Let me preface this post by saying…. please don’t bother sending me the hate mail for posting this. Leave your comments on the website under this post. I want to open up a discussion about this subject. If you read this blog then you know that I am a Keith Urban fan – and I am NOT picking on Keith. I happened to run across this great news investigation….they are picking on Keith 
. I am simply using this article to start up the conversation and hear what fans have to say about both sides. Ok, on with the story:
source: http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11469165
False Hopes Fuel Keith Urban’s Ticket Frenzy
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As country music’s biggest names gather for a week of awards and celebrations, NewsChannel 5 investigates secrets that some would rather you not know.
The secrets involve the growing ticket frenzy surrounding some of Nashville’s hottest concerts. It’s why fans may find it impossible to get a good seat at a good price.
That frenzy, it turns out, is sometimes fueled by false hopes and some lucrative side deals.
In the case of Keith Urban, our investigation began with a recent controversy over one major concert, but it led to some startling revelations about the selling of one of Nashville’s biggest stars.
NewsChannel 5 chief investigative reporter Phil Williams has the results of a seven-month investigation.
This is a very long article with a lot of facts attached. If you wish to continue reading and find out more….
When country music superstar Keith Urban announced his latest project — a charity benefit to raise money for the Country Music Hall of Fame — Nashville’s music community was quick to sing his praises.
“To have someone of Keith’s stature step up and do this today — and who all he’s bringing to play in October — is overwhelming to us,” Vince Gill told reporters at the time
The benefit — “We’re All for the Hall,” as it was known — was advertised as “all tickets just $25.”
But even before tickets went on sale to the general public, they showed up on scalping web sites like Ticketmaster’s TicketsNow — listed, in some cases, for hundreds of dollars each.
“When you have a highly desirable product with incredible demand, all kinds of shenanigans go on,” said music industry analyst Bob Lefsetz, who writes The Lefsetz Letter blog.
Ticket scalping has become a big problem with any major act — whether it’s the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift or Keith Urban.
But Lefsetz added that the promise of a $25 ticket had more to do with Urban’s image than the real value.
“The big problem with this ‘All for the Hall’ thing is the tickets are worth much more than $25,” Lefsetz said.
And our investigation discovered that Urban’s own team may have fueled the frenzy with the ad that declared, “All tickets just $25 and on sale Wednesday, September 2nd, 10 a.m.”
Watch the TV ad for the benefit show
In fact, internal ticketing documents show that, by 10 a.m. Wednesday, out of less than 15,000 seats, more than 10,000 had already been sold.
To view ticketing documents from the Sommet Center show, click here. Out of 14,904 seats, there were 4,491 tickets for the “public onsale.” More tickets were made available for the fan club, so the “public onsale” number was likely much lower.
Click here to view ticket maps, showing which seats were reserved for which group.
“Listen, the whole business is smoke and mirrors,” Lefsetz said.
“So why advertise all tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Wednesday?” Williams asked.
“Because no one is policing them, telling them to tell the truth.”
And while Urban’s people dismissed the scalping as “unfortunate,” it turns out that a big chunk of the tickets sold in advance had gone to Keith Urban’s Monkeyville fan club.
Urban pockets $25 for each membership, giving fans — and scalpers – early access to some tickets.
For the Hall of Fame benefit, we found 12 of those $25 seats right on the front row, scalped at $642 each — all of them, according to internal documents, allocated to the fan club. Urban’s team denies any responsibility for those scalped tickets.
“Are scalpers working the fan clubs?” Williams asked Lefsetz.
“Scalpers are working everything,” Lefsetz answered.
Still, Keith Urban’s team told reporters they could not involve themselves “in a ticket-scalping debate.”
And there may be a reason that he was reluctant to condemn the scalping.
That’s because, as our investigation discovered, this year Keith Urban struck a deal with Ticketmaster to, in essence, scalp tickets to his own shows.
Internal documents show that at stops on his 2009 “Escape Together” tour, Keith Urban’s people instructed the venues to pull out 50 prime seats to be auctioned off to the highest bidders through Ticketmaster.
Plus, they ordered a hold on another 150 so-called “Platinum” or “TicketExchange” seats. TicketExchange was an area of Ticketmaster’s web site that claimed to have tickets being resold — usually at inflated prices — by other fans.
