Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped
Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped by Dean Budnick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've had this book tucked away for quite awhile, as I work in the industry and find it fascinating - especially the misinformation that is out there about things like how many concert tickets are made available to the general public, the deals ticketing agencies have made with artists and venues, and the rise of the secondary ticketing market (where I work).
Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped has a pretty leading title, and it delivers against that - the public is the big loser here, and author Dean Budnick does a good job at pointing out the way the industry works, explaining away some things folks think they know about, and in many cases keeps it light and informative.
For instance, most folks know - or think they know - about the Pearl Jam and Ticketmaster battle from back in the early 1990's. But, did you know that the band (who I love) who said they were only interested in making sure the fans could have a $20 ticket refused to take any less than $17 a ticket themselves? I sure didn't. And I also didn't know about later issues TM has had with folks like The String Cheese Incident, etc., with different results.
Ticket Masters is often dry - it took me maybe seven months to read, and I read about five or six other books along the way - but it does open up ones eyes to a guarded and often closed industry. Definitely recommended to anyone IN the industry, as well as for those looking in from the outside. It's not always riveting, but definitely a solid account of what's going on.
Rating: 6.5/10.0