify the purchase.
Vin
March 1, 2017 @ 10:00 am
You just need a job probably
Corncaster
March 1, 2017 @ 1:58 pm
Or not.
The ugly reality is that musicians are common, canned music is cheap and plentiful, and people with money have nearly infinite ways to spend their money on other things or experiences that are also good and worth the expense.
One solution to all this is: grow your own. Grow your own musicians and demand that they create the kind of music you will genuinely support.
You get more of whatever it is you reward.
Trigger
March 1, 2017 @ 10:33 am
Something also worth pointing out was Sturgill was not planning to tour at all this year since he just had his second child. His whole tour is ramping up supply to meet the demand created by the Grammy nominations. I just think that demand was even greater than they anticipated.
JB
March 1, 2017 @ 6:04 am
I’ve been going to concerts since 1975 when I went to my first one. Blue Oyster Cult and some dude named Bob Seger opened. Now that I’m 56 and been to hundreds of shows I refuse to play the “concert ticket game”. Now I usually only go to smaller venue general admission shows etc… that being said When Brantley Gilbert/Tucker Beathard/Luke Combs tickets when on sale for the 12,000 seat Allstate Arena here in Chicago I said no way. 2 weeks later and less than 800 seats sold they moved it to the 3000 seat theater up the street and I just happened to be online that morning so I scored 2 20th row dead center for $55 a piece. That’s the way I play the game. Good value whether you people on here like those 3 artists or not. I’m going to have a great time at an affordable price. We have a place called Joe’s Live right next door to that theater that has a House Of Blues type feel to it and has a capacity of 1800. Jamey Johnson played there last week (only half sold) Aaron Watson as well as any others that are still playing or back to playing those places. When tickets go on sale for that venue and sell out quick, you can find 500 of those tickets immediately on Stub Hub for double or triple the price. It sucks but there’s nothing anyone can do about it. The point is I pick and choose where I want to deal with all these ticket scalpers etc…. and it’s rare that I do. I just won’t go if I don’t feel it’s worth it.
FLYINGBURRITO2486
March 1, 2017 @ 8:57 am
Hey JB,
I guess we might be from the same area and was wondering if you had any idea what is going on with Joe’s on Weed St. Did they move all the good shows to Joe’s Live now? It seems like Joes on Weed only books shitty cover bands now. And other than an upcoming Whiskey Myers show, most of the Texas acts don’t play there anymore. Been wondering for awhile, but had nobody to ask lol.
JB
March 1, 2017 @ 9:57 am
I’m not sure who makes the decision between the 2 Joe’s. I myself haven’t been to Joe’s on Weed but I do know it’s smaller capacity so that has something to do with it. Some acts book one night at each and some like to actually play in the city rather than the suburb. Joe’s Live is brand new and has state of the art equipment. I’m going to see Aaron Lewis there Friday and it’s sold out of course but if was at Joe’s on Weed I’d of still bought a ticket.
FLYINGBURRITO2486
March 1, 2017 @ 12:44 pm
I’ve been to Joes On Weed St. numerous times but never to Joes Live. I may have to check it out sometime though. Thanks for your input.
JB
March 2, 2017 @ 9:54 am
Maren Morris’ show is sold out tonight at Joe’s On Weed St. As of right now 60 tickets fpr sale on StubHub for $30.00 and up. I’m going up to Milwaukee tomorrow night to see Granger Smith. $40 a ticket, not sold out………… yet.
BigDaddy
March 1, 2017 @ 6:34 am
Anyone know how they determine if a bot bought the tickets? Am I susceptible to having my tickets canceled? I bought 4 (in 2 different sections, long story) to Sturgill’s show in Detroit and Ticketmaster hasn’t “released” them until they make “sure” they are legit. I would hate to loose my tickets because someone deemed me a bot.
Jack Williams
March 1, 2017 @ 7:39 am
Two weeks ago, tickets went on sale for Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell shows at Merriweather Post Pavilion. I bought one ticket for each show. For Sturgill, I bought my ticket about 30 minutes into the pre-sale (a kind soul gave me the code) and I got a seat in the center orchestra about 40 rows back and about a half dozen rows from the end of the seated section. For Isbell, I didn’t have the pre-sale code and so I had to wait until they went on sale to the general public. I was on line at the time they went on sale and got a ticket in the third row.
I saw Sturgill at DAR Constitution Hall in October. For that show, I didn’t have access to the pre-sale, but bought a ticket right when the general public sale started. I got a third row ticket.
