Buying concert tickets used to be so uncomplicated. Whenever my favourite bands tipped up at the Newcastle City Hall, I'd join the queue with hundreds of other freezing fans outside the box-office hoping that I wasn't too late to get my eager hands on a couple of tickets. In fact, I remember when I lost my concert virginity - it was Ten Years After, a band that had actually played at Woodstock, which, of course, made them uber-cool in the mid-70′s. I suggest you check them out on YouTube, especially if you're a tad partial to the lost art of the ten minute guitar solo!
So much has changed since those days, and I'm not just talking about the music. Nowadays, virtually no-one obtains a ticket from a theatre box-office as the advent of the internet has irrevocably changed the landscape of concert ticket sales. Yes, we can still see the ads for concerts in our local newspapers and in the music press, but they now direct us to a plethora of websites and ticket agencies, without even telling us how much the tickets are going to cost.
On the one hand, tickets are now available at the click of a mouse, but, paradoxically, it is now harder than ever to get hold of those tickets that we really want to buy. Let's face it, the hottest gig and festival tickets usually sell out within hours, so many of us have turned to the ticket exchanges in order to secure the tickets that we want, and cannot get elsewhere. But the problem with these exchanges is that their fees are much higher than those charged by the regular ticket agencies, and we all have a sneaking suspicion that concert promoters are using exchanges to artificially inflate the prices of their tickets.
But not all ticket exchanges are the same and the aforementioned criticisms don't apply across the board. If you shop around, you'll find sites where the charges are reasonable and there are no hidden extras like compulsory insurance policies or exorbitant postage charges. In fact, you'll discover that most sellers are genuine fans with spare tickets to sell, and most buyers are genuine fans like you, and like me.
My advice is that you should embrace the changes that the worldwide web has brought about in regard to concert ticket sales. After all, you no longer have to queue up to buy your tickets - which can't be a bad thing; and if you take a few minutes to shop around online, you're sure to find a reputable seller offering the right tickets at the right prices. And once you've done that, all you have to do is enjoy the show!
So much has changed since those days, and I'm not just talking about the music. Nowadays, virtually no-one obtains a ticket from a theatre box-office as the advent of the internet has irrevocably changed the landscape of concert ticket sales. Yes, we can still see the ads for concerts in our local newspapers and in the music press, but they now direct us to a plethora of websites and ticket agencies, without even telling us how much the tickets are going to cost.
On the one hand, tickets are now available at the click of a mouse, but, paradoxically, it is now harder than ever to get hold of those tickets that we really want to buy. Let's face it, the hottest gig and festival tickets usually sell out within hours, so many of us have turned to the ticket exchanges in order to secure the tickets that we want, and cannot get elsewhere. But the problem with these exchanges is that their fees are much higher than those charged by the regular ticket agencies, and we all have a sneaking suspicion that concert promoters are using exchanges to artificially inflate the prices of their tickets.
But not all ticket exchanges are the same and the aforementioned criticisms don't apply across the board. If you shop around, you'll find sites where the charges are reasonable and there are no hidden extras like compulsory insurance policies or exorbitant postage charges. In fact, you'll discover that most sellers are genuine fans with spare tickets to sell, and most buyers are genuine fans like you, and like me.
My advice is that you should embrace the changes that the worldwide web has brought about in regard to concert ticket sales. After all, you no longer have to queue up to buy your tickets - which can't be a bad thing; and if you take a few minutes to shop around online, you're sure to find a reputable seller offering the right tickets at the right prices. And once you've done that, all you have to do is enjoy the show!
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