票务市场酝酿大整合

    那是在1995年，珍珠果酱乐队（Pearl Jam）的艾迪•维达在摇滚名人堂的典礼上对着观众讲话。他指着台下某个地方咧嘴一笑：“说起争吵，有些人自作聪明，把我们的座位安排在Ticketmaster的桌子旁边。估计今晚到最后，我们会为了抢吃的打起来。”人群中爆发出一阵哄笑。

    在那几个月之前，维达的珍珠果酱乐队与有着37年历史的票务公司Ticketmaster进行了正面交锋。他们认为这家公司控制了业内太多的业务，要求对后者进行反垄断调查。乐队表示票价过高，而Ticketmaster利用自己独家提供服务之机，提出了过多的不合理要求。他们认为，这种行为已经构成了垄断。

    经过一年的调查，美国司法部（U.S. Justice Department）停止了行动。当时的美国司法部长珍妮特•雷诺表示，司法部“发现有新的企业进入了这个市场”，票务市场已经有了足够的竞争性。Ticketmaster和珍珠果酱乐队就此鸣金收兵。

    近20年过去了，Ticketmaster如今控制了主要场馆超过80%的初级票务市场。【它的美国同行，易趣（eBay）旗下的StubHub，则控制了二级票务市场（转售市场）。】票价变得比以往更加高昂，而预售过程也越来越复杂。以今年秋天贾斯汀•比伯在田纳西州的演唱会为例，据报道，只有7%的票能够在初级市场上买到，而剩余的票都留给了粉丝俱乐部、信用卡会员促销活动和转售商。可想而知，粉丝们有多么愤怒。（Ticketmaster并没有应要求就此事发表评论。）

    自上世纪90年代以来，互联网的兴起让许多行业变得普及起来。不过令人惊讶的是，活动票务市场仍然属于顽固派。不过这种现象也许持续不了多久。进入互联网的门槛很低，小型公司因此受益，他们专攻巨头们的薄弱领域。假以时日，大卫也能击倒巨人歌利亚。

    初级票务公司Ticketfly的创始人安德鲁•德雷斯金说：“Ticketmaster并不了解社交网络。如果我们能让粉丝帮忙宣传推销，那我们就赢了。” 德雷斯金上世纪90年代率先开始经营在线票务业务。2000年，他以3,500万美元的价格把自己的公司TicketWeb卖给了Ticketmaster。不过互联网一直在演变，德雷斯金于2008年又创立了新公司，经营改变人们网上互动形式的移动、社交和大数据领域。

    Ticketfly拥有合作场馆的独家售票权，他们的票价更低，还有很出众的社交能力。这家公司的目标是拉拢场馆和推销商，让他们远离Ticketmaster。迄今为止，它已经挖来了大约100家客户，其中包括普利克内斯大奖赛（Preakness Stakes）、洛杉矶日落大道（L.A.'s Sunset Strip）的The Roxy剧场和Bell House和Brooklyn Bowl这样的纽约场馆。

    许多顾客感觉Ticketmaster和StubHub变得傲慢自满起来。TickPick的创始人布雷特•戈德博格说：“如果我在这些公司管理运营，那么其中一个紧急任务就是树立公司形象，提醒人们这里要以人为本。这两家公司对于普通人而言可能都已经变得有些缺乏个性。”          

    It was 1995, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was addressing the crowd at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Speaking of feisty, some smartass who arranged the tables put our table right next to Ticketmaster's table over here," he said, pointing and grinning as the audience erupted in laughter. "So I predict a food fight by the end of the evening."

    Several months prior, Vedder's band had gone head-to-head with the 37-year-old ticketing company, demanding (and receiving) an antitrust probe under the argument that Ticketmaster controlled too much of the business. The ticket prices were too high, Pearl Jam argued, and Ticketmaster made too many unreasonable demands around the exclusivity of its services. It was, they argued, a monopoly.

    After a year of investigation, the U.S. Justice Department dropped its inquiry. Then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said the department "found that there were new enterprises coming into the arena" and that the ticketing business was sufficiently competitive. Ticketmaster and Pearl Jam lived to fight another day.

    Almost two decades later, Ticketmaster (LYV) controls more than 80% of primary ticketing at major venues. (U.S. peer StubHub, which is owned by eBay (EBAY), dominates the "secondary" ticketing market.) Prices are steeper than ever, and pre-sale practices are increasingly convoluted: this fall, for example, it was reported that just 7% of tickets for a Justin Bieber concert in Tennessee were made available on the primary market, with the rest reserved for fan clubs, credit card member promotions, and resellers. Fans, predictably, were enraged. (Ticketmaster did not respond to requests for comment.)

    The rise of the Internet has democratized many industries since the '90s, but event ticketing remains surprisingly resistant. That may not be the case for much longer. Smaller companies, empowered by the low barrier for entry on the Internet, are focusing on the giants' weakest areas. With time, a David may topple Goliath.

    "Ticketmaster doesn't understand the social web," says Andrew Dreskin, founder of primary ticket seller Ticketfly. "If we can harness the fans as ticket promoters, then we win." Dreskin, credited with selling the first ticket online in the '90s, sold his company TicketWeb to Ticketmaster for $35 million in 2000. But the Internet has since evolved, and Dreskin founded his new company in 2008 to leverage the mobile, social, and big data influences that are reshaping the way we interact online.

    Ticketfly, which has exclusive sales rights to the venues that partner with it, differentiates itself with its lower fees and social capabilities. The goal: woo venues and promoters away from Ticketmaster. To date, it has stolen some 100 clients, including the Preakness Stakes, The Roxy on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, and New York venues such as the Bell House and Brooklyn Bowl.

    Many buyers feel Ticketmaster and StubHub have become bloated and complacent. "If I were running ship at these companies, one urgent task would be to address the image, remind people there's a human element," says Brett Goldberg, founder of TickPick. "Both have probably become a little bit faceless to the general population."