For the ticketing instructions given to venues for Keith Urban’s “Escape Together World Tour,” click here.
For a breakdown of the specific holds for the Sommet Center show, including the “Platinum Seats/TicketExchange” hold, click here.
“What could be better?” Lefsetz exclaimed. “The act says, ‘They don’t know. They’re blaming the scalpers, and it’s going directly to me.’”
Urban’s team says Keith took the deal to help finance his highly praised effort to make tickets available for 20 bucks during his nationwide tour. His own web site called it a “True $20 Ticket,” quoting Urban as saying that he knew that “people out there are hurting.”
To view an image of that “True $20 Ticket” announcement, click here.
GACTV.com News: “Keith Urban Offers $20 Escape”
“I think that’s great,” one fan told Phil Williams. “Then so many people can go, and it’s affordable for everyone.”
That led to a ticket frenzy of its own.
A CMT blogger blamed scalpers for the dearth of $20 tickets available to fans.
But what Keith Urban did not tell fans was that, out of almost 15,000 tickets at his “Escape Together” show in Nashville, there were really only 389 tickets available to the public for $20.
“Really?” asked the fan, after being told the numbers. “That’s not cool.”
Her friend added, “I have nothing bad to say about Keith Urban.”
And that, critics say, is part of the problem.
Keith Urban isn’t alone in such techniques.
Earlier this year, a Wall Street Journal article revealed Neil Diamond’s relationship with TicketExchange.
CMT blogger: “Neil Diamond, You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself”
Ticketmaster now says that, about 10 days after Keith Urban’s concert tour went on sale, they stopped promoting all artists through TicketExchange.
Now, they’re clearly labeled as “Official Platinum Seats.” The truth is: those are good seats — not necessarily the best seats — with a fancy name and a big price.
Urban’s ticketing instructions call for those seats to be on the floor somewhere in the first 30 rows.
As for the presales, Keith Urban’s people say there’s no way to keep the scalpers out.
But either way, Urban makes the money.
Take, for example, the Hall of Fame benefit.
His team put out an announcement saying, ” If you are not a Monkeyville member yet, don’t worry. You can become one now by clicking here to get access to these pre-sale tickets.”
So that’s what we did.
To view an image of that “All for the Hall” announcement, click here.
Keith Urban got the 25 bucks for our membership, but there were still no tickets available.
A spokesman for Urban now says that fans only got the possibility of getting pre-sale tickets, not actually guaranteed tickets.
Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper said there are limits about what promoters can or cannot say. In a statement to NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Cooper said:
“Promoters should be careful not to make misleading claims about the price and availability of tickets. Deceptive practices in the marketing of goods or services is a violation of Tennessee’s consumer protection laws. Whether a violation has taken place depends on the facts of each case. We encourage consumers who feel like they have been misled to file a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs. We need as much detailed information as possible so we can determine if a violation of the law has occurred.”
Ok, please let the comments flow!
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Um…I told you so….Is this really “Keith’s fault” no…he probably takes a very hands-off approach and lets his managment “deal with it.” However, that doesn’t take the blame away…he should know, he should be on the ball, therefore he DID DROP THE BALL. I’ve gotten the best seats EVER to Keith Urban shows this past tour, no thanks to Keith…But I would like to extend my thanks to Dierks Bentley and Sugarland who actually have deals to hold THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE FOR THEIR FANCLUB MEMBERS!!! I will not be renewing my Monkeyville Membership simply because there are NO perks to joining…However, I’m sure my hard earned $25 will be going towards the fanclubs that actually want their fans to have the best seats and the best concert experience.
Let me be the first to open the discussion. The practice of pre-selling or holding tickets for any event, be it music, arts, sports – has been an ongoing practice as long as I can remember and is not likely to change. If anyone is surprised at it, how do they think they can win concert tickets from the radio station before even the “pre-sale”? And I know of no “truth-in-lending” type of advertising law that requires the artist or venue to disclose how many are “held” or given away or pre-sold for VIPs, radio stations, TV stations, etc.
