Frantically refreshing the Ticketmaster website, Daya Rao, junior, tried to get tickets for the Sabrina Carpenter concert on Oct. 17, 2024. While she rushed to be the first in the queue, the website crashed and Rao got more impatient.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ticketmaster is a ticketing website that generates over $22 billion globally in annual revenue.
Rao said she uses Ticketmaster to buy tickets for all the concerts she attends. Although she may not love the ticket-buying process, she knows it’s not entirely Ticketmaster’s fault.
“I think all websites get crowded for popular artists, so it’s hard to find a website that’s easy to work with,” Rao said.
She goes to concerts once a year and has seen artists like Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.
“I think it’s really fun to experience music with a bunch of other people together,” Rao said.
Rao frequently has to ask her mom to buy tickets, as ticket sales are usually during the school day. If the ticket sale is on a weekend, she tries to designate around two hours to buy tickets.
Nani Fuson, sophomore, also has had her mom buy her tickets for her.
Fuson goes to concerts twice a year, and she’s repeatedly had problems with Ticketmaster. In the past, she’s not been able to buy tickets because she was too far back in the queue or she reached the end of the queue but the tickets were too expensive.
“It’s usually okay, and it’s probably better than a lot of other websites,” Fuson said.
For some concerts, Fuson has resorted to buying from resellers, though this comes with its own issues, such as getting scammed from unreliable sellers.
She tries to avoid buying tickets from resellers as they also usually price the tickets higher to make profit. Still, she sometimes has to resort to it and recently bought tickets for the upcoming Tate McRae concert from a reseller.
Chris Atkinson, math teacher, is a fan of music and loves going to concerts. When he was younger, he worked at Target, and to buy concert tickets, he would have to go to the bathroom to go on his phone to wait in the Ticketmaster queue.
“I wish it could just be the button and buy the ticket,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said the biggest problem with Ticketmaster is the additional price they add on for their additional services. A report of the Government Accountability Office found that on average, additional fees were 27% to 31% of the ticket’s price.
“Concerts have gotten way more expensive than they used to be, which is not fair for people who love music but don’t have that much money,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson’s biggest advice to Ticketmaster buyers is to be the first in the queue for tickets.
“You gotta get there right as it opens, and look for those presale codes,” Atkinson said. “It’s so complicated nowadays, but you have to be there early to get the seat you want and the price.”
