There's always someone one step ahead...and this is the proof...

R u F'n kidding me?

Anything in the name of making money.

I really wish phish.net wouldnt have posted this article. I understand trying to draw attention to it..but..isn't this the kinda thing we as honest fans should be trying to keep under wraps?

@Thisisnotafish said:

I really wish phish.net wouldnt have posted this article. I understand trying to draw attention to it..but..isn't this the kinda thing we as honest fans should be trying to keep under wraps?

I politely disagree. This shit needs to be brought to everyone's attention in order for it to come to an end. The state of our ticketing is insane. I think the more people that know about this BS the more people that wont stand for it. No one can be upset with the system if they don't know how the system works.

@Jimmymac03 said:

@Thisisnotafish said:

I really wish phish.net wouldnt have posted this article. I understand trying to draw attention to it..but..isn't this the kinda thing we as honest fans should be trying to keep under wraps?

I politely disagree. This shit needs to be brought to everyone's attention in order for it to come to an end. The state of our ticketing is insane. I think the more people that know about this BS the more people that wont stand for it. No one can be upset with the system if they don't know how the system works.

It wont come to an end. Ticketmaster has already proven that they don't care, they already know this shit goes on, and they have never done anything about it. The government obviously doesn't care, as we've seen by the pittance of charges brought against professed ticket brokers who acknowledged their hacking of systems. The system is so broken it will never be fixed.

In addition, IMO the vast majority of concert-goers aren't as affected by this as we are. I've never had trouble getting tickets to any shows as much as phish shows. We are a minority that are extremely effected by something that the majority arent nearly as effected by.

But these guys also by sports tickets. Those are the fans we need to reach out to and form an alliance with. It will not end unless a LARGE group stands up and says enough is enough...

This is horrible... I can't believe I just saw that. These sick mother fuckers.. Something needs to be done. WE HAVE TO ELIMINATE THE SCALPERS

@phishschticks said:

But these guys also by sports tickets. Those are the fans we need to reach out to and form an alliance with. It will not end unless a LARGE group stands up and says enough is enough...

Sports affiliates are as bad as Ticketmaster. As an example the NHL's offical ticket exchange for my hometeam (the pittsburgh penguins) has on the ice tickets for 200-900 bucks and thats for a game against the Florida Panthers. Now, its hard to know what face value is for those tickets because you cant even look at the prices without signing for a waiting list. But I would imagine that it wouldn't cost over 200 dollars at the box office.

The problem is that people will pay those prices, regardless of them knowing they are getting fucked. The people who are selling the tickets to the scalpers dont care, and as long as there is only a tiny portion who are complaining it wont matter. I dont know that there will ever be a large enough group complaining about it. Because even whole musical acts have tried to champion anti-scalping measures and it almost always falls flat on it's face. The bands need the ticketing companies, because the ticketing companies hold rights to all the major venues, and the ticketing companies dont care about scalpers because it sells more tickets. You would need a massive massive group spanning across every type of fan of every type of music. Even then there will be the music fan equivalent to scabs crossing the picket line who break down at the last minute and buy off scalpers to get their fix of music.

@Thisisnotafish said:

@phishschticks said:

But these guys also by sports tickets. Those are the fans we need to reach out to and form an alliance with. It will not end unless a LARGE group stands up and says enough is enough...

Sports affiliates are as bad as Ticketmaster. As an example the NHL's offical ticket exchange for my hometeam (the pittsburgh penguins) has on the ice tickets for 200-900 bucks and thats for a game against the Florida Panthers. Now, its hard to know what face value is for those tickets because you cant even look at the prices without signing for a waiting list. But I would imagine that it wouldn't cost over 200 dollars at the box office.

The problem is that people will pay those prices, regardless of them knowing they are getting fucked. The people who are selling the tickets to the scalpers dont care, and as long as there is only a tiny portion who are complaining it wont matter. I dont know that there will ever be a large enough group complaining about it. Because even whole musical acts have tried to champion anti-scalping measures and it almost always falls flat on it's face. The bands need the ticketing companies, because the ticketing companies hold rights to all the major venues, and the ticketing companies dont care about scalpers because it sells more tickets. You would need a massive massive group spanning across every type of fan of every type of music. Even then there will be the music fan equivalent to scabs crossing the picket line who break down at the last minute and buy off scalpers to get their fix of music.

You are preaching to the choir. I paid $869 for two tickets to Coventry!

It's had to say no.

