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Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

236 pointsby geekfactoralmost 13 years ago

25 comments

gueloalmost 13 years ago
It's pretty weird how popular music and comedy acts resist setting ticket prices at market clearing levels. If you're selling tickets at a flat rate and a sellout happens in a few minutes that means your tickets were too cheap. Shortages in a market are bad and can be solved with higher prices. Acts that leave surplus on the table are mostly benefiting scalpers not the fans, and it is also part of the reason Ticketmaster can tack on their huge fees. In the internet era there is no reason not to setup an auction system and sell the tickets to the highest bidders.<p>What seems to happen is that acts worry about their shows having too many random rich people and not enough "real fans". They think without the super-excitement from the "real fans" it would ruin the experience of the show. I'm not sure if that is true, anyone willing to pay a lot of money to attend is probably a real fan, rich or not. But if the bands want to they could allocate a smaller portion of tickets at a lower price using some other method, maybe a lottery, but it's going to be hard to keep the scalpers out.<p>With all the problems with the copyright-based business models fans should actually want their favorite acts to raise prices and make as much money as they can from touring, instead of the money going to middlemen.
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rsbrownalmost 13 years ago
This is phenomenal. I mean that both in the colloquial (it's fuckin' awesome) and the literal. Louis CK's direct-to-consumer efforts are a phenomenon that (I sincerely hope) are ushering in a new era of entertainment marketing and sales.<p>The plethora of middle men at all stages of the current state of the industry (talent discovery, production, distribution) are really destroying the art.<p>Kudos to Louis for using his success as a platform for change. I hope others in the industry will discover their courage and follow suit.
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Jamieconalmost 13 years ago
Retroactively cancelling tickets is a non-starter. Labour intensive and prone to embarrassing false positives.<p>There are two simple, proven ways to avoid ticket re-sale. The first is to use "print at home" tickets. People are unwilling to repurchase these as there is no guarantee that they won't be sold multiple times. The second is to use a registration system and personalised tickets, ideally with a photo provided by the customer.<p>I wish Louis CK every success, but operating a ticket agency is a complex business. Not just the ecommerce side (which is a nightmare in itself given the bursty nature of the traffic), but marketing, fulfilment, customer services, reissue and an understanding of local rules and regulations are all essential components.<p>I'm in the UK where the market is more fragmented (and competitive). I do understand the frustration with Ticketmaster in the US, but good ticket agencies can and do add value to the process - and leave the artist free to concentrate on their art.<p>I work for a (non-TM) ticket agency in the UK.
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drzaiusapelordalmost 13 years ago
I wonder if he's having issues with being denied access to certain venues. The reason why ticketmaster and the rest can get away with those fees is because they give a kickback to the venue owner. The venue owner can tell acts to get lost if they don't go through the ticket vendor that gives them $5 per ticket for nothing. Obviously CK is a huge act and you can't blacklist him, but you may need his level of star power to pull this trick off. Even Pearl Jam couldn't do this and they were hugely popular. Maybe stand-up venues aren't as greedy/stupid.
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brunorsinialmost 13 years ago
Not only he is one of the sharpest comedians on earth, he's also quickly becoming our lead crusader against exploitative middle men. Louie, you are our century's Montaigne.
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ryanwhitneyalmost 13 years ago
"Also, you'll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce."<p>I thought this was great at first, but I wonder how this will work.<p>Won't canceling the ticket hurt the person who buys it from a scalper? I don't see a way for him to stop scalpers from selling them, and after it's out of their hands the scalper doesn't care if the ticket is cancelled. I foresee buyers not finding out until the event and being angry.
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nostromoalmost 13 years ago
It was my understanding that TicketMaster/IAC had contracts with most venues that secured its position as the only place to buy tickets online. For example: <a href="http://iac.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&#38;item=604" rel="nofollow">http://iac.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&#38;item=604</a><p>Is that no longer the case? Or did Louis CK figure out some hack around those agreements?
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forrestthewoodsalmost 13 years ago
I fully understand the hatred of scalpers but I also kinda like knowing they're an option. I've bought a few overpriced tickets to events I really wanted to attend. I like that I can attend most events I'm interested in so long as I'm willing to pay for it. Is it worth $150 for a $50 ticket? Not usually, but sometimes.
