Pearl Jam’s Side in Ticket Battle

“. . . Breaking up the Beatles,” “. . . Where’s the beef?,” “. . . poor, beleaguered fans,” “. . . petulant band.”

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Former L.A. Times reporter and now Ticketmaster employee Alan Citron has obviously made a smooth transition from responsible journalism based on facts to spewing factless rhetoric for Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen.

In response to Citron’s April 10 Counterpunch piece (“Pearl Jam’s ‘Crusade’ Was Pointless”), I have a few comments:

The “5 - Cent” Myth: Citron claims that Ticketmaster was willing to offer a maximum per ticket service charge of $2.50, which would mean no more than a 5-cent difference between the two services. It’s not true. The ETM service charge for a Pearl Jam ticket is $2. There is a 45-cent handling charge per order, not per ticket. And instead of us telling you what the difference between ETM and Ticketmaster’s service charges really is, pick up the phone and call Ticketmaster about a concert coming to your area. If you’re able to get through, ask the operator for total service charges.

The $2.50 Ticketmaster Offer Myth: Ticketmaster continues to talk about an offer of a $2.50 per ticket service charge it made to Pearl Jam last year. This was never offered in writing. We heard of it long after Pearl Jam had canceled its tour and had filed a memorandum with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The fact of this issue has always been and continues to be about choice . In all aspects of the music industry we have choices: choices between different merchandisers, record companies, agents, promoters, venues, trucking companies, crews and even cities. But, as a result of exclusive contracts between Ticketmaster and major venues around the country, there is no choice. And who ultimately pays for having no choices? The fan, the American consumer.

Until the system is changed in a way that allows for competition on a national level, fans will continue to pay arbitrary and unreasonable fees when they buy concert tickets because they have no choices.

The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating these potential anti-competitive practices for almost a year, and we look forward to the results of this investigation on behalf of all fans and consumers.