Are U2 tickets for the sphere fairly priced?

Well?

I voted no. Granted, they're not as bad as I was initially expecting, but they're still way too much for seeing 3/4 of the band and a giant video screen. U2 is at a place where they could charge far less, seeing as how they don't need the money.

Well?

A fair price is a strange concept when it comes to business transactions. I would argue that the original stated prices for the venue were actually similar in many respects to the E&I tour in 2018. I guess you could say that might be "Fair". I'm not sure how many tickets were reserved for platinum/dynamic pricing. It might have been 25% of the capacity each night.

Music artist are in the music business, and they price their tickets based on their value in the market. Just like when you sell your home, you sell it for market value. I think its rare that you will hear a homeowner claim they sold their house for a "fair price", unless their definition of "fair" is the market value of the home.

The price for General admission tickets, usually the lowest or almost the lowest in the venue, with fans in closest proximity to the band, was a gift U2 had given fans every tour from 2001 onwards. They went from a list price of $45 dollars on Elevation in 2001 up to a list price of $80 dollars on the E&I tour in 2018. With the Sphere, those low prices are gone with $270 dollar priced tickets and this is indeed where fans are getting kicked in the teeth compared to other tours where general admission was a low price gift for the best seat in the house.

So its complex. They have cancelled the gift that General Admission used to be which is sad, but as for the other tickets, their seeing what the market will allow, which is really what they have done on every tour in their history.

U2 is at a place where they could charge far less, seeing as how they don't need the money.

The argument has been made by some for every show since 1987. But when your as popular as U2 and you try to play Robin Hood, you only benefit the scalpers. A scalpers dream is high demand underpriced tickets.

Quote from: Alphane on April 30, 2023, 11:45:22 AM

U2 is at a place where they could charge far less, seeing as how they don't need the money.

The argument has been made by some for every show since 1987. But when your as popular as U2 and you try to play Robin Hood, you only benefit the scalpers. A scalpers dream is high demand underpriced tickets.

I guess you’ve completely ignored what the Cure singer is doing. They cut the scalpers out.

Quote from: Alphane on April 30, 2023, 11:45:22 AM

U2 is at a place where they could charge far less, seeing as how they don't need the money.

The argument has been made by some for every show since 1987. But when your as popular as U2 and you try to play Robin Hood, you only benefit the scalpers. A scalpers dream is high demand underpriced tickets.

The scalpers being U2, LN and TM. Give it up, wons.

I would vote no. The prices are too high and the platinum ticket prices are shameful.

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it's a sham. Not giving access to the fans and then using the platinum "dynamic" model is a farce. Fucking disgraceful and Edge should be ashamed of himself for that horseshit lip service he gave in the Rolling Stone interview.

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

The technology is absolutely there to stop the secondary ticket market. Saying they haven’t figured it out is absurd. 

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

Both Queen and the Cure worked with TM to only allow resale at the ticket cost. It seems that if the bands care enough and let the distributor know the restrictions they want on resale they can keep costs down, but if a band wants to milk as much $ as they can out of their fans they go with the dynamic model. It's such a farce to see the Edge give lip service to his fans while these artists are actually doing something.

https://wrat.com/2023/03/24/queen-adam-lambert-trying-to-combat-scalpers-on-new-north-american-tour-dates/

https://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2023/03/10/the-cure-ticket-resale-transfer/

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 30, 2023, 12:58:53 PM

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

Both Queen and the Cure worked with TM to only allow resale at the ticket cost. It seems that if the bands care enough and let the distributor know the restrictions they want on resale they can keep costs down, but if a band wants to milk as much $ as they can out of their fans they go with the dynamic model. It's such a farce to see the Edge give lip service to his fans while these artists are actually doing something.

https://wrat.com/2023/03/24/queen-adam-lambert-trying-to-combat-scalpers-on-new-north-american-tour-dates/

https://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2023/03/10/the-cure-ticket-resale-transfer/

Exactly this

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 30, 2023, 12:58:53 PM

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

The technology is absolutely there to stop the secondary ticket market. Saying they haven’t figured it out is absurd.

the only absurdity is your continuing to insist the tech exists to stop it.  it's not simply a tech issue.  it's a legal issue as well as am issue of fairness.  i.e fair use laws. 

Quote from: Larry Lovebucket on April 30, 2023, 01:05:14 PM

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 30, 2023, 12:58:53 PM

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

The technology is absolutely there to stop the secondary ticket market. Saying they haven’t figured it out is absurd.

the only absurdity is your continuing to insist the tech exists to stop it.  it's not simply a tech issue.  it's a legal issue as well as am issue of fairness.  i.e fair use laws.

Ok the floor is yours. Explain.

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 30, 2023, 01:17:12 PM

Quote from: Larry Lovebucket on April 30, 2023, 01:05:14 PM

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 30, 2023, 12:58:53 PM

wons is correct.  artificially low prices only benefits the scalpers.  if there is a way to prohibit resale altogether, they haven't figured that out - at least in the US where we have fair use laws on such things. 

of course in the bizarre dystopian world we live in now, TM has engineered the system such that the secondary market benefits them, because they make it very difficult to use any other platforms.  So TM make bank on the initial sale, then they make more on the resale.

I wonder if U2 and other artists have reached agreements with TM on also getting a cut of the resale tickets.  If so, then it would really be bad form.

as for The Cure - I don't know what they have done but it sounds interesting.  No other artist has ever successfully eliminated scalping.

The technology is absolutely there to stop the secondary ticket market. Saying they haven’t figured it out is absurd.

the only absurdity is your continuing to insist the tech exists to stop it.  it's not simply a tech issue.  it's a legal issue as well as am issue of fairness.  i.e fair use laws.

Ok the floor is yours. Explain.

if I buy tickets to a show, and for whatever reason I cannot make it, I should be able to resell them.  And if I want to unload them on the cheap (because demand may be low) or make some $$$ I should be able to do so.  It's a free market.

Now understand what I am talking about is regular fans like you and me... not the large bot-driven scalper organizations that exists to exploit the demand pricing gaps.  And they do so with the help of TM and likely artists such as U2 who I suspect have contracts that give them a cut of the resale on top of the initial sale.

From what SC posted, it sounds like The Cure and Queen did something valuable.  And I agree U2 are a sham when they say one thing and do another.  I have largely given up on them anyway and can barely stand to listen to them anymore.  But that's a different issue.

Final point - Larry only a few months ago you went on record - in a debate with yours truly - that you believed scalpers to be a good thing.  It was a bizarre argument to make, but you made it.  So I think you ought to consider your position relative to that, in the interests of consistency.