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geekfactoralmost 13 years ago
The site is down, but here is the text:<p><i>hello folks! I'm going on tour this year from October through Feb. I'll be all over the goddamn place. This year, I'm trying something new, building on the fun, success and fan-benifit of selling my content online. We are selling tickets to this tour exclusively here on louisck.com. I only wanted to do this if there was a way, like with LIVE AT THE BEACON, that it could bring the price of tickets down and make them easier and less complicated to buy. We figured out a way.</i><p><i>Making my shows affordable has always been my goal but two things have always worked against that. High ticket charges and ticket re-sellers marking up the prices. Some ticketing services charge more than 40% over the ticket price and, ironically, the lower I've made my ticket prices, the more scalpers have bought them up, so the more fans have paid for a lot of my tickets.</i><p><i>By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I've cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price. To buy a ticket, you join NOTHING. Just use your credit card and buy the damn thing. opt in to the email list if you want, and you'll only get emails from me.</i><p><i>Also, you'll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce. There are some other rules you may find annoying but they are meant to prevent someone who has no intention of seeing the show from buying the ticket and just flipping it for twice the price from a thousand miles away. Some of these rules may be a pain in your ass, but please be patient. My goal here is that people coming to see my shows are able to pay a fair price and that they be paying just for a ticket. Not also paying an exhorbanant fee for the privalege of buying a ticket.</i><p><i>Tickets across the board, everywhere, are 45 dollars. That's what you'll actually pay. In every case, that will be less than anyone has actually paid to see me (after ticket charges) in about two years and in most cases it's about half of what you paid last year.</i><p><i>The benifit for me is that I won't get angry emails from anyone who paid a ton of money to see me due to circumstances out of my control. That makes me VERY happy. The 45 dollars also includes sales tax, which I'm paying for you. So I'm making more or less depending on the state.</i><p><i>Another benifit to me is also one to you. I get your email address (if you opt in) when you opt in. You don't have to join ANYTHING to buy these tickets and if you opt in, youll only hear from me once in an old man's jizz-cycle. Obviously none of this means anything if the shows aren't good. So that's up to me. As I do every year, I'll be performing a brand new hour (or more) on all of these shows. Lastly, it was a real challenge to find venues around the country that could work with our exclusive ticketing service under these perameters. It means I'm playing in very new places. I really appreciate all of these theaters that are letting us give this a try.</i><p><i>Setting up this tour has been fascinating and difficult. this ticketing service is a brand new thing and I really fucking hope it works and that there aren't any problems. If anything comes up, please be patient.</i><p><i>Doing things this way means I"m making less than I would have made if I did a standard tour, using the usual very excellent but expensive ticketing service. In some cities I've had to play smaller venues and do more shows. But I like doing more shows and about a year ago I reached a place where I realized I am making enough money doing comedy so the next thing that interested me is bringing your price down. Either way, I still make a whole lot more than my grandfather who taught math and raised chickens in Michigan.</i><p><i>alright, that's it, folks. I'll be sending this message out to folks on the opt-in list and sending a separate email that lays it out much more simply with the proper links. I am doing this because when I emailed you about LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL, (which is still on sale for 5 dollars!) about half of the people who got the email really enjoyed the long, verbose, unedited message. The other half HATED it and would have preffered a price, a link, and me shutting the fuck up. This way, you can read this if you like, or your can just see the massive shit-ball of text and throw it in the garbage, and focus on the simple email.</i><p><i>I hope to see you all on the road.</i><p><i>regards,</i> <i>Louis C.K.</i>
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untogalmost 13 years ago
This is great to see. Just this past weekend I went to a music festival in NYC (The Governor's Ball) whose ticketing was handled exclusively by Eventbrite. I can't remember the last time I was able to buy anything music related online without Ticketmaster being involved. I hope to be able to do it a lot more.<p>The "refunding your ticket if you try to sell it" thing, well, that's going to be a <i>pain</i>. Glastonbury Festival in the UK has tried to combat this, and ended up basically producing photo IDs for every ticket. A whole ton of effort, especially for a small attempt like this.
