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The internet has revolutionized the way essentially everyone in the world does business and Silicon Valley’s unquenchable thirst to disrupt all of the industries in existence has forced many companies to adjust their business model in an attempt to avoid meeting the same demise as Blockbuster and other former institutions that refused to adjust to the times.
At this point, you can purchase virtually everything in existence without having to lift your ass off of the couch and it’s easy to take this convenience for granted until you encounter a situation where you have to put on real clothes and wander outside the safety of your home to get your hands on something that can’t be brought to you.
Around 10 years ago, I was forced to do exactly that when I learned the only way to get my hands on a ticket to a Kid Cudi concert at my college was to stand in line at the box office, which I did for two hours before offloading it at twice the price to someone at the end of the line because I like beer more than his music.
The experience gave me an appreciation for just how far we’ve come, as I can still remember having to wake up early one morning and heading to the mall to wait for the Ticketmaster kiosk to open so I could get good seats at a Good Charlotte show.
As a result, I was more than happy to pay a fee for the convenience of being able to purchase tickets online when that option first became available. However, it seems that more and more mysterious fees have been tacked on over the past couple of decades—most of which aren’t brought to your attention until you near the end of the buying process.
Thankfully, it appears Congress might finally do something people on both sides of the aisle can agree is a good idea, as ESPN reports representatives from companies including Ticketmaster, Stubhub, and AXS recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak in front of a committee about a variety of issues the industry has come under fire for—including those deceptive add-ons.
Interestingly enough, everyone who testified on behalf of their respective companies seemed to agree all parties would benefit if the listed price for tickets reflected any additional fees there might be (a previous investigation conducted by ESPN found that they can contribute to up to 40% of the final cost).
Assuming they can get this done, I would ask Congress to then think about passing a law that makes it illegal to hold up your phone at a concert for more than 10 seconds at a time.