A few weeks back we told fans about TicketDisaster.org, a website urging ticket buying consumers to sign a petition blocking the proposed Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger. Well it seems like TicketDisaster is not the only organization opposed to the deal which will in effect give one company control over all aspects of the live events industry.

And guess how Ticketmaster and Live Nation deal with opposition??? Pay them off!

TM-LN are so desperate to push their merger through congress that Live Nation has reportedly offered to sell some of their venues for BELOW MARKET VALUE to Anschultz Entertainment Group (AEG). This is in response to AEG CEO and president Tim Leiweke calling the merger “troubling” and “not good for the industry.”

As a condition of selling these marked down venues Ticketmaster and Live Nation are asking AEG to drop their opposition to the merger. Isn’t this called corporate bribery?

As if this story isn’t troubling enough here are some other things you should know about Ticketmaster business practices that could only get worse if the merger goes through:

- Ticketmaster and TicketsNow have been using websites masquerading as affiliates of venues, promoters, teams, and artists to trick the public into paying OVER face value for tickets thinking they were getting them FOR face value direct from the source. Full Story»

- Ticketmaster secretly sells tickets on behalf of artists for over face value through their “official platinum seats” program on Ticketexchange. Full Story» (plus screen shot proof)

- Ticketmaster secretly offered over $1.5 million worth of Britney Spears tickets on Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster.ca through this Ticketexchange program. The price Ticketmaster listed for her show in Las Vegas was as high as $2,698.44 per ticket!!!!!! Full Story» (plus screen shot proof)

- During an on sale for Bruce Springsteen tickets last year Ticketmaster claimed they had a site malfunction and redirected buyers to Ticketsnow where tickets were offered for prices higher than face value. Curiously Ticketmaster was informing these buyers that the show was sold out when it was not. Full Story»

One can only imagine what post-merger Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and TicketsNow is capable of…

Photo and Mural by Cain and Todd Benson

With the passing of music legend and world icon Michael Jackson we pause to reflect on what an absolutely amazing life he lived and what an incredible talent he was. In his prime Michael was undeniably the world’s biggest star and anyone in show business would do anything to work with him. Here at SaveFans! we have put together an All-Star top 10 list of MJ’s greatest collaborations with music’s biggest artists:

#10 Janet Jackson – Scream

Michael just had to do a duet with his sister and pop star Janet Jackson right? Scream is actually the most expensive music video ever made costing a cool $7 mil to produce.

#9 Michael Jordan – Jam

MJ vs MJ. NBA vs Epic Records. The two biggest stars on Earth battle it out on the dance floor and basketball court – winner gets the initials. Magic Johnson couldn’t attend for some reason but there are amazing cameos from Kris Kross and Heavy D.

#8 Mick Jagger – State of Shock

The Jacksons collaborated with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger on this 1984 release on their Victory album. A little known fact is this song was originally recorded with Queen’s Freddie Mercury…

#7 Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me

Nepotism much? Barry Gordy’s son Rockwell somehow gets The King Of Pop to sign BACK UP vocals on his only hit single! Every song Michael touched in 1984 turned to gold, this one no different cracking the top 10 in both the United States and UK.

#6 Slash – Black or White

Didn’t know Guns N Roses legend Slash played guitar on this face morphing smash hit? Check out this amazing live performance from the duo at Michael’s 30th anniversary special at Madison Square Garden.

#5 Lisa Marie Presley – Marriage

Okay we just had to throw this in there. Daughter of the other biggest music star of all time… Elvis Presley… And technically marriage is a “duet”. Remember this awkward moment at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards?

#4 Diana Ross – Ease On Down the Road

Michael and Diana hit the stage many times together but are obviously best known for their work in the Motown musical film The Wiz. This Wonderful Wizard of Oz remake may have bombed at the box office but at least gave us a hit from a young and upcoming MJ - Ease On Down The Road. And while many credit Diana for discovering the Jackson 5 it was actually Bobby Taylor and Gladys Knight that did so… Check out an even younger and more adorable Michael with Diana in this Frank Sinatra remake from 1971.