hristovalmost 13 years ago
I am not sure I like his solution for scalping. How is he going to know if a ticket has been scalped in order to cancel it? Is he going to rely on the actual scalper to give up their client? That is unlikely to happen. Also, when he cancels a ticket will he refund the original 45 price or the scalped price? It would have to be the original price because otherwise he is opening himself to fraud and huge losses. But if he only returns the original price, then the person that bought the ticket would be fucked. And that person, even if they did buy from a scalper, is presumably a big Louis CK fan (since they bought the ticket at an inflated price). And pissing off your fans is never a good idea. There will be a lot of anger and internet backlash if he actually goes through with his threat of cancelling tickets.<p>I have actually thought about scalping and here is my solution. It works very well for a comedy show, actually. He should announce a single show (not a tour) in a big city, like LA or NY. He should not have any special rules against scalpers other than saying "reselling this ticket is prohibited". Now the fun part starts. If the tickets get bought out too fast (indicating scalping) he should say "my show sold out very quickly, so in order to afford my fans a way to see me without paying high fees to scalpers, I will do another show in the same city, the next day (or a couple of days after the original show). The price for the new show will be the same, so do not pay any scalpers, just buy the tickets for the second show at face value." If the second show sells out very quickly, then he can just announce a third one. And so on.<p>Thus, he makes extra money and causes a lot of potential losses for scalpers. Scalpers may have to sell at cost (which means they have to take losses for their sales commissions), or if they buy too many tickets and do not move fast enough, they may even have to sell at a loss.<p>And the prospect that he can pull this trick any time will likely prevent the smarter and better funded scalpers from ever trying to scalp his shows again.<p>This would work in a big city, because in a big city it is usually not a problem to get a new venue on a relatively short notice. It would also work better for a comedy show, because a comedy show does not require too much production, so it is possible to change schedules without too much pain.
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Yhippaalmost 13 years ago
I love the alternate ideas Louis CK has brought to the table and like the fact that he's taken things into his own hands and been able to get gigs despite all that's against him. Two shows at the Kennedy Center? How cool is that?<p>As much as I don't want to believe this I feel that scalping is ultimately a means of market correction. If he sells tickets for one show in a city at $45 I imagine that he's a popular enough comic that the price would be higher than that due to the limited supply of Louis. Unless he has a really good way of preventing reselling there will be plenty of opportunists out there looking to sell their $45 ticket for $70 if they can.<p>I think the solution to this would be to better price tickets so that at least he's profiting off his hard work instead of scalpers. Could he auction each individual seat? the best seats might fetch ridiculous amounts of money but the worst seats in the house might go for say less than $45 and give fans a chance at seeing him.
pudalmost 13 years ago
Part of me is happy that he's getting rid of scalpers. The other part of me likes knowing that I can always get tickets for sold out shows from Stubhub.<p>Unrelated- He's using eTix.com and I think he killed them. Trying to buy tickets for SF show and getting "Please wait while accessing the system...." from eTix.com.
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crabasaalmost 13 years ago
No middlemen? I just bought tickets, and the purchase was powered by etix.com. I'm assuming they used a payment processing gateway for my credit card, there's another middleman. Don't you imagine the money owed to these entities is just built-in to the price of the ticket?
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yellowbkpkalmost 13 years ago
A tip after poking around: when you're on the page where you select how many tickets you want you can click on a hidden "By Section" link and pick your section instead of having it selected for you. I was able to pick up a couple first row balcony tickets using this method.
the_bearalmost 13 years ago
This is obviously great news, but I really hope he has plans to take it to the next step. It's great that an incredibly successful comedian can get away this this, but nothing will really change in the long run unless smaller acts have access to this direct-to-consumer approach as well, and that will only happen if someone like Louis CK goes out of his way to share the network, tools, and process that he's developed. It doesn't sound like that's something he's interested in doing (he wants to be a comedian, not an entrepreneur), but maybe he's just taking baby steps and he hopes to get there eventually.
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babyalmost 13 years ago
Why only in USA :) us folks from Europe would be so glad to have him
jsherryalmost 13 years ago
Very cool. Pearl Jam tried this in the 90's but didn't have the stomach for it. Let's see if Louis has better luck.
zeruchalmost 13 years ago
This takes a decent sized set of stones, and is overall bold, but likely to work for someone of Louis CKs status. Its been done before unsuccessfully (i.e. Pearl Jame and Ticketmaster) but I think his pricepoint and approach looks more like a sensible business plan and less like a PR stunt. Bravo!
jmtamealmost 13 years ago
Is anyone else having trouble buying tickets? I'm getting a "Sorry, card cannot be processed" error, even after I asked my friends to buy me a ticket where it worked for their card.
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jhuckesteinalmost 13 years ago
Does anyone know if it's hard for venues to fill out their inventory?<p>Is there a market for a self-service platform the brings together performers and venues?
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spliceralmost 13 years ago
Damn... looks like Ontario isn't on the tour list. I suppose Cleveland isn't all that far though.
thraveboyalmost 13 years ago
benefit
moronalmost 13 years ago
The tour dates, if you're interested:<p><a href="https://gist.github.com/2992090" rel="nofollow">https://gist.github.com/2992090</a><p>(Not my github)
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lightwebalmost 13 years ago
Didn't this guy rip Joe Rogan off awhile back and even had Joe publicly call him out on stage?<p>Why is this guy still attracting people?
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