The sale for the Sturgill Merriweather date started jut a few days after the Grammys.
seak05
March 1, 2017 @ 10:20 am
Yeah, you can still get good seats for both of those artists at Merriweather. The truth is for both Sturgill and Isbell the answer is still just play bigger venues. Other then Garth, no country artist is consistently and rapidly selling out arenas. Where you have scalper problems is a) when they are playing venues that they are now to big for and b) the good seats sell fast. With bigger pop artists you have problems even at the biggest venues.
Mark
March 1, 2017 @ 8:07 am
Everyone should read the Noisey piece that’s linked in the article. Shows just how difficult the problem is to solve. Confirms our suspicion that the large acts/labels don’t care at all about the fans.
Derek Sullivan
March 1, 2017 @ 9:15 am
A bigger problem than scalpers are the arenas themselves. Many arenas allow season ticket holders for the sports teams (almost all big companies) a chance to buy tickets first. I know a couple guys whose jobs include buying and selling tickets to big events to help pay for the corporate seats. I know when Luke Bryan and Metallica came to the Twin Cities almost all of the tickets went to Vikings ticket holders and when Adele came to St. Paul all of her tickets went to Wild season ticket holders. We went to Adele and the guy who got us tickets at face value used his company’s seasons tickets to purchase them. He bought 8, four for us and four to sell at double the price to pay for ours.
Along with fighting scalpers, Eric Church also doesn’t allow the arena to presale any of his tickets. His fan club members got three days to buy tickets and unlike most pre-sales, they were the best seats in the house. But that show is also not sold out. My guess is if Church would have allowed anybody to buy the tickets including scalpers and season tickets holders for Creighton, the show would be sold out and he would have gotten the most bang for his buck, but he didn’t want his tickets on the secondary market, so he sacrificed one or two thousand tickets. Hopefully, the show sells out by April 8.
Scalpers are a pain, but they are just part of the problem with a fan’s inability to buy tickets at face value.
Jack Williams
March 1, 2017 @ 9:28 am
His fan club members got three days to buy tickets and unlike most pre-sales, they were the best seats in the house.
I recently bought a ticket to a Sturgill show during the pre-sale. It was the first time I ever bought tickets trough a pre-sale. I wondered about whether the best seats were available, as my seat is pretty far back. Then, I didn’t have access to the pre-sale for an Isbell show at the same venue, but got a great seat though the general public sale. Now, maybe that was because Sturgill is a bigger draw at the moment because of the Grammy publicity.
Could you elaborate a little more about the best seats maybe not being available in a pre-sale? Most concerts I go to are either general admission or at small venues where I can see what seats are available for making a purchase decision.
The Phobe
March 1, 2017 @ 12:48 pm
Anybody who’s stupid enough to pay $400 to watch something as awful as a Sturgill Simpson concert, is a moron. I say charge these idiots $400, plus a stupidity tax of $600, on top of a $500 bad-taste-in-music tax.
Chad Perry
March 1, 2017 @ 2:14 pm
Lol, you must be a FGL, Luke Bryan and Chris Lane fan.
The Phobe
March 1, 2017 @ 3:46 pm
Yeah I must be. Because loving bastardized rap/pop music, sung be inbred denerates, is the only possible thing that could cause someone to acknowledge the utter hideousness of Sturgill Simpson.
Chad Perry
March 1, 2017 @ 9:52 pm
At least those “inbred denerates” probably know how to spell degenerate.
nascarfan999
March 1, 2017 @ 7:00 pm
I saw the Live Nation (aka Ticketmaster) CEO on Mad Money (Business/Investing show on CNBC) last week and he said that Live Nation gets to decide how to distribute their tickets, specifically “we can decide at Live Nation if we want to use Amazon, Ticket Master, or Stubhub.” and “Live Nation will do what’s right for the business with its tickets.”
That sounds to me like they are selling even tickets directly to or via Stubhub (I assume at more than face value)???
Link to interview (starting at the part I quoted): https://youtu.be/el3BnX7t2uk?t=3m48s
JT
March 28, 2022 @ 10:32 am
The experimental ticketing system might be preventing people from successfully reselling tickets they can no longer use; ultimately, preventing a dedicated fan the opportunity of buying said tickets… But someone please tell these artists that ticketmaster is holding onto a bunch of tickets, limiting the opportunity of good seat purchases when ticket sales open up – and then releasing them for sale later as “Premium” seats, and charging almost double for them. This is not a package, or ticket with a perk. It’s simply charging extra for good seats. And since they purposefully held them back; they created a fake shift in the supply/demand balance which makes people automatically okay with paying more for them. They aren’t saving the fans anything.. they are just making it harder for people who can’t use their tickets to get their money back; and letting someone else make a lot of money on the good seats.