#3 Eddie Van Halen – Beat It

The story goes like this. Eddie Van Halen receives a phone call from Quincy Jones. Thinking its a crank call he hangs up. He later finds out he was asked to play guitar on a Michael Jackson track. Feeling like an idiot he performs a guitar solo free of charge. The song ends up on the biggest album of all time, Thriller, itself one of the biggest hits of all time, Beat It. (sorry about the poor video quality)

#2 Paul McCartney – Say Say Say & The Girl Is Mine

These two classic Michael songs involve legendary bassist Paul McCartney. MJ and Macca later had a falling out as Michael outbid Sir Paul on his own song catalogue. Michael paid a reported $47 million in 1985 for over 200 Beatles songs composed by McCartney and John Lennon. We will remember the genius of the two as a duet…

#1 Lionel Richie et al – We Are The World

Reacting to a terrible drought that decimated food supplies in Ethiopia in 1984-1985 Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote We Are the World.  Produced and conducted by Quincy Jones this song was a whos who of A-List artists. Potentially the most talent laden song of all time this mega hit featured vocals from MJ, Lionel Richie, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper. Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, and Ray Charles with background vocals from Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, The News, Sheila E., Bob Geldorf, Jackie Jackson, LaToya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, The Pointer Sisters, and Smokey Robinson.

Michael we’re all going to miss you. This top 10 list is dedicated to you and your career. Rest in peace.

As I’m sure many of you know the recent Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shows at the Izod Center caused quite a big ticket controversy. At the center of this controversy was Ticketmaster’s handling of these sold out shows, redirecting unknowing buyers to Ticketsnow where they could purchase tickets for over face value (I guess this is better than them secretly selling tickets on TicketExchange – but that’s a whole different blog post).

Well a recent report based on data from the Open Public Records Act shows an even more compelling story. Apparently The Boss himself is responsible for a large quantity of tickets that were held back from the ticket buying public. According to this data 2262 tickets were withheld from fans with 1018 out of 1126 best tickets (the four closest sections to the stage) not being available during the public sale.).

Where did these tickets go? You got it… Bruce’s band, agent, family, record label, and New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority! And guess what? This is ILLEGAL. NJ state law allows for an artist to withhold a maximum 5% of an arena for family, record labels, fan clubs etc. Bruce’s camp scooped up a whopping 12% of the building. And to top it off not one of these tickets were located in the upper deck, only the very best for Springsteen and his posse.).

So it appears as if Bruce Springsteen doesn’t want his real fans anywhere near the stage. And obviously Ticketmaster wants them to buy tickets for the maximum possible price on Ticketsnow and TicketExchange. The solution? Just go to SaveFans! and pay what YOU want for tickets!

If you want a better view than this try trading tickets with Bruce’s uncle. He is sitting in one of the 1,018 floor seats not released by Ticketmaster.

Source Credits:

Concert Photo by Alex Hempton-Smith

It seems like the folks at Ticketmaster are a little confused about fair play and consumer rights. Case and point – the new “paperless tickets” Ticketmaster is requiring for the upcoming Miley Cyrus tour.

This new feature requires concertgoers to buy tickets from Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster.ca with a credit card, then use the credit card along with photo id at the gate to get in. You got that right, you and 18,000+ fans will have to wait in line while each and every credit card is scanned at the door. If you get sick or have a change of plans you cannot transfer your ticket, and for all you soccer moms, you will have to pay for parking and walk your teenage daughter all the way to the entrance for her and her friends to get in (who will be embarrassed to be standing next to you at the hottest event of the year).

Now the funny part in this sad mess is the alleged reason for implementing the paperless ticket policy. Here is the direct quote from the Miley Cyrus tour page on Ticketmaster.