I’d also like to address the statement about the fan club issue – of course they will have a section dedicated to the fans and of course there will be a block of seats available – that is one of the perks to being a member of a fan club! As to the mention that Keith “pockets” $25.00 – oh don’t you think so dear Reporter, whoever you are. The person who wrote that article needs to run a fan club – just for a month – to see for themself where that $25.00 goes. I would say that probably no more than a very, very small percentage – if anything – goes directly to Keith and he may very well actually contribute to some costs of the club in the long run!
The fan club dues pay for promotional fees, mailing tariffs, fan-club exclusive merchandise, the price of a hotel suite to hold the big fan club party at CMA Fest (one room for 4 hours can cost upwards of $3000.00 and more if food is involved. ) A fan club president may travel to promote the club at large venues or to help set up meet and greets and represent the artist and travel expenses will apply. There are taxes to pay on the money, computer costs – running a large fan club is the very same as running a business and all rules and taxes apply. Put it in his pocket indeed!!! So – forum is open now huh CMTT? I love Keith too – he nor his people “fueled” anything in my opinion – it is a practice that has been with us a long time and is sure to continue.
I don’t hold Keith personally to be responsible but indirectly yes. I am a MV member and it has been discussed to death this issue of TM and presales. MV members very rarely get seats in the first 10 rows. The scalpers seem to get the best all the time. Minutes after the tickets go on sale you can find them up on ebay for ridiculous prices. The artist does not profit from this. However, platinum seating and auctions are commonplace in the music business today. Its another way for the artist to make money. As long as there are people willing to pay that price it will continue.
That is crazy. And i’m sure it is all Keith Urban’s management! I was a monkeyville member for the first time this year. I pulled row 13 floor seats for the Cleveland show. I was pretty happy with those but had heard that there were many others that weren’t as fortunate. I also was lucky enough to win Custom Agent for that show through Monkeyville which scored me row 4 floor seats and was able to stand right up against the side of the ramps for the whole show….so essentially front row and was able to reach out and touch Keith’s leg! I do know that i was one of the lucky ones in Monkeyville. Not positive that i’ll be renewing my membership at the end of they year or not!!! We’ll see. I prefer the way Rascal Flatts does their ticket sales and think if more fanclubs did it that way then things would be so much better. Ticketmaster is a rip off with all their fees!
I don’t consider this much of an investigative piece, considering that I knew every single stinking thing that was brought up in the piece (the fan club presale, the front-row ticketexchange inflated price, the low # of seats at $20, the fact that fan club membership doesn’t guarantee a choice seat or even a seat at all in pre-sale). NewsChannel 5 Investigates does a much better job when it reports on things which involve government money. Here we have the intertwining of several businesses – promoters, venues, artists, Ticketmaster, and others – all trying to get the most $$ that each of them can get. There is nothing evil about that. For artists who are much in demand there will always be more people wanting seats than there are seats available. That will bring out the attempts to properly match price to demand without seeming to be greedy. This piece of reporting is just a way to grab the attention of a few viewers and tie in to the CMA Week events.
This is exactly why I think fan clubs need to hold tickets like Rascal Flatts does…we fans buy our tickets but do not know where those tickets are until the night of the show…this reduces the possibility of scalping those tickets because you do not know where they will be until the night of the show. When I first learned of this practice it drove me crazy, but now I completely understand. This does not keep the fan from selling their ticket once they pick it up (although that is against written fan club rules)…it at least deters someone because its hard to sell a ticket without a location!
The only thing that I have a problem with is when fans are being “tricked” with words to make it seem like they are getting the best deal when they are NOT! I have seen a few fan clubs run great and I have seen lots of fan club run not so great. I think that fans should almost always come first and it doesn’t seem to be the case here. It seems that corporate sponsors and big money get the best seats. I don’t think that is fair.
I have been to many concerts in my life. We have the same issue in Kenny Chesney’s fan club with the availability, ebay, etc. The staff does do a good job of locating most ebay auctions for tix, pull them and offer them up again. They need to drop the cost of joining the fan clubs, or change the way presales are done, perhaps like Rascal Flatts. I had like 15th row at 1 of the shows from the Dierks fan club when he opened for KC in 2006 and got backstage to meet Dierks as well. I did not know where my seats were until I picked up the tickets the day of the show as well as my stick on pass. I’ve been in several fan clubs in the past 10 years. I saw Taylor Swift in MN last month on the final night of her tour, and I managed to get 2 decent riser seats (though not a pair to sit together) on radio password presale. Once the public sale happened there were so few tix available and I wasn’t gonna pay a scalper $ I don’t even have. The secret to us being in the 4th & 8th rows when we saw Kenny in Fargo this summer was that I was looking at the presale with a pair of trusted online fan club friends, so when they pulled those they called me and I said yes, buy them!
