TL;DR
1) Good chance you’re not going to buy Morgan Wallen tickets.
2) Best bet is the secondary market via StubHub, MegaSeats, Vivid Seats, TicketNetwork and TicketCity.
3) No, I’m not taking you to the show.
A few days before tickets went on sale for Morgan Wallen, fans started getting messages saying they are on the waiting list and their name will be entered in a lottery. Not everybody is going to get a chance to see Morgan Wallen and some wont even get the opportunity to buy tickets to Morgan Wallen. Crazy.
Thankfully – but not really – we went through this with Taylor Swift. That mess is still going on. Fans are now filing lawsuits against Ticketmaster. If anything changes, it will probably be because of Taylor. If you haven’t heard, she’s kind of a big deal. Look what she is doing to her former record label and what she did with streaming services. She has a way of getting stuff done.
In Ticketmaster’s defense, we are now in a post-COVID world. People are ready for live music but I don’t think Ticketmaster was/is ready. On the other hand, Ticketmaster hasn’t done a good job with service fees and selling tickets through secondary markets. There’s a book called: “Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped.” During COVID, I spoke with the author and he said something like: “Ticket prices really aren’t that bad.” Wait!? What!? Are those fighting words! If I remember right, he was talking about the cost of tickets over the years and inflation. Look at the cost of CDs, vinyl, and streaming services. Some records are $50. Puts it in perspective. But is it right?
So this lottery deal. Over the weekend, I spoke with a concert promoter who hosted a massive show in 2015. Requests for tickets are believed to be in the millions and nearly 500,000 were online waiting to purchase tickets when the “box office” opened. Get this. . . to get a presale code. . . fans had to mail (postage stamp style) a letter to a PO Box. An issue he told me was: “How do people even know about shows anymore? Back in the day, there was a newspaper or a magazine or a record store that had all of that info posted. Now? You have to go to ten different websites.” He has a point and he talked more about how that is one issue in the concert industry. How do you even find out about shows?
. . . check out his book: “The Music Never Stops: What Putting on 10,000 Shows Has Taught Me About Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Magic” The chapters about Fare Thee Well and opening a venue in the UK are must reads for music fans. The UK has an entirely different way of promoting shows which might be good for the US.
Talking about the UK. . . some artists differ in popularity overseas and ticket prices can be more manageable. I know one fan who could have bought a concert ticket in the US for 3k. Instead, he bought a ticket, airfare, and a hotel for the same show in the UK. He spent $1,000. Honestly, that’s a good tactic.
Something to consider. Radio stations are in a unique position with tickets. Froggy has tickets to Swift and Wallen. I see the station on a bunch of Taylor Swift message boards, Swiftie social media threads, and random Swiftie insider clubs. It’s crazy to see so much love for radio because of that.
For what it is worth, my suggestion would be the mail in tickets or bring back the physical “box office.” Wait in line for tickets. It adds to the experience.
Hold tight. I believe the Calvary has been called and Taylor Swift will fix this. It just sucks for now.