TICKETMASTER CONSIDERS DROPPING CONVENIENCE CHARGES

In the first weeks of Irving Azoff’s reign, Ticketmaster Entertainment is already showing signs of a new attitude. During a conference call on Monday announcing quarterly earnings, the company revealed that it has started experimenting with dropping those infamous convenience charges from the cost of tickets, the Wall Street Journal’s Ethan Smith reported this morning.

Azoff has vowed to make the ticketing giant more friendly to consumers and artists, so it’s fitting that his longtime management clients the Eagles are the first act to sell tickets without fees.

Ducats for the band's Jan. 17 concert at North Carolina's Greensboro Coliseum went on sale Nov. 7 under a banner that announced: "This is a no-fee event! The price you see is the price you pay." The tickets for the concert cost $60 to $190, about the same face value as tickets to other Eagles concerts on the tour, which runs through January. Such fees would add $18 to a $185 ticket at the tour's Hershey, PA, stop.

Convenience charges are typically split between Ticketmaster and venue owners, with pieces sometimes going to artists and promoters, Smith explains. The rationale behind the fee, which has been driving concertgoers crazy for years, is that buying tickets from Ticketmaster is more convenient than going to a venue box office.

During the conference call, TM President Sean Moriarty said the Jan. 17 concert represented the company's "first foray" into what he described as “all-in ticketing.” It isn't clear whether in the future such no-fee tickets will simply build the old convenience charges into the price of the ticket.

As for those earnings, Ticketmaster’s net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to $9.6 million, down 76% year-over-year, thanks to higher royalty payments, severance costs, lower ticket sales and costs associated with the acquisitions of two subsidiaries. Revenue was $339.2 million, up 16% from the year-earlier period.