Links Modular Solutions
Links Modular Solutions was a leading provider of high-quality, innovative software solutions for aquatic and recreation facilities. Links Modular Solutions is now part of Xplor Technologies.
read moreConsumers pay more than double in ticketing fees for live music concerts if a promoter uses Ticketek or Ticketmaster instead of an independent ticket agency of their choice, according to modelling released to and reported by Guardian Australia.
Transaction fees, ‘infrastructure credit card’ fees and ‘inside charges’ mean concert goers pay as much as $21.73 to the Live Nation-owned company Ticketmaster on top of the actual ticket price.
This compares with a maximum $8.10 if the promoter is able to use an Australian-owned independent seller such as Oztix, the modelling shows.
Guardian Australia report that the price differential is even higher when comparing Oztix to Ticketek.
Ticketek’s inside charge, booking fee, transaction fee and a ‘supplementary booking fee/credit card fee’ adds an additional $25.85 to each premium ticket sold.
The modelling was released by national live music promoter Paul Sloan, Managing Director of Supersonic Australasia - the producer and agent for artists including Nick Cave, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Bon Iver and Amyl & the Sniffers and event producer of the Wave Rock festival.
It shows how venues that have exclusive deals with either Ticketmaster or Ticketek can add to the cost of a single ticket.
The modelling, based on 1,000 single ticket sales for three different venues, is based on a forthcoming tour of an international act playing in Kings Park Perth - where the venue is operated by Live Nation and tickets are sold exclusively through its company Ticketmaster, Brisbane’s Great Hall- operated independently but with an exclusive deal with Ticketek, and Melbourne’s Plenary Theatre - which allows the promoter to use a ticket seller of their choice, in this case Oztix.
Explaining that all three venues have similar seating capacities and overhead costs, Sloan told Guardian Australia “these high fees charged by Ticketmaster and Ticketek are not representative of the services offered, some of them are just made up.
“Exclusive ticketing rights, once granted, have no competition. In a free market where there’s no exclusive contracts, we would at least see ticket fees prices fall to current free market levels, which is half or less of the current Ticketmaster/Ticketek settings.”
Sloan said he decided to go public on ticketing fees after the live music industry’s peak body, Live Performance Australia (LPA), issued a statement on Tuesday condemning Monday’s Four Corners program on Live Nation, which suggested the multinational’s vertically integrated business model (a model shared by TEG) was reducing competition and driving up concert ticket prices.
He advised “we are already in a situation where the majority of people in the business are too scared to talk publicly for fear of commercial reprisals, so having an accurate voice in media and government is excruciatingly difficult when you have PR teams at TEG, Live Nation and now peak bodies like LPA defending what are universally recognised inside the business as deteriorating market conditions for artists and fans.
“The paradigm we are worried about sees lowest artist earn, highest ticket fees and highest customer spend to see the same artist.
“If we lose independent venue, promoter and ticket options, then that is what we have left and we all lose.”
Sloan said LPA’s decision to come out in defence of its most powerful member, Live Nation, which occupies two seats on the LPA’s executive council (including one of its vice-presidential positions) comes at the expense of many of the smaller Australian players the LPA is supposed to, for an annual fee, represent - players that have no capacity to compete with Live Nation and TEG and their behemoth ticketing companies.
Sloan said more than a dozen of these organisations, including corporate and government venues, arts and music festivals, promoters, agents and cinemas, have expressed their disappointment and dismay at LPA to him.
He added “there is clear evidence locally, nationally, and globally of problematic practices which ultimately push artificially inflated costs on to artists and ticket buyers,” said one email seen by the Guardian, sent by the artistic director of one of the largest arts festivals in the country
Guardian Australia reported a Sydney-based promoter as stating that the LPA’s media release was “not indicative at all of where our industry sits as a whole” and a Western Australian-based venue operator describing the media release as “very disappointing”.
Image credit: Shutterstock.
16th October 2024 - Live Nation sets ‘the record straight on inaccuracies’ in Four Corners live entertainment investigation
15th October 2024 - Live Performance Australia says industry problems not the fault of one company
14th October 2024 - Four Corners program scrutinises Live Nation’s practices within Australian music industry
14th October 2024 - Live performance remains under pressure notwithstanding 2023 record attendance and revenue
14th October 2024 - TEG names Shane Harmon as Managing Director - Experiences
14th October 2024 - Aiming to deter scalpers Victorian Government assigns Oasis’ Marvel Stadium concerts with ‘major event’ status
11th October 2024 - Live music inquiry focusses on risk and insurance
10th October 2024 - ABC Four Corners announces broadcast date for Live Nation investigation
9th October 2024 - Brisbane live music venue The Zoo saved and to reopen under new name
27th September 2024 - AXS selected as the official ticketing partner for CMC Rocks
5th August 2024 - Applications open to support Australian Live Music industry
27th July 2024 - Parliamentary inquiry looks at future Australia’s live music industry
8th July 2024 - Western Australia Government paid $8 million subsidy to Live Nation Entertainment for 2023 Coldplay concerts
7th June 2024 - ‘State of the Scene’ report delivers inaugural census of the live music industry in NSW
3rd June 2024 - Live music fans move from festivals towards stadium and arena acts
1st June 2024 - Live Nation confirms Ticketmaster customer information data breach
29th May 2024 - Australian Live Music Business Council welcomes US law change on ticketing transparency
16th April 2024 - Independent festival and ticketing businesses critical of multinational companies benefitting from government funding progams
31st May 2024 - Ticketek Australia advise that customer accounts may have been accessed in cyber security breach
23rd February 2024 - Live Nation reports 2023 as ‘biggest year ever’ for concert attendance and ticket sales
20th December 2023 - TEG names Phil King as Ticketek Australia’s Managing Director
31st May 2023 - Australian independent ticketing company Oztix acquires rival Local Tickets
25th October 2021 - Oztix and Tixel integrate platforms to combat unfair ticket resale practices
Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?
As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.
Click here to view our subscription options.
The Complete Guide to Leisure Industry Products & Services.
Links Modular Solutions was a leading provider of high-quality, innovative software solutions for aquatic and recreation facilities. Links Modular Solutions is now part of Xplor Technologies.
read moreGladstone Health & Leisure (Gladstone MRM Pty Ltd Australia) is a leading supplier of leisure management and fitness software and is endorsed by leading health and fitness professionals and…
read moreStadiums and venues around the world recognise that success hinges on more than just what happens on the pitch. More than ever, fan engagement within each facility is a critical part of the overall…
read morePrincipal Consultant Simon Weatherill has spent the last 20 years developing the world renowned Melbourne Sports Hub, as former Chief Executive Officer of the State Sports Centres Trust…
read moreFounded in 1961, Myrtha Pools® quickly became Italy’s première swimming pool company, and has since grown into one of the world's leading swimming pool construction…
read moreParkequip is an approved supplier under the NSW LGP Contract 308 for a range of products including play equipment, shade, shelters, safe fall, park furniture and school outdoor seating. All materials…
read moreINTRODUCTION Abel Sports is Australia’s leading manufacturer and suppliers of Goal Posts, sports ground safety netting systems and coaches boxes for Stadiums ,Sports Clubs, Councils and…
read moreWith its sleek good looks and easy-to-use yet powerful functionality, Envibe is the premium fitness club software for the Australasian leisure, recreation and fitness industry. We are the most…
read moreGet your business noticed in our targeted directory. Viewed by 10,000 industry professionals per week!