“Why? To ensure fans get fair access to seats at face value-the only way to get into the event is with the credit card used to purchase the tickets.”

Well I hope the CEO of Ticketmaster Irving Azoff doesn’t have a daughter and if he does I hope she’s not a Miley Cyrus fan because Ticketmaster has been selling tickets for over face value for years!

Ticketmaster has been retailing tickets through “high bid win” type auctions on Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster.ca since 2003. Coincidentally enough Ticketmaster actually offered these auctions for the Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus “Best of Both Worlds Tour” in 2007 with seats for the Oracle Arena show on Nov 1st selling for over $2,000! Wow talk about ensuring “fair access to seats at face value”!

It gets even better… Currently you can buy a Miley Cyrus “VIP package” at iloveallaccess.com (owned by Ticketmaster of course) for $295 per ticket (face value is $79.50). Now there are amazing amenities included in this package such as a tour laminate (which doesn’t include backstage access) a pre-show party (which Miley Cyrus will not attend) and “hassle free” shopping (so you can more conveniently spend $75 on a t-shirt). And get this, these wonderful features are subject to change without notice. Since I can go to Kinkos and make a laminate for $5 and I’d rather wait in the paperless ticketing line outside the venue than attend a preshow party with no appearance from Miley Cyrus. I think I can pretty confidently say I would be paying $295 for the guaranteed first 25 row ticket to the show. An honest person might call this paying above face value for a premium seat.

The icing on the cake is Ticketmaster spent $250 million to acquire TicketsNow, a leading secondary ticketing site that sells tickets for over face value! We won’t even get into recent litigation that alleges Ticketmaster redirected potential Bruce Springsteen ticket buyers to TicketsNow and confused them into paying over face value for tickets.

To make things worse Ticketmaster has built TicketExchange, a marketplace that allows fans in the U.S. and Canada to buy and sell tickets directly on Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster.ca. Well wouldn’t you know that a vast majority of these tickets are being offered by Ticketmaster for… what do you know… over face value! They now call them “official platinum seats” and proclaim

“the goal is to give the most passionate fans fair and safe access to the best tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value.”

Seems to contradict their paperless ticket policy quote, cited earlier…

For over a year now Ticketmaster has been selling tickets on TicketExchange for over face value for some of the biggest artists in the biz. Elton John & Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Van Halen, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, New Kids on the Block, Steely Dan, The Eagles (just to name a few).

I know the world in 2009 is a confusing place. But I mean, c’mon Ticketmaster… Are you going to restrict consumer rights with a “paperless tickets” policy that attempts to ensure tickets are available for face value, OR are you going to sell tickets over face value on your TicketExchange and TicketsNow subsidiaries? Just pick a side and stick with it!

Too Bad Ticketmaster Makes it such a Hassle to see Miley…

Source Credits:

Miley Cyrus Concert Photo by Vicky Sedgwick

No Access Badge Photo by landacollectible

Screenshot of TicketMaster TicketExchange page source

Hannah Montana, TicketMaster, TicketsNow, and TicketExchange are trademarks of their respective owners.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will close Giants Stadium in New Jersey. For those of you that live under a rock, the famous stadium, the home of the New York Giants among others, will be demolished before the end of this year. How appropriate that Bruce Springsteen, who has sold out the stadium 16 times in his career, will be the last entertainment act to grace the stage.

I am not the sentimental type people – I am more of the lady killer type but this is a historic set of 3 shows and you gotta check it out. SaveFans.com let’s you Pay What You Want for Tickets, so take advantage and get your Springsteen tix baby!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium Tickets on September 30
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium Tickets on October 2
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium Tickets on October 3

Toronto is a great city. Reminds me so much of my humble home in Los Angeles, California – never a dull moment in the Great White North!

As always, we want to provide you with the 411 on the best upcoming events in an area NEAR YOU! So without further delay, permit me to recommend the top events in Toronto, Canada from May 6 through May 10th!

