Rage Against the Machine

• Desire, anticipation, frustration and disappointment – any time tickets for a Taylor Swift tour go on sale there is Bad Blood.
• It’s a function of the idiosyncrasies of the concert-ticketing industry, amplified by the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift.
• More than 1 million people reportedly registered for a presale code within 12 hours of the Australian concert dates being announced.

Supply and demand

• Typically when demand outstrips supply, suppliers will – in the interest of maximising profit – look to do one of two things: increase supply, or increase the price.
• Compared with most other markets, however, suppliers of concerts have less capacity to respond to demand signals.

Pricing tickets

• Concert organisers do this to some extent by offering tickets at a range of price points.
• For the vast bulk of tickets for Sydney and Melbourne, there are seven price points, ranging from A$79.90 (for “back row” seats) to A$379.90 for “A Reserve” seats in front of the stage.
• Taylor Swift’s American fan demographics Typically, however, artists are reluctant to be seen to be ripping off their fans, and their most loyal and enthusiastic fans are not necessarily the ones that can afford to pay the most for tickets.

Dynamic pricing

• But Ticketmaster says it only uses dynamic pricing if the artist agrees – and for good reason.
• She has been allowing dynamic pricing since at least 2018.
• But no tickets for the Australian concerts are being sold using dynamic pricing.

Enter the scalpers

• Economists call this a “secondary market”, and see it as sign a product or service has been undersupplied or underpriced (or both).
• It’s more commonly called “ticket scalping” or “ticket touting”, and condemned as opportunistic and unethical.
• But the rise of ticket bots, which can flood ticketing websites with millions of requests, and online markets that allow sellers to be anonymous, makes stopping scalpers increasingly difficult.
• This involves holding back 10% of show tickets, which are then sold at a higher price but undercutting scalpers, with the the extra profit going to “charities and/or activist organizations”.

• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230214005903/en/
  ASM Global has successfully operated the city-owned venue for the past 6-1/2 years (taking over management July 1, 2016).
• 2022 marked Desert Diamond Arena’s best financial performance in the past 17 years, highlighted by multiple sold-out events including Pearl Jam, Eric Church, Grupo Firme, Alan Jackson and two Billie Eilish concerts.
• “Much of our recent success here in Glendale is that we have positioned ourselves together with high-impact, respected partners like ASM Global.
• A string of concerts in the arena’s inaugural year included performances by Prince, Rod Stewart, Toby Keith, Britney Spears and Usher.

• Today, Run The Jewels, the prolific duo of Killer Mike and EL-P, and renowned craft beer stalwarts Brooklyn Brewery, who helped pioneer the American craft beer revolution, launch their new collaborative brew - a double pilsner, dubbed 36 Chain.
• Run The Jewels is out there with an edge and a message, so we definitely didn't want to just phone this one in, explains Brooklyn Brewerys James Beard Award-winning brewmaster Garrett Oliver.
• Brooklyn Brewery is a leading global independent craft brewer and a pioneer of the American craft beer revolution.
• Run The Jewels is the Grammy-nominated & Gold-certified powerhouse rap duo of El-P and Killer Mike, two of the most distinctive and celebrated names in rap music.

• Today, T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) unveils its Rage Against Big Internet Tour, a series of wacky pop-ups happening nationwide that provide an outlet for frustrated Big Internet customers to let out their angst.
• (Photo: Business Wire)
  The first manifestation of Rage Against Big Internet is Whack-an-Internet Provider.
• Whack-an-Internet Provider made its debut recently at a T-Mobile Rage Against Big Internet pop-up event at the Santa Monica pier in Southern California.
• Big Internet Comcast, Charter, Cox, Verizon Fios, AT&T has been one of the most hated industries in America for decades.