PS - as bad as people say Coventry was, it was worth every penny!!

HARD to say, not HAD...

That is unfortunate (and it has been for many years now). This is why I stress about getting those SPAC pavilion seats. yeah, there are A LOT of fans buying tickets, too... but imagine just how much easier it would be without a problem like this. bummer.

Hey I found the software for free on torrents, A 950 DOLLAR VALUE lol.

Knew this existed, but watching it makes me SICK.

@Jimmymac03 said:

@Thisisnotafish said:

I really wish phish.net wouldnt have posted this article. I understand trying to draw attention to it..but..isn't this the kinda thing we as honest fans should be trying to keep under wraps?

I politely disagree. This shit needs to be brought to everyone's attention in order for it to come to an end. The state of our ticketing is insane. I think the more people that know about this BS the more people that wont stand for it. No one can be upset with the system if they don't know how the system works.

I agree.

Stop buying scalped tickets and you will stop scalpers. It's that simple.
Once they eat enough tickets on the Phish scene, they will learn their lesson.

You paid that much for Coventry for real? Wow.

Exactly!!! Stop buying from scalpers and you kill the profit motive. I see it as a moral obligation. If we come together as a community to acheive a common goal, there is nothing that we can't accomplish. Take a stand! Spread the word! Phish has continued to keep their ticket prices reasonable and have been very aggressive in their efforts to stop scalping. We need to be part of the solution.

...fuck scalpers and fuck this program. Anybody good at hacking? Id love to get this shit hacked and teach these assholes a lesson about messing with an honest phish phan.

Some bands are trying to move towards "paperless ticketing" for premium seats.... you have to show up at the gate with your ID and the credit card you used to purchase the tickets. They check you off and give you a seat locator slip and you are in. Completely eliminates scalpers. It does open up more problems though for the individual, like if you suddenly can't go to the show. It's not like you can hand your tix to your friend and he can sell them. Iron Maiden is trying it this summer here in the States. Should be interesting to see how it works.

It might have been wiser to post this article after tickets went on sale. I'm sure there will be some phans trying to use this next week to get tickets. Particularly since it's freely available if you know where to look.

I think aside from major shows like the NYE runs and Halloween shows, scalpers don't make a lot of money from from us on tickets. It's a shame that real phans have to pay scalpers to go see a NYE show.

@Drgordy said:

It might have been wiser to post this article after tickets went on sale. I'm sure there will be some phans trying to use this next week to get tickets. Particularly since it's freely available if you know where to look.

I whole hardly agree, I don't think the .net staff really thought this one through (no offense) We live in the age of scalping, but we also live in the age of piracy. I know most of this info could be found on peoples own if they want, but i can guarantee someones gonna go download this and use it especially after seeing proof it work.

The days of honest fans are long gone

@Thunder said:

Stop buying scalped tickets and you will stop scalpers. It's that simple. Once they eat enough tickets on the Phish scene, they will learn their lesson.

Agreed. And hats off to Phish's PTBM and http://cashortrade.org/ for making Face Value trades available to fans!

@flyinphish said:

@Drgordy said:

It might have been wiser to post this article after tickets went on sale. I'm sure there will be some phans trying to use this next week to get tickets. Particularly since it's freely available if you know where to look.

I whole hardly agree, I don't think the .net staff really thought this one through (no offense) We live in the age of scalping, but we also live in the age of piracy. I know most of this info could be found on peoples own if they want, but i can guarantee someones gonna go download this and use it especially after seeing proof it work.

The days of honest fans are long gone

Well someone's downloading and using programs like these and paying thousands for them, but I doubt they're fans...or learning about it from being on Phish.net. Just like nitrous vendors aren't coming for the show or being fans that just sling balloons on the side, they're "professionals" (of a sort).

My thought was to raise awareness, a WTF!!! moment, when I saw how openly this stuff was advertised and available to anyone with a couple of thou who wants to make a quick buck in this age of limited opportunity to make quick bucks, at least by (quasi) legal means (so far).

My thought was to get people as p***** o*** at this as they are most other internet outrages like photos of puppies which might (or might not) be being abused or some warlord in Africa who might (or might not) be making seven year olds into child soldiers and sex slaves.

Write your congressman! Write Azoff of LiveNation/Ticketmaster. Hell, maybe even I'll start an internet petition, there ought to be a law!!

