Why can't I get good seats at a concert?

Once again, I have logged onto my computer and gotten on the designated website in time to submit my request for a measly 3 tickets to an upcoming local big-name concert. This was supposed to be the pre-presale -- a full 2 days ahead of when tickets would be available to the public, and I was submitting my request at the exact time that the presale began and requesting the highest-priced tickets. You can only imagine my frustration when the tickets came through and I discovered that the seats are in the far corner of the arena, just about as far away from the stage as you can get!

What do I have to do to get good seats at a concert? Asked by straycat 52 months ago Similar questions: seats concert Entertainment.

In a year that's shaping up as the largest collective of A-list touring acts since the mid-1990s, demand for concert tickets is so intense that nabbing a great seat - make that "any" seat - is nearly impossible by conventional methods. Months ahead of concert dates, superstar draws such as U2, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen are mostly ultra-fast sellouts, underscoring overwhelming demand from a huge fan base of teens to baby boomers. Combined with the selling efficiency of the Internet and swelling competition from scalpers, "your chances of getting a great seat after a concert goes on sale are almost non-existent," says Arizona State University economist Steve Happel, a concert business expert.

"Tickets are gone in a heartbeat. "Because massive numbers are snapped up by scalpers, marketers, promoters, tour sponsors, bands, their fan clubs and sports stadiums, which often give preferential treatment to team season-ticket holders seeking concert seats, ordinary fans are often last in line. Concert sellouts mostly are a hallmark of older, established male rock artists and country stars such as Toby Keith.

While Madonna, Cher and Janet Jackson have staged top-grossing concert tours in the past, most female artists, as well as contemporary, urban and hip-hop performers, generally do far better selling CDs and DVDs than filling concert seats, says Ray Waddell, senior touring editor for Billboard magazine. "There've been some hot hip-hop tours - 50 Cent and Eminem could be huge this year - but most never equal what they do at retail," he says. Across most genres, many bands and promoters are still smarting from 2004, when high ticket prices and lackluster fan interest led to several money-losing tours.

This year, Clear Channel Communications, a major tour promoter and venue operator, is slashing some prices to lure fans. Still, dinosaur bands such as the Rolling Stones and Motley Crue continue to command top dollar: more than $400 for face-value tickets. And die-hard fans are willing to pay several thousand more to an increasingly sophisticated network of scalpers.

"There's a cadre of wealthy fans pushing up prices of popular acts," says Princeton University economist Alan Krueger, who helped coined the term "rockonomics. "Long among rock's top-grossing live acts, the Stones have sold out 32 North American concert dates on sale so far. Four others are near sellouts.

The band is adding shows to meet demand and may ultimately expand its tour to 50 shows, says veteran tour director Michael Cohl. All 28 of McCartney's U.S. shows were fast sellouts, as were several shows added to satiate fans. U2 sold out all 110 North American and European concert dates, most within minutes.

By the time U2 ends the tour at Portland's Rose Garden Dec. 19, its global windfall will surpass $300 million - the biggest single chunk of this year's $3 billion concert market, says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of industry tracker" Pollstar". The Stones and McCartney tours could each reap $100 million, he says. Where do the tickets go?

Traditionally, most fans got the best concert seats by camping out in front of venues and buying tickets as soon as sales opened. That time-honored technique is proving increasingly frustrating. Bruce Voelker tried landing four $50 floor tickets for U2's Philadelphia show by having a relative line up hours before the box office opened.

Only one ticket, far from the floor, was available when he reached the front of the line."Everyone's competing for the same concert," says Voelker, 28, a Baltimore biologist. "Now, you have to try to buy six months in advance. It ruins the experience."Most buyers are funneled through Ticketmaster, which sold nearly 100 million tickets last year to live events and other entertainment through the Internet and a far-flung network of sales outlets and call centers.

"When you have the Internet and thousands of outlets, seats sell out virtually instantly," says David Goldberg, Ticketmaster's head of strategy and business development. "These days, everyone has cell phones and computers to tap in," Waddell says."There's an intensity that wasn't there five years ago. "With hotter acts, phone and online ticket hunts are often futile.

Soon after the electronic sales gates opened for McCartney's September Atlanta concert, "there were no seats, even in the nosebleed section," says Glenn Hughes, a Murray, Ky. , ad executive. Hughes, 54, managed to buy two $125 tickets to McCartney's Tampa show.

