I-Team: A Few Tips for Getting Concert Tickets

by Dana Fowle
Aired Feb. 19, 2016

The chorus of voices frustrated about how hard it is to get a concert ticket these days is growing. But - the Fox 5 I-Team's Dana Fowle says - there are ways to try at least to get to the head of the line.

"Outrageous." Frustrating. Unfair. You hear that over and over from music fans trying to buy concert tickets, and a recent report from the New York attorney general's office, agrees calling the ticketing game - a "fixed game."

Adele recently announced a US tour and the Internet went wild. In fact - here in the office we were sitting at our computers - watching the clock - waiting for tickets to go on sale. But somehow no one managed to get a ticket. Beyonce just announced a tour. Same thing. Everybody wanted a seat - any seat - but it just seems few people can get them. And, according to the New York AG's office it's not your imagination. They released a 44-page report that finds, on average, only 46 percent of a venue's tickets go on sale to the public. That's an average. Look at this. The report says this about a recent JayZ and Justine Timberlake show - 71 percent of the tickets went to pre-sale events which means tickets for the stars' friends, vendors, promotors - but not earmarked for fan clubs. That means few seats went to regular fans. JayZ and Coldplay - 70 percent. Five Steely Dan shows - 64 percent of the tickets were held back from the public.

Even music stars are frustrated. Sir Elton John called the inability of fans to get tickets "disgraceful."

So what do you do to get your hands on a big concert ticket? Well you have to beat the ticketing bots. That's software that gobbles up tickets - the report says, a thousand a minute - despite a four-ticket buying limit.

It's key to get pre-sale tickets. Join your favorite star's fan club. They very often get first-dibs on tickets. A perk for some credit cardholders is to get a first crack at concert tickets. Some folks report being able to get tickets more easily from the ticket seller's app rather than online. Some fans have said they had better luck calling the ticket office rather than working online. And finally, work in teams. If you and your friends want to go - attack it from every angle. Maybe one of you will get lucky.