Buying concert tickets back in the day.

[CheeseCakeSunflowers]

I've been following some of the threads on buying Oasis tickets which has led to a chat with ds about buying tickets in pre internet days. Back in the 70's and 80's I went to a lot of local gigs where I either paid cash on the door or bought a paper ticket from the local record shop a few days before. I did go to some big events seeing Queen twice at Milton Keynes and Knebworth and The Who at Wembley but I've forgotten the procedure for getting tickets. Did we phone up or maybe post a cheque somewhere, anyone remember?

There’s been talk of this on another thread. I forget the exact details but it seems TM/it’s subsidiaries/parent company has some sort of stake/interest/control over many venues. I think they get a cut of tickets and booking fees, though not sure what percentage goes to the promoter/artist/venue etc.
I follow bands on Twitter and I’ve seen that the venue takes a cut of merchandise in many cases which pushes the prices up there too. Paramore, who supported Taylor Swift, were quite vocal that it was out of their control and they felt it was unfair to fans.

Artists also can take a % of e.g. bar and car parking. A certain Northern comedian has form for this. Ticket master or Live Nation have financial stakes in venues and offer to run the box office for venues. It's insidious. It's all there on Google if you follow the stories.
Ticket master makes it money from booking fees etc. Higher the ticket price the greater the booking fee, handling etc. There is more going on behind the scenes as the company guaranteed higher fees for acts but the act had to play x number of dates. Roger Daltrey once complained it felt like he was going to work as TM set the number of dates.

Edited my comment as I was unsure of the details that I’d read elsewhere. Someone will hopefully be along to explain it better soon!

Try the smaller venues. I find the theatre size concerts and smaller festivals are easier to get tickets.

I posted on another about a podcast called Your favourite bands sucks. There is a Ticketmaster one. Goes into what they do. Yes the big name artists do get a cut of the service fees if they have negotiated that. It goes into how Live Nation and Ticketmaster (same company) got into the box offices and/or control the calendars of venues. Plus a lot more

My dad used to tell me stories about how he’d queue up at the local record shop to get tickets for gigs in the '70s—he said it was half the fun, chatting with other fans while waiting. I came in just before the internet boom, so I vaguely remember my older cousin posting a cheque to secure tickets for a Rolling Stones concert in the early '90s. It seemed like such a long process, but it was exciting waiting for the tickets to arrive in the mail.

These days, it’s all so streamlined. I recently used seatpin.com for Top Sport Events to grab last-minute tickets for a match, and it was such a lifesaver. It made me wonder how we ever managed back then!

events were not monetised in the way they are now. Acts want to make a living and v.big acts want a v.big payday assisted by eg Ticketmaster. luckily going to a concert is an option so these I choose not to go if the event is expensive