With airfare, hotel and incidentals, Hughes and his wife, Patricia, will spend more than $1,000. McCartney's 58 shows in 2002 pulled in about $125 million, the year's top-grossing act. But he and other big-name artists are doing fewer 2005 shows.

Springsteen, on a solo acoustic tour, is opting for more intimate, smaller venues, further draining a limited ticket pool. Just how many tickets are held out by artists, promoters and venues and never made available to the mass market is closely guarded. Ticketmaster says sales are proprietary.

Clear Channel declined comment. Waddell estimates that up to 20 percent of tickets are held back. "They go to bands, promoters, (venues), sponsors, radio promotions and record labels," he says.

"These are generally the best seats." "In some buildings, you might need 2,000 tickets for the fan club, 2,000 for radio stations and the band and 5,000 more" for companies such as American Express that use pre-sales for marketing, Cohl says. Sports coliseums and stadiums may be ideal for packing in huge concert crowds. But stages, equipment and other limitations cut seating.

Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. , holds 61,500 fans for University of Virginia football games, but for the Stones' Oct. 6 show, there may be space for 51,000. Moreover, arenas and stadiums owned by professional teams or managers often allow season-ticket holders first crack at concert seats.

Boston's Fenway Park holds 36,298 fans for Red Sox games. Seating is limited to 30,000 for the Stones' August shows. Red Sox season-ticket holders grabbed 12,500 a show after Stones fan club members had their shot; only about half were left for general sale.

Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center holds up to 20,675 fans for Wizards NBA games. Seating at U2's Oct.19 and 20 shows will be limited to 18,000. Season-ticket holders and U2 fan club members were first in line, leaving 12,000 a show for general sale.

Both sold out in 30 minutes. For the Stones' Oct.3 MCI show, just 15,000 seats were available for general sale. They were gone in 20 minutes.

Coldplay sold out in 10 minutesColdplay sold out two September Madison Square Garden shows in 10 minutes, says band manager Dave Holmes. The Garden can seat 20,000, but seats weren't sold behind the band's stage, reducing the gate to 14,000. Fan club members got 1,400 tickets.

"The rule of thumb is the first 15 rows go to the fan club," Holmes says. Ticket holds for the band, guests, concert promoter and band label Capitol Records -- also considered choice seating - left about 10,000 seats for general sale."We try to take care of our fans, but we still get complaints," Holmes says. "You can't please everyone.

"Marketers also frequently grab large chunks of tickets for pre-sales. American Express won't release specifics but says it had "thousands" of pre-sale tickets for Stones shows in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. "There were enough to make it worthwhile for card members," says spokeswoman Judy Tenzer.

"Knowing they can get tickets before the general public is a tremendous benefit."Tour sponsors such as Ameriquest, the mortgage company underwriting the Stones' U.S. shows, also get tickets, typically 100 to 500 a show, for consumer promotions, employees and clients. "They're supposed to be good seats, in the top 15 percent," says Ameriquest marketing chief Brian Woods. There'll be even fewer seats for average fans at the Stones' Nov.4 show in Anaheim, Calif.

, near Ameriquest's corporate headquarters. "We've got over 10,000 employees here," Woods says. "We're not in the ticket business, but how can we sponsor a tour and not allow every employee to see the band?"

Sources: http://www.tonystickets.com/articles/finding_seats.html .

That really stinks I was driving to a store one day in October of last year and heard on the radio that Streisand was coming to town in November. I pulled over, dialed Ticketmaster on my cell phone, (and I know that this is hard to believe) but I got a ticket 12 seats back (center of the center row) from the stage, I could actually see her teeth, I was so close. So, maybe that's that the way to do it, wait until the last minute!.

You will probably never get the front seats unless you win them or know someone to hook you up. The front seats go to the media - like radio shows, contests, etc. I lived in nyc and never got great seats. Now that I live upstate I still get to see the big names that come to town and front seats.

I just saw seinfeld in april and was only 3 rows from the stage. So if you can travel to another town and make sure the town is small, you will probably be able to get great seats. Check the group/show website.

Follow their tour, find out the next town closest to you that you can travel to, find out the day the tix go on sale and just order them online. Good luck!.

1 wisegeek.com/what-is-a-ticket-broker.htm This user has been banned from Askville.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.