But I very much doubt that anyone here is going to get one of these things to buy tickets for summer tour. It's not like asking for four PTBM lottery tickets and putting two on Stubhub to pay for the cost of your tickets, casual stuff like that (which most people here still find questionable). You don't spend thousands of dollars on this stuff unless you're a pro.

And awareness (or denial) that this is going on is not going to affect whether you do or don't get a ticket. At least if you watch the spinning balls for 15 minutes and are then told "We cannot locate seats that fit your request" you'll have a bit better understanding of "why" that is...how much out in the open this is! Like other things "we the people" consider to be a problem, like the Chinese knocking off Microsoft Windows or Kate Moss handbags (or "the war on drugs" which ultimately gets the attention of the government.

@spencur6 said:

...fuck scalpers and fuck this program. Anybody good at hacking? Id love to get this shit hacked and teach these assholes a lesson about messing with an honest phish phan.

Maybe these guys can help?

@ZapRowsdower said:

@spencur6 said:

...fuck scalpers and fuck this program. Anybody good at hacking? Id love to get this shit hacked and teach these assholes a lesson about messing with an honest phish phan.

Maybe these guys can help?

Thanks, @ZapRowsdower. Report'd. We'll see whether hacktivists vs. hackers results in any action and I'll report back!

Whether you are a "pro" or just selling tickets to cover the cost of your own, you're still scalping and taking tickets away from honest fans that deserve the right to buy their tickets for face value. Cover the cost of touring through other means.

I'm glad that this program was shared with the community and I agree action should be taken. I only disagree with the timing of this blog.

So here is what we do. We all pitch in so that The Mockingbird Foundation can purchase the software (with add ones of course) and then they can just sell them individually through the .net store front.

Hell we could even have trivia questions you have to answer about Phish to get the tickets (super easy ones of course). This plan = Fans get tickets.

Problem. Solved.

"Crackerjack support staff from Bangalore"

Lol.

@Thunder said:

Stop buying scalped tickets and you will stop scalpers. It's that simple.
Once they eat enough tickets on the Phish scene, they will learn their lesson.

this isnt realistic, unfortunately

@Ifthir said:

@Thunder said:

Stop buying scalped tickets and you will stop scalpers. It's that simple.
Once they eat enough tickets on the Phish scene, they will learn their lesson.

this isnt realistic, unfortunately

Yep, if they tried it, ticketbastard/livenation would just blacklist them from just about every venue in the country.

@flyinphish said:

@Drgordy said:

It might have been wiser to post this article after tickets went on sale. I'm sure there will be some phans trying to use this next week to get tickets. Particularly since it's freely available if you know where to look.

I whole hardly agree, I don't think the .net staff really thought this one through (no offense) We live in the age of scalping, but we also live in the age of piracy. I know most of this info could be found on peoples own if they want, but i can guarantee someones gonna go download this and use it especially after seeing proof it work.

The days of honest fans are long gone

Doesnt really matter, theres plenty of people using this stuff already. Some brokers are running 20+ computers with this software anyways.

Changes will come from TM/LN and them ONLY prob by way of the government. They went after something as dumb as steriods in baseball why not tickets. We cant start a boycott when other people will buy these tickets anyways....

In the age of piracy and people only caring about themselves ,there will be plenty of people trying to torrent this software. There is already someone on the phish reddit who is planning on using similar software to redistribute tickets to phans(a noble but misplaced effort imo).

And to the person who brough up paperless ticketing? Phish tried it already, it doesn't work because there is too much hassle if you want to rightfully trade or give your ticket to another fan. People arent willing to give up their creature comforts for the sake of the industry/other fans/ the band they love.

Thanks to the scalpers at Stubhub I scored a pair of pavilion seats to DTE last summer 18th row.. day before the show at $10 above face ..

I think people who want to go see the Wiggles get screwed by scalpers but Phish tickets aren't as hard to come by as they used to be ...

If you would rather not use TM, the site LIFT Festival is using will be expanding into music ticket promotion, festival travel package deals and stuff like that!

Check it out:

https://www.referdia.com/LIFTFestival/about

@preyingmantits said:

Thanks to the scalpers at Stubhub I scored a pair of pavilion seats to DTE last summer 18th row.. day before the show at $10 above face ..

I think people who want to go see the Wiggles get screwed by scalpers but Phish tickets aren't as hard to come by as they used to be ...

yes but that isnt really an option for people who have to plan more. I cant plan a road trip with my friends for a few shows without knowing we have tickets. Lets not mention the hassle of trying to find tickets together. We cant drive all the way to the venue and hope to find decent lots or searching for cheap prices the night before the show.

