A ticket agency yesterday. Photograph: David Levene
As any lover of the performing arts knows, as if tickets weren't pricey enough as it is, theatre and concertgoers have to fork out for the largely inexplicable surcharges booking agent Ticketmaster heaps on top.
The outrageous price of theatre tickets has been blogged about already on this site by Lyn Gardner. But as if £45 for stalls in a West End Venue isn't bad enough already, all tickets through Ticketmaster are subjected to an assortment of fees. (By contrast, the Young Vic and many other fringe venues don't charge any booking fee, just an affordable 50p if you want your tickets posted.) Feelings are running high the other side of the Atlantic, too. Yesterday, the New York Times wrote a story vividly describing how a "restoration fee", "service change" and postage fee now mount up to make going to the theatre a seriously expensive night out.
Concerts are just as bad. Take Jools Holland' s upcoming tour. The £29.50 flat ticket fee advertised on screen soon becomes a significantly more expensive £36.50, thanks to various euphemistically named charges. First it's joined by a compulsory "service charge" at £4.25 and then you are requested to select your delivery method and lay down an additional minimum £2.75 as an "order processing fee".
Corinne Bailey Rae is playing at the Hammersmith Apollo in March and her tickets are subjected to the same treatment, swiftly transforming £22.50 into £29; the cost of seeing Damien Rice playing in Manchester in October leaps from £23.50 to £30.70. Going to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Brighton is a bargain by comparison; £28.50 for the ticket, £2.85 for the service charge and a mere £2 postage. Where is the money going?
Pearl Jam tried to break the Ticketmaster stronghold in America in 1994 by not allowing them to sell their tour tickets unless they kept the prices below $20. Their effort was commendable but unfortunately they failed completely due to a legislation that basically gives them the right to monopolise the market.
You can now buy Pearl Jam tickets from Ticketmaster. Hmmm.
