By Jim McCarthy Feb 6, 2009 0 comments

I don’t know Irving yet, but I’d like to…

So Bruce Springsteen pitched a fit about the probably merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which honestly, I feel was in response to the (unfair) grief that he got for playing the Super Bowl.  In other words, he was trying to regain the credibility he lost with people like Bob Lefsetz (this is one of those cases that even when Bob is wrong, he’s still worth reading).

Anyway, Irving Azoff, the new chief of Ticketmaster responds, and I’m reproducing his full response here.  But before I sign off, it’s worth noting that no previous head of Ticketmaster would have felt the need to respond at all.  Take that as you see fit.  Anyway, the response:


While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in
providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the
primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans
are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to
accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and,
above all, his fans.

We recognize that we need to change our course. We have committed to
Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for
Bruce’s shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This
redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans’
specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure
there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state
that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can
possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale.
Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from
Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of
whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions
of fans.

If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace
believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we
will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the
face price of the ticket. (Please don’t abuse this good faith gesture
- we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets.)

We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live
entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward.

Sincerely,

Irving Azoff, CEO, Ticketmaster Entertainment

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