I think this is a bunch of bullshit. tickets cannot be bought over phone or online anymore. Events will literally be sold out in fifteen minutes. I remember settling for 20$ an hour before the show when I had an extra for shoreline. Then a year later seeing people not even consider selling their greek tickets for any amount of money. I finally scored a ticket from a broker for 325$. A general admission ticket, you can say my dumb ass bought it but I'm not going to San Fran and not seeing Phish one night of a three night set at the Greek. I couldnt get tickets from ticketbastard and was left at the mercy of brokers because people wanted thousands for tickets on Ebay. Clearly the system is broke but who has the power to fix it? When it comes down to it, most of us realize these last few years are bonus time and I honestly cant bear to miss any show in California. Either get screwed by a broker or stand up and dont buy a ticket.

Seeing that is a more than a little depressing...

@BillZauggsCabin said:

Seeing that is a more than a little depressing...

*is more than.

I want one

I completely agree we should all try and take a stand by not buying tickets off stubhub and such. Unfortunately, I believe it will never happen. I stood in the resale line for 10 hours this year for nye after driving from Alabama. I continually checked stubhub on my phone and watched about 100 tickets go periodically through the day for over $300 dollars a piece. Some even went for much more than that. Nothing will ever change if the phans keep paying these outrageous prices.

even worse, look at all the jobs these assholes post
http://www.freelancer.com/work/ticketmaster-drop-spinner/?per=20

@pinto4598 said:

even worse, look at all the jobs these assholes post
http://www.freelancer.com/work/ticketmaster-drop-spinner/?per=20[/quote] />
Yow! I guess the US is falling behind India, China, and Pakistan in shady programmers too!

We'll be a cashless society soon enough. They'll just be able to scan your "chip" and you'll be able to get into the show. That smart phone will be a chip located somewhere on the body which is hardwired to the brain. Other than monitoring your location and being used for exchanging currency, it will monitor your thoughts and any form of descent that you brainstorm will get you locked up with no attorney, no trial, no notification to your loved ones. You'll just disappear. Thank you Patriot Act and NDAA.

Thank god for hackers. They'll be the heroes of the coming years. If you don't like the prices of scalped tickets, don't buy them. Encourage others not to either. If no one buys them, there won't be a market ("But I need the best seat so I can tell others and feel superior for having better seats than them." Eat a dick and keep buying your status items to compensate for your inadequate genitalia. You'll never be satisfied).

@JARdale said:

Some bands are trying to move towards "paperless ticketing" for premium seats.... you have to show up at the gate with your ID and the credit card you used to purchase the tickets. They check you off and give you a seat locator slip and you are in. Completely eliminates scalpers. It does open up more problems though for the individual, like if you suddenly can't go to the show. It's not like you can hand your tix to your friend and he can sell them. Iron Maiden is trying it this summer here in the States. Should be interesting to see how it works.

We'll be a cashless society soon enough. They'll just be able to scan your "chip" and you'll be able to get into the show. That smart phone will be a chip located somewhere on the body which is hardwired to the brain. Other than monitoring your location and being used for exchanging currency, it will monitor your thoughts and any form of descent that you brainstorm will get you locked up with no attorney, no trial, no notification to your loved ones. You'll just disappear. Thank you Patriot Act and NDAA.

Thank god for hackers. They'll be the heroes of the coming years. If you don't like the prices of scalped tickets, don't buy them. Encourage others not to either. If no one buys them, there won't be a market ("But I need the best seat so I can tell others and feel superior for having better seats than them." Eat a dick and keep buying your status items to compensate for your inadequate genitalia. You'll never be satisfied).

What about reverting to paper tickets only??? How many scalpers would wait in line for 2 days to purchase tickets? Zero; the time spent in line would be better spent online ripping off others or developing software to the same end. If this issue is based on monetary gains, then the solution will have to stem from the same mindset. Valuation of time... as phans, it's worth it to wait in line for tickets. For scalpers, it's worth it to prey upon those systems which exhibit flaws, just waiting to be exposed. That's my two cents. Paper tickets. No internet.

If I may make a suggestion...

Everyone with a few moments to waste should click on the link in the main article above to the software homepage. It has a little insta-chat window that pops up in the bottom right, a'la Facebook, and some helpful staff are there to message with you live. Twice now I have had a rather pleasant conversation with "Jack" regarding donkey cock...