The stupid burns brightly in this one...

[gary m]

Job or Taylor Swift? Not a hard choice I take it

“I’m gonna cry soon but right now I’m laughing,” she says. “If they cut off access, I’m not going to get tickets and yeah, I’m worried about how I’m going to pay rent and health insurance and stuff but like…this is the most [pressing] issue at hand.”

Swift is coming to Detroit and looking at Ticketmaster, prices go from $573 for nose bleed to $8,494 for count beads of sweat. I wouldn't pay that much to see anyone for any reason.

And I'd lay 3 to 1 odds she and thousands of others that want to see her and other overpaid and over priced entertainment have student loan debt they want forgiven.

Jesus not only wept. He went back in and rolled the stone back.

[Gramps]

I'd like to see a breakdown of where the money goes.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Had a friend back in the 80s who paid $1000 for 2 scalped tickets to see Springsteen. I listened to part of the concert from the parking lot (Oakland Coliseum). I thought she was nuts to pay that for a concert and I still do. Oh, and her house was in foreclosure at the time.

No matter how much I might like an artist, I wouldn't pay that kind of money if they did the concert sitting on my lap. I also wouldn't recognize Taylor Swift if I tripped over her.

[gary m]

Back in my day, very late 60's to mid 70's, I saw a good number of live acts when it was clubs like The Grande Ballroom, Eastown Theater, Harpo's in the Detroit rock scene, similar to The Winterland, Filmore, etc, in other cities before a lot of these acts became big name arena acts like Zeppelin, The Who, Lou Reed, Alice, MC5, Grand Funk, Seger, J. Geils (best damn live club band I ever saw and that's not just the drugs talking) and on for about $5-$10.

CSNY, Springsteen, and the rest of the current crop that stood against the Establishment now charging hundreds or thousands to be blessed with their presence and political opinions can kiss my ass. They're not worth walking to my car.

[Adam]

The music business has changed pretty dramatically. Used to be that concerts were effectively loss-leaders to sell more records. Now the reverse is true.

I'd like to see a breakdown of where the money goes.

Most of it to her pocket, a sizable chunk to RipoffMaster. To her credit, though, Swift does donate a lot to charity. I think that I mentioned before that when Nashville was literally under water in the floods back in 2010, she was writing checks to help people literally within hours after the Cumberland jumped its banks. As I understand it, she's done that with a lot of causes. Now, there's no way in hell that I would ever shell out $573, much less eight grand, to see anyone play, I don't care if it's the second coming of Ronnie Van Zant opened by Jimmi Hendrix (Freebird!!!). But if she can command it, more power to her. Ultimately her attraction is less about her music and more about having a pretty face, and that's going to be fleeting, so get it while you can, I guess.

[Frostbit]

Had a friend back in the 80s who paid $1000 for 2 scalped tickets to see Springsteen. I listened to part of the concert from the parking lot (Oakland Coliseum). I thought she was nuts to pay that for a concert and I still do. Oh, and her house was in foreclosure at the time.

No matter how much I might like an artist, I wouldn't pay that kind of money if they did the concert sitting on my lap. I also wouldn't recognize Taylor Swift if I tripped over her.

Saw him at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA in 1975 for $12.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Saw him at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA in 1975 for $12.

I think I saw him in Maryland around the same time. He did a good concert. By the mid-80s, though, he was a big deal.

I enjoyed some excellent concerts for around $10. Billy Joel, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, John Sebastian, John Prine. Others we saw at The Cellar Door in Georgetown for the price of a couple of beers and maybe a $2 cover charge: Seals & Crofts, Sageworth and Drums come to mind. It was a good time for music.

[Newman]

Looks like some Deomcrats are losing no time proposing that they be in charge.

