The Boss is steamed

A ticket glitch over the weekend has Bruce Springsteen up in arms - so much so that he's blasting Ticketmaster in a letter posted on his Web site. Apparently, fans wanting to purchase tickets on the primary Ticketmaster site were redirected to the company's secondary site called TicketsNow, which generally sells tickets at above face value (especially for popular artists). New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs is looking into the matter, which Ticketmaster says was just an innocent mix-up. From his letter, posted on the Rolling Stone Web site:

There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges–we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow–we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect “scalping” those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow–we do.

All this comes as Ticketmaster and Live Nation, both based locally, are reportedly nearing a merger agreement. Springsteen is none too pleased with that development either.

One thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.

Between all the antitrust concerns and an immediate outcry among fans, don't assume that this deal will go through.