I guess for me I already knew most of what was in the article to BUT is verified I was right and it makes it clear that the fans do know what we are talking about and that something should be done about some of it. I am fine with radio contests, giveaways, etc. but geez…take care of your fans. Who likes to go to a concert where the entire first 10 rows are made up on non-fans. The energy for that show would not be near as great and electrifying as it would if the first 20 rows were filled with true fans. You know…those fans that pay the $25 per because they know the words to every song and know every note the band plays. You have to admit…that is a much more fun concert for everyone evolved.
Tawny, does this mean you will be joining Rascal Flatts fanclub? You sure are quick to drive that knife into Keith’s back. Well, don’t think I’ll be coming back to this site. Goodbye!
lioness – I thought we were all friends here. Although I would LOVE it if Tawny joined Rascal Flatts fanclub I can tell you that won’t be happening EVER. Even though they run one of the best and most tight reigned fanclubs in country music. I know you have been a reader of CMTT for a long time now and you know that we brought this subject up at the start of Keith’s tour. This article was a great way for fans to know they were right! AND they have the right to be upset about it. I am sure Tawny will tell you this herself, BUT Tawny is and ALWAYS will be a Keith Urban fan – that doesn’t mean she is naive enough to think that he or his management are perfect. Not the case and if fans won’t stick up for themselves and their own pocket books who will?
I am part of Keith Urban’s fan club and was extremely disappointed to discover that the best seats I could get for the show near me was either way at the very back of the floor or towards the back of the stadium on the first level of seats. I tried to purchase them the minute the presale started too. I belong to a ridiculous number of fan clubs and have NEVER had troubles getting good seats during presales. I do not blame Keith Urban for this but I can say that I will not renew my membership because it is a complete waste of my money.
Another annoying thing I discovered during my attempts to buy tickets is that people were selling their monkeyville presale code on craigslist. It is a shame because there are loyal fans out there that work hard to promote these artists and when it comes to attending a concert they are unable to do so because scalpers are buying all the tickets and reselling them for an inflated price that the average person cannot afford.
As a huge country music fan I attend many concerts and festivals. Yes I am a member of Monkeyville and several months ago I tried to get tickets his concert. Two minutes into the fan club ticket sales only nose bleed seats were available for a very short time and then it stated no tickets availble.I have never experienced this from any other artist’s membership. Shortly after that discovered that one fan club member was selling the code on Craig’s list. I reported this to the fan club office. Alan Jackson’s fan club has a really good system where you purchase the tickets off his website and you are guarantee seats within the first 12 or so rows. You pick your tickets up at the will call ticket booth an hour before the show and at that time you find out the location of your seats.I think this is a great way to deter scalpers and places the true loyal fans up front that purchase and know their music. It is funny how some concerts the front seats are empty until the show is about to start then filled up with young girls in skimmy outfits and do not even know 5 words to any of the songs and probably cannot even name 5 country artists and one of their songs even if you gave them a multiple choice What is with that ??
Hey Lioness- Wow…those are harsh words…However, I feel being someones fan is very much like being someone’s friend. I want my friends to say “Hey, you’re being a bitch, cut it out..” or “Hey, your ass is lookin HUGE in those jeans.” If you can’t count on your fans/friends to tell you where you’re goin right or wrong, who can you count on? They way I see it….I joined MV to get exclusive tickets, videos, perks…the friends I met were just the icing. However, if you read the ticket presale info…it’s misleading, and if you look at the documents found, you’ll see that a majority of the decent seats are NOT given to the fanclub…sure, most of the seats are saved for the fanclub, but most of the good seats are saved for those who wanna pay the big bucks. The way I see it, those people pay money to join the fanclub, spend crazy amounts of time promoting the artist, and the least they should get is to be treated like the supportive fans that they are. I love Keith Urban. I think he’s nice, giving, talented, and well hot…but this is an area he is lacking…If the fans don’t bring attention to it, it won’t get fixed…and it CAN be fixed…for crying out loud, we had FANTASTIC fanclub expeirences this year with Dierks, Brad, Sugarland, and Luke Bryan…That’s all we want…Tell us the truth!!! If the truth sucks so bad that you have to sugar-coat it…That’s not the fans fault…That’s a problem with the truth…come up with a new plan that you’re proud to spill the beans about.
