MR

http://www.laweekly.com/2009-03-05/music/ticketmaster-and-servants-bands-partly-to-blame-for-service-fee/

Enduring a stern grilling by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and New York Democrat Charles Schumer, Azoff, seated next to LiveNation kingpin Michael Rapino, uttered a statement only a few outlets, including Nashville industry blog Coolfer, reported: “I would also like to get on the record that when people hear what Ticketmaster’s service charge is, Ticketmaster was set up as a system where they took the heat for everybody. Ticketmaster gets a minority percentage of that service charge. In that service charge are the credit-card fees, the rebates to the buildings, rebates sometimes to artists, sometimes rebates to promoters.”

Thanks to "NealIsGod" for finding this article.

This will be news to the lay person.. it's not news to the person who pays attention who's getting rich and who isn't...

the pertinent part of the article is this:

Indeed, in a mid-January conference call, Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller for the first time in the company’s history declined to take heat for the rising ticket prices (up 400 percent in the past decade):

“Ticketmaster does not set prices,” Diller said. “Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set ticket prices.”

Azoff echoed Diller’s line during the hearings: “The only person in the business with a monopoly is the artist,” he said, which in his highflying world means the Eagles, U2 and Guns N’ Roses, not Crystal Antlers, Emily Wells and other small-venue artists who are only privy to the downside of Ticketmaster’s service charge. Is it any wonder that in recent days a growing number of marquee names, including Jay-Z, U2 and Van Halen, have come out in support of the merger?

Ticket prices have been off the chain for a long time now. I remember when you actually bought the tickets from the venue or arena you were going to see the show at. These days you have to pick and choose if your on a budget. I'm not, but I'm also not going to get fucked either. If I have seen the band enough times and their prices aren't reasonable or what I feel is fair, I'm not going. I'll go and support a local act that is busting ass to make it. TicketBastard and Live Nation are and I hate to say it, your best shot at lower ticket prices. Brokers like StubHub, TicketLiquidator are the ones to look out for.