Trent Reznor Hates Scalping Concert Tickets

Since Nine Inch Nails are touring North America this summer, lead singer Trent Reznor has weighed in on the current controversy surrounding Ticketmaster, TicketsNow and reselling tickets at inflated prices.

Reznor explained the reasoning behind the situation in a lengthy message posted Sunday on the band's website.

"The ticket marketplace for rock concerts shows a real lack of sophistication, meaning this: the true market value of some tickets for some concerts is much higher than what the act wants to be perceived as charging," Reznor wrote.

"For example, there are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock/pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this. So...

"The venue, the promoter, the ticketing agency and often the artist camp (artist, management and agent) take tickets from the pool of available seats and feed them directly to the re-seller (which from this point on will be referred to by their true name: SCALPER). I am not saying everyone one of the above entities all do this, nor am I saying they do it for all shows but this is a very common practice that happens more often than not. There is money to be made and they feel they should participate in it."

Reznor describes Ticketmaster as a "monopoly" and says the secondary market would decrease by "doing the following: limit the amount of sales per customer, print names on the tickets and require ID/ticket matches at the venue. We know this works because we do it for our pre-sales. Why don't THEY do it? It's obvious – they make a lot of money fueling the second market...

"I assure you nobody in the NIN camp supplies or supports the practice of supplying tickets to these re-sellers because it's not something we morally feel is the right thing to do. We are leaving money on the table here but it's not always about money. Being completely honest, it IS something I've had to consider.

"If people are willing to pay a lot of money to sit up front AND ARE GOING TO ANYWAY thanks to the rigged system, why let that money go into the hands of the scalpers? I'm the one busting my ass up there every night. The conclusion really came down to it not feeling like the right thing to do - simple as that.

"My guess as to what will eventually happen if / when Live Nation and TicketMaster merges is that they'll move to an auction or market-based pricing scheme - which will simply mean it will cost a lot more to get a good seat for a hot show. They will simply BECOME the scalper, eliminating them from the mix."

Reznor concluded the message by acknowledging that "we are getting into bed with all these guys" by playing the various venues owned by Live Nation.

"I've learned to choose my fights and at this point in time it would be logistically too difficult to attempt to circumvent the venues/promoters/ticketing infrastructure already in place for this type of tour. For those of you about to snipe 'it's your fault for playing there, etc...' – I know it is."

Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction will play these shows:

May 8 West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
May 9 Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
May 10 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 14 Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
May 15 Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
May 16 Chula Vista, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
May 18 Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl
May 20 Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
May 22 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
May 23-25 George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Music Festival)
May 26 Englewood, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
May 27 Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
May 29 Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion (no NIN)
May 30 Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 31 Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Center
June 2 Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
June 3 Darien Lake, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheatre
June 5 Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
June 6 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 7 Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
June 9 Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 10 Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 12 Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre