Nine Inch Nails to fight ticket bots by not selling tickets online

[WMGroomAK]

Not sure how many on here are fans of NIN, but in an effort to fight the scourge of ticket bots and scalping online sales, Trent Reznor has announced that for the Fall 2018 'Cold and Black and Infinite' tour that there will be no online ticket sales.  Tickets are supposed to be sold on the day of the event at a 'first come, first served' basis starting at 8 AM with a sale limit of four tickets per a customer.  Given the popularity of NIN and Trent Reznor, I think that this has the potential to be successful for his case, but maybe not so much for other artists.  Should be interesting to see if limiting sales to an offline only prevents ticket scalping as badly as online ticket bots allow for...

 

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/10/nine-inch-nails-fall-tour-no-online-sales/

 

Quote

Nine Inch Nails will not sell tickets online for its just-announced "Cold and Black and Infinite" theater tour this fall. Instead, NIN mastermind Trent Reznor is going old-school in an effort to beat the ticket bots: You'll have to wait in line at the venue. Each person can buy up to four tickets. Why? Let Reznor explain it to you himself:

Quote

"The promise of a world made better by computers and online connectivity has failed us in many, many ways, particularly when it comes to ticketing. Everything about the process sucks and everyone loses except the reseller. We've decided to try something different that will also likely suck, but in a different way. We're hoping many of you will be happy with the results, while some may do what they always do and bitch about it."

Before and on the day your tickets go on sale (check the source link for more details) the tickets won't be sold online. Everything will be first come, first served -- hopefully handled by a lottery system -- and you won't be allowed to line up before 8AM the day of in most cases.

 

"You may actually encounter other actual human beings with similar interests likely wearing black clothing during the process and potentially interact with them. The experience has the potential* to be enjoyable," Reznor writes. "Nine Inch Nails has always been about bringing people together, living life to the fullest and good times.**"

 

Remaining tickets will be sold at a later date, potentially online.

 

Reznor's idea is solid way to beat online bots and scalpers (cue the bitching), but it's little more than an inconvenience. As it stands, there's nothing stopping scalpers from standing in line to buy tickets and immediately listing them on StubHub for exorbitant prices. Chances are, you won't even recognize the slimeballs for what they are while you're outside the box office.

...

* Not guaranteed
** Not entirely true

My main problem with this is that I would love to travel to see one of his concerts, however, I'm not spending money on a plane ticket for a chance to get a ticket to a concert...  

 

Off Topic a bit, have to admit my favorite album from NIN is probably 'The Fragile'.

[dizmo]

Interesting, but ticket scalping is a multifaceted affair. Companies that buy online also get people to stand in line and buy tickets that way, so they'll simply load up the front of the line here, get all the great tickets, and sell them at a profit. It'll only slightly change the effort they have to put in.

 

Haha, I'd totally fly somewhere for a concert. Almost went down to New York to see Thursday play...though, they do very few shows, so it'd be more worth it. I'd also love to go to Tomorrowland, if just to see the sets.

[AntiTrust]

5 minutes ago, WMGroomAK said:

snip

Oh god the line ups this would cause... plus theres no guarantee you will get in... I would just not go at all tbh. 

[Lathlaer]

They could've gone for similar system as Ticketmaster for various shows ("Hamilton" in the UK included) - you "buy" the ticket online but you technically don't get one until you show up at the venue with printed confirmation copy, some kind of ID and the same credit card that was used to purchase the tickets. Then they swipe your credit card again at the entrance and your tickets are printed on the spot while you enter. 

 

Not foolproof because the human element can fail but still it's quite secure AND you are guaranteed to get a ticket if you bought online.

[asus killer]

16 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Interesting, but ticket scalping is a multifaceted affair. Companies that buy online also get people to stand in line and buy tickets that way, so they'll simply load up the front of the line here, get all the great tickets, and sell them at a profit. It'll only slightly change the effort they have to put in.

 

Haha, I'd totally fly somewhere for a concert. Almost went down to New York to see Thursday play...though, they do very few shows, so it'd be more worth it. I'd also love to go to Tomorrowland, if just to see the sets.

with a limit of 4 per person you have to put a lot of effort into it, if you have to pay those persons it becomes less appealing. Not perfect but better then the alternative. It also puts the fans in a more level playing field, if they get there first it's theirs.