Wednesday May 6

Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps Event Tickets – Watch your favorite MLS team drub the pretenders from Vancouver at BMO Field!

The Sound of Music at Princess at Wales Theatre Event Tickets – Who doesn’t like the Sound of Music. Take your GF, watch the good guys beat the Nazis and score afterward. A good date eh?

Thursday May 7

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Air Canada Centre Event Tickets – The Boss is on his final tour – go get your tickets!

James Morrison at the Opera House Event Tickets – I like this guy – check him out soon.

Friday May 8

Dane Cook at Air Canada Centre Event Tickets – Dane Cook is a hilarious comic who’s first love remains standup, this will be a special show!

Sunday May 10

Yanni at Air Canada Centre Event Tickets – I know I know seems cheesy. But the concerts are actually great – give Yanni a try!

Tuesday May 12

New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre Event Tickets – The Evil Empire vs. Canada’s own Blue Jays. Show your support and help them beat the gangsters in pinstripes.

SaveFans.com loves Toronto, Canada.

SaveFans.com aims to be bigger than StubHub and TicketsNow. That is our goal plain and simple.

Since we have the 411 on the ticket industry, we wanted to alert you to lower than expected offers for Bruce Springsteen tickets. This can be happening for any number of reasons, but rest assured the shows are NOT selling well. This is bargain basement time as secondary market tickets are currently selling BELOW FACE VALUE.

Don’t say SaveFans.com doesn’t love you. I continue to boost the Springsteen shows and think that you should consider attending these specific performances from the Boss!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 28
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 29
Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews Event Tickets at Madison Square Garden on May 3
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at Air Canada Centre on May 7

That’s right people. Take advantage of the cheap prices and watch Bruce Springsteen in action! Remember, we are always cheaper than StubHub!

In honor of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday – we put together a list of the Top 10 Catholic Musicians of all time! Of course, you know we are going to focus on pop and rock and are totally going to ignore Luciano Pavarotti and all that kind of noise. So without further delay, in descending order – Your Top 10 list.

Number #10 Dave Matthews

This South African idol was raised Catholic and attended their notoriously fun schools for most of his boyhood. While, he has recently declared himself to be Agnostic – which is the celebrity trend these days – I have decided to ignore his wishes and include him on our list.

I also want to inform my treasured readers that Dave Matthews Band is on tour and that we have set up a page for you to browse. Thank me later.

Number #9 Nicole Scherzinger aka Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Valiente of the Pussy Cat Dolls

OK, I admit the Pussy Cat Dolls are completely worthless. Additionally, Nicole doesn’t seem to be very talented. However, you have to admit that she has a nice rack. Truly great – it seems like the tabloids and media are really pushing this point home in recent months. And people, I am buying.

Number #8 Frankie Valli aka Francesco Stephen Castelluccio and the Four Seasons

This is my old school surprise choice and secret fascination. I mean we are talking about an ant of a guy with a woman’s voice that nonetheless was a legendary lady killer in his day. For example, how many people know that the sweet and innocent sounding “Oh What a Night” is about a one night stand…with a prostitute!

Also, I love that this guy is getting more recognition due to the success of the theater show Jersey Boys. I know it sounds funny, but you gotta see the show. Take my advice and skim the Jersey Boys tickets page we set up just for you!

Number #7 Christina Aguilera

While, I hate her music I happen to think Xtina is hot with a nice set of…vocal cords. Managed by the most evil guy in the biz – Irving Azoff – this former Mousekateer has moved lots of merchandise and concert tickets. A saner version of Britney Spears really.

Number #6 Depeche Mode

Catholic roots – good enough for me. Then again do I even need to defend this? These guys sang about “Personal Jesus” and put together the extravagant Playing the Angels tour. Safe to say these guys have a spiritual streak.

Lucky for you dear readers, the band is on tour and we set up a Depeche Mode tickