Fan outrage over high ticket prices at Ticketmaster

The ticket platform Ticketmaster.com is once again causing dissatisfaction with its pricing policy. The occasion is the current Depeche Mode tour — specifically the so-called platinum tickets, which are offered via Ticketmaster.

“Thanks for nothing! It’s just outrageous and crazy what Ticketmaster is doing,” writes the fan page “Depeche Mode Europe” in a Facebook post. “Stop ignoring normal ticket prices, stop ripping off the fans! STOP Platinum Tickets!!! Thanks for nothing!“, the posting continues.

What platinum tickets are all about

“The exclusive Platinum Tickets give you the opportunity to access tickets that are provided directly by the artist and management on an as-needed basis,” according to the Ticketmaster website. “Thanks to market-driven pricing, Ticketmaster Platin provides fair and secure access to tickets that are in high demand.”

In concrete terms, this means: the higher the demand for a concert (and that is definitely the case with Depeche Mode very high), the higher the prices are potentially. Thus, platinum tickets are often many times more expensive than regular tickets.

Many Facebook users are outraged. “At 10 a.m. yesterday lower tier tickets for 154 euros, at 12 p.m. they already cost 249 euros and are called platinum tickets and today even 329 euros! All in the same subtier. This is a rip-off based on supply and demand to raise prices,” writes one person. “I’m holding back, it’s really not solemn anymore. Maybe I’ll get something at a normal price if quotas are added again…if not, then not. I don’t support madness,” writes another user.

Depeche Mode: Info about the tour

Depeche Mode will be giving six concerts between February and April 2024: on February 13th and 15th, 2024 in Berlin (Mercedes-Benz-Arena), on February 17th, 2024 in Hamburg (Barclays Arena), on March 7th in Munich (Olympiahalle) , and on April 3rd and 5th in Cologne (Lanxess Arena).

The first pre-sale (Magenta Prio Tickets) started on Thursday (July 13) and many of the sub-pages for the individual cities were no longer accessible when the pre-sale started at 10 a.m. Things don’t look quite as dramatic when the pre-sale starts on Friday (July 14) on Ticketmaster: a few error messages when loading the page, but overall you can get in – at least in the queue area. Nevertheless, the rush of DM fans for the tickets is great. It can be assumed that the Depeche Mode concert tour on Monday (July 17) will be completely sold out once the regular ticket sales have started.

In addition to the “normal” admission tickets, there are also various, higher-value tickets that are staggered in price: “Early Entry Package”, “Hot Seat Package”, “Lounge Package”, even an “Ultimate Lounge Package” and “Travel Package”. Even with these packages in higher price ranges, from 10 a.m. you end up in a queue with sometimes thousands of “ticket candidates”.

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