[dizmo]

6 minutes ago, asus killer said:

with a limit of 4 per person you have to put a lot of effort into it, if you have to pay those persons it becomes less appealing. Not perfect but better then the alternative. It also puts the fans in a more level playing field, if they get there first it's theirs.

No, you really don't. You'd be surprised how many people will stand in line for hours for $20. Not only that, but the potential profit outweighs the risk, and honestly when you have 50 people (if not more) at the front of the line buying 200 of the best seats, it's easy to lose out. And that's often just one scalping company, times that by the number of companies...

[Sauron]

I like it.

 

On a side not, aren't NiN and Trent Reznor the same thing?

[vanished]

This is going to cause a lot of problems an inevitably make a lot of people angry... or result in poor attendance.

 

It also won't solve the problem... have people forgotten that bad things could and did happen before the internet?  People buying up all the tickets and reselling them for profit is easier online, but it doesn't require it.

[Volbet]

Yeah, this will more than likely just push scalpers into the line instead of them using bots online. 

Scalpers existed way before the internet and the prices will more than likely just reflect this. 

Like, people line up for hours before events like Record Store Day just to buy and flip records.

 

But I guess it's still better than the artists that are selling tickets at scalper prices. 

 

Edit: The only thing I've ever seen be effective against scalpers are tickets with names and required ID at the door.

Although, that also creates a whole slew of issues for the concert attendee. 

[WMGroomAK]

6 minutes ago, Sauron said:

On a side not, aren't NiN and Trent Reznor the same thing?

Fairly much so...  There is no NIN without Trent Reznor, although he does quite of bit of work outside of his NIN work as well.  Mainly work with Atticus Ross and/or with his wife in 'How to Destroy Angels' iirc.

[Crunchy Dragon]

29 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

They could've gone for similar system as Ticketmaster for various shows ("Hamilton" in the UK included) - you "buy" the ticket online but you technically don't get one until you show up at the venue with printed confirmation copy, some kind of ID and the same credit card that was used to purchase the tickets. Then they swipe your credit card again at the entrance and your tickets are printed on the spot while you enter. 

 

Not foolproof because the human element can fail but still it's quite secure AND you are guaranteed to get a ticket if you bought online.

This is honestly the way I would do it. Not being able to buy tickets online would be a huge problem for me.

[Kamjam21xx]

Thats a good idea. 

[Guest The Viking]

people will stand in line to get those tickets anyway. They'll organize themselves, and the first 20 or 30 people in line will be resellers, getting all the good tickets, then ironically selling them directly to the people behind them that didn't get anything.

 

So, won't change anything.

[Dabombinable]

2 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

This is going to cause a lot of problems an inevitably make a lot of people angry... or result in poor attendance.

 

It also won't solve the problem... have people forgotten that bad things could and did happen before the internet?  People buying up all the tickets and reselling them for profit is easier online, but it doesn't require it.

There's a skit with Sir Patrick Stuart showing scalping without the internet.

 

[James]

On 5/10/2018 at 10:28 AM, WMGroomAK said:

Not sure how many on here are fans of NIN, but in an effort to fight the scourge of ticket bots and scalping online sales, Trent Reznor has announced that for the Fall 2018 'Cold and Black and Infinite' tour that there will be no online ticket sales.  Tickets are supposed to be sold on the day of the event at a 'first come, first served' basis starting at 8 AM with a sale limit of four tickets per a customer.  Given the popularity of NIN and Trent Reznor, I think that this has the potential to be successful for his case, but maybe not so much for other artists.  Should be interesting to see if limiting sales to an offline only prevents ticket scalping as badly as online ticket bots allow for...

 

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/10/nine-inch-nails-fall-tour-no-online-sales/

 

My main problem with this is that I would love to travel to see one of his concerts, however, I'm not spending money on a plane ticket for a chance to get a ticket to a concert...  

 

Off Topic a bit, have to admit my favorite album from NIN is probably 'The Fragile'.

As a die-hard NIN fan, I'm going to put this in the WAN doc just to annoy Linus.

[trag1c]

Foo fighters did this on their last tour. 

[James]

On 5/10/2018 at 11:11 AM, Sauron said:

I like it.

 

On a side not, aren't NiN and Trent Reznor the same thing?

NIN is the band; Trent is the only official member.

[Egg-Roll]

On 5/10/2018 at 3:31 PM, The Viking said:

people will stand in line to get those tickets anyway. They'll organize themselves, and the first 20 or 30 people in line will be resellers, getting all the good tickets, then ironically selling them directly to the people behind them that didn't get anything.