"Break up Ticketmaster": AOC calls out ticket monopoly over Taylor Swift fiasco (Salon)

"Break up Ticketmaster": AOC calls out ticket monopoly over Taylor Swift fiasco (WTNH News 8)

Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle sparks call for hearings by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (FOX Business)

Lest we forget, Ms Swift pulled off something no one else has ever done: she had ALL top ten spots on the Hot 100 Billboard list at the same time. One might reasonably assume tickets would be in high demand.

Bruce Springsteen, meanwhile, has had to defend his own sky-high prices, which sound to me simply like well-off Boomers splurging.

Bruce Springsteen speaks out on backlash over sky-high ticket prices amid the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco | Fox Business

Monopolies are malicious, but entertainment is always a pointy pyramid with the tippity top way the hell up in the stratosphere, whether it's baseball players, movie stars or the hot rock & roll stars of the moment. Toss in a moribund economy and substantial inflation, and you'll get some eye-popping numbers. Suck it up, sports fans.

I trust the champions of the working class in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party far, far less than I trust the greedy capitalists at Ticketmaster.

[Gramps]

How in hell do this many people have this much disposable income in this economic environment?

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Looks like some Deomcrats are losing no time proposing that they be in charge.

"Break up Ticketmaster": AOC calls out ticket monopoly over Taylor Swift fiasco (Salon)

"Break up Ticketmaster": AOC calls out ticket monopoly over Taylor Swift fiasco (WTNH News 8)

Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle sparks call for hearings by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (FOX Business)

Lest we forget, Ms Swift pulled off something no one else has ever done: she had ALL top ten spots on the Hot 100 Billboard list at the same time. One might reasonably assume tickets would be in high demand.

Bruce Springsteen, meanwhile, has had to defend his own sky-high prices, which sound to me simply like well-off Boomers splurging.

Bruce Springsteen speaks out on backlash over sky-high ticket prices amid the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco | Fox Business

Monopolies are malicious, but entertainment is always a pointy pyramid with the tippity top way the hell up in the stratosphere, whether it's baseball players, movie stars or the hot rock & roll stars of the moment. Toss in a moribund economy and substantial inflation, and you'll get some eye-popping numbers. Suck it up, sports fans.

I trust the champions of the working class in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party far, far less than I trust the greedy capitalists at Ticketmaster.

Let's be real. Ticketmaster sucks and has sucked for years, decades even. Yes they are a monopoly, and who made them one? Venues and artists who didn't want the hassle of dealing with ticket sales, refunds for canceled events, etc., and consumers who couldn't be bothered to stop off at the box office to buy tickets. Oops. The answer is the same as it is for those who complain about the quality of TV, movies, and other forms of entertainment: STOP. BUYING. Vote with your cash.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

How in hell do this many people have this much disposable income in this economic environment?

They don't, for the most part.

I think the most important thing my parents taught me to say, and I passed on to HRH, is, "I like it but it's not worth [insert price]."

[Adam]

How in hell do this many people have this much disposable income in this economic environment?

A lot of this is corporate sales. My eldest brother's law firm at least used to maintain (not sure if they still do or not) a "box" at Bridgestone Arena (where the Predators play, but it's multi-use). That got the firm open use of the place, complete with catering, to entertain clients for any event there, be that a Preds game or the NBA Final Four, should it happen there. So about three years ago when American-hating doughnut-licker Ariana Grande played there and tickets were impossible to get, David was able to take his girls to a first-class box to watch the event, gratis, because the firm had the box.

Now, I don't know how much of box sales goes to the artist, crew, etc., but they paid a pretty hefty sum to maintain the thing year-round, and then they got to write it off of taxes as "entertainment expenses." I have to assume that there is some pool of money that these sales go into that is then used to lump-sum out to the event itself. It's a pretty incestuous relationship, frankly.

[Gramps]

A nephew in law is in risk management for a smaller mid-west electric company. I used to trade him FF miles for tickets to events.

[Lady Marva]

How in hell do this many people have this much disposable income in this economic environment?

People with no sense. And lots of credit cards.