Friday, February 27, 2009

A Couple Of Things

TickerMaster/Live Nation Fiasco
This is something that has pissed me off for a very long time. I friggin HATE ticketmaster. This whole move is completely ridiculous and down right shameful. Ticketmaster's entire business model is built upon a scam. It extorts money from people who merely want to enjoy some simple entertainment. This is exploitation and wrong.
What Ticketmaster is ultimately trying to do here is to make people bid for their tickets. A model that assures maximum returns regardless of the product. So no matter if the show is big venue or small, you will be paying top dollar regardless of the act. This is rediculous. Pricing should be set by venues and performers, not some shadowy third party.
They are essentially turning themselves into ticket scalpers. Which I guess would almost eliminate that threat to their profits. You cant really scalp a ticket you payed the maximum price for, no one would buy it for more so theres no profit. The thought should make any concert goers stomach turn.
What I wish would happen is that this will point out how terrible ticketing as a service is. Venues should manage their own attendance. With the technology available today it is not difficult at all. Hell a will call system is pretty much just buy with a credit card and show the card at the door instead. Thats pretty much done for you.


The Desperation of Print Media
Print media is dead....and newspapers killed it. Now Im not including books when I say print media, I still think they can hold on since their is not quite an adequate replacement (a computer screen the size of a book is not a book nor comfortable to read on). I am talking about newspapers and magazines. How they have managed to hang on this long kind of surprises me. The internet is such vastly superior medium, and is rapidly shaping itslef to make newspapers look like silent films compared to todays cinema.
The killer feature of the internet is obvious, the price. Who doesnt love free? However the reason newspapers are shooting themselves in the foot is that they want to make the papers available online, but for a price. To think this will work is down right stupid. Personally I dont get my news from one "trusted" source such as the Associated Press or the New York Times. I get it from a viriety of places filtered into Google Reader. It basically becomes my own custom, constantly updating newspaper, oh and its all completely free. I know the NY Times has had a pay-for service for part of its site, but the actual news is free, and I dont think I know a single person who buys the extra crap. The only reason I'd see to do so is for the crossword anyway.
People dont use websites the way they use newspapers. I consume information a lot more rapidly than I do with papers. The information I want is there, no page turning, no indexes. Just a click or at most a google search and I have what I want. The 'I want' part is key. Most of what I find it papers is boring drivel, unfunny comics, and oh yeah a little piece of whats going on in the world, but then some moron who has nothing in common with me or my interests tells me their opinion.
Print media is an antiquated industry that is rapidly fading away. If they dont find a better way to stay in business than to charge for their web content their companies are going to disappear as well. This is just yet another example of industries failing to catch on to technology and making poor business moves instead. Next we'll start seeing the AP suing bloggers because they think they have a right to content. Itll be just like the RIAA/MPAA nonsense all over again.

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