 

So, won't change anything.

Just 20 or 30? psh, Toronto has at least 100-200... From union to the skydome (you know what F it, I'm keeping it like that it's the skydome), scalpers will stand there for 8-12 hours a day, and they have back up buddies. I wouldn't be surprised if NY's line was half full of scalpers...

 

During a game I could easily spot 10-15 in a small area, for a major game those numbers increase and sometimes even end up inside buildings. All this does is force them to work harder, that's all, in fact by doing this they might be causing more issues to their fans then intended...

 

1 hour ago, James said:

As a die-hard NIN fan, I'm going to put this in the WAN doc just to annoy Linus.

Make sure you're on the show

[CyanideInsanity]

Quote

"You may actually encounter other actual human beings with similar interests likely wearing black clothing during the process and potentially interact with them. The experience has the potential* to be enjoyable," Reznor writes. "Nine Inch Nails has always been about bringing people together, living life to the fullest and good times.**"

Every single concert I've been to has been like that. Not necessarily everyone talking to each other but enough people doing so, even if its just several groups of friends showing their boisterous excitement. When you have a horde of people in a line/s as long as a city block trying to enter the same venue you kind of get the idea you're all there for the same thing.

 

As much as I love TSO I'd not bother with them if they tried this. It'd be worse though, having to stand out in the cold for an hour to possible get turned away.

[Gix7Fifty]

Guess I'll be in line in Hollywood while I have my wife go and get me some chicken and waffles from Roscoe's. 

[James]

2 minutes ago, CyanideInsanity said:

Every single concert I've been to has been like that. Not necessarily everyone talking to each other but enough people doing so, even if its just several groups of friends showing their boisterous excitement. When you have a horde of people in a line/s as long as a city block trying to enter the same venue you kind of get the idea you're all there for the same thing.

 

As much as I love TSO I'd not bother with them if they tried this. It'd be worse though, having to stand out in the cold for an hour to possible get turned away.

There's a guy named George on my Facebook whom I know solely from meeting him on the floor at several metal concerts (Rammstein and Metallica at least, IIRC)

[Cheezdoodlez]

5 minutes ago, James said:

There's a guy named George on my Facebook whom I know solely from meeting him on the floor at several metal concerts (Rammstein and Metallica at least, IIRC)

I could probably list 20+ people including some very close friends that I wouldn't have met if it wasn't for concerts, festivals and events. 

Glad to hear someone at LTT has a great taste in music.  

 

 

More on topic. I saw Metallica play earlier this week and the tickets were sold online. But all tickets were personalized with name and you had to have an ID with matching name or stand next to the guy with the correct ID.

 Not that they actually checked every person but still.

 

Only selling offline seems a bit extreme. Just have personalized tickets and check everyones ID when entering. Will slow down entry for sure but will cripple the scalper-market. 

[Xanthe_2871]

On 5/10/2018 at 11:04 AM, dizmo said:

No, you really don't. You'd be surprised how many people will stand in line for hours for $20. Not only that, but the potential profit outweighs the risk, and honestly when you have 50 people (if not more) at the front of the line buying 200 of the best seats, it's easy to lose out. And that's often just one scalping company, times that by the number of companies...

Of course, people with nothing better to do, people who's time is actually worth only a few dollars an hour, the same type who camp outside a Best Buy for 72 hours to save $200 on a TV, instead of working 72 hours extra at their work, or getting another job, and causally walking in any time to buy that TV at regular price while still being $520 ahead... the people with no qualifications, no intelligence, or both. They will do this.

[ARikozuM]

Couldn't they just sell 1 out of 10 tickets online as "direct only" and the rest at the physical location? 

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, Xanthe_2871 said:

Of course, people with nothing better to do, people who's time is actually worth only a few dollars an hour, the same type who camp outside a Best Buy for 72 hours to save $200 on a TV, instead of working 72 hours extra at their work, or getting another job, and causally walking in any time to buy that TV at regular price while still being $520 ahead... the people with no qualifications, no intelligence, or both. They will do this.

You say that, but reselling tickets is actually incredibly lucrative. That's why there's companies that do that exclusively. It's not just individuals going out and reselling tickets.

I don't think people actually camp outside of a restaurant for that long for $200. For $1,000, or $1,500 off? Sure. You also have to consider the fact that not everyone can get extra hours at the job the work at, or might not have the ability to get a second job.