Also, it’s really kinda crude to go-off on a fan when they speak against their favorite artists…You can still be a fan but not be pleased with the way you’re being treated…after all…you put them there…No one is perfect…Everyone’s shit stinks, and every once in a while you just need someone to tell you to bust out the potporri spray or tell you to give a litte courtesy flush….Keith is no exception…we just want to let him know that this stinks…and if it’s not about the money…then he should have no problem fixing it.
This whole thing is just plain wrong. Although Keith may not have control over his fanclub, in my opinion he should still be held responsible.
all i am going to say is keith is a great guy but fan clubs like his and Tim mcgraw and biger names are not worth it because the artist has no control. But the best fan club in the world that treats the fan right and you have a problem it is taken care of and that is Miranda Lambert’s fan club it is phenomenol and that is because they aren’t money hungry and it is ran by her family. Dierks is great too and so is Lady a they know how to take care of their fans.
This is sad to hear & even sadder to think that Keith might know about this & let’s it continue. Sure he has people hired to take care of all of this stuff but he also has his name on the tour so he has the last word. Can it be corrected 100%, probably not but at least there should be a true attempt to correct the problems. I truly hope that this embarassment makes Keith & other artists get this situation corrected ASAP. If they don’t fans will just not make as great an effort to go if they can’t have a chance to get decent seats. Again, sorry that this is associated with Keith because he is a wonderful performer & I think he just wants to perform his music & wants his fans to enjoy themselves.
Well well well, another ticket debate. The article contained nothing new, but it is bringing to light a few problems that most artists are having. I find it interesting how some people didnt know that there was only a small amount of Keith’s $20 tickets. I knew that they were the seats in the section straight back from the stage in the so called nosebleed seats. It wasnt about selling the best seats for $20, it was about giving almost anybody a chance for a night out. I dont think there is anyhting wrong with artists doing the premium seat auctions. I say good for them, they are selling them for around the same price as a scalper would anyways.
What Fanclubs need to be doing is providing presales with ALL tickets to be will call only!!! I know, the downside is that if you can no longer go, you lose the tickets and cant resell them. I travel all over to attend around a dozen or so shows a year, so this would bother me too, but it would solve the problem of the scalpers joining the fanclubs and getting all the good seats.
I dont see this as an artist problem, but an industry problem and ALL artists together with Management companies and promoters need to band together to help put the fans in the prime seats where we belong without having to pay an arm and a leg to scalpers to do it!!!
I am a HUGE Keith Urban fan. I joined Monkeyville Fan Club not for the purpose of purchasing tickets, but to be able to visit the fan site online and watch the videos of Keith’s tour. Not being able to ever afford to go to a concert, my $25 membership allowed me to see clips of most of the tour, as well as a livestreaming telecast of the extraordinary We’re All for The Hall concert last month in Nashville. I couldn’t be happier! My love of Keith’s music will always remain no matter what happens with this ticketing problem. I think everyone should wait to hear Keith’s side of this debate; give him a chance to respond.
Tickets are getting too expensive whether it’s Ticketmaster or from scalpers. If I want good seats to a concert, I join the fan club to get the pre sale. If I can’t get tickets on the floor in the first 5 rows, I don’t buy any. If I want to go bad enough, I go to Ebay and pay $200 a ticket if I have to. That doesn’t happen often. I get a good seat on the floor, or I don’t go. I never understood why someone would buy a ticket so far back you have to watch the big screen to see anything. I can watch a big screen at home.
MV sucks, Keith’s Urbans people suck, and it all falls back to Keith. He needs to take control and not have the hands off approach. Its turned many people off and will continue to do so. Keith has lost a LARGE bulk of his early big supporters because of this crap. His people say they cant get in a scalping debate, why not?! Oh yeah because you’re making HUGE amounts of money off of people who’d give their first born for great seats and/or a meet and greet. It’s all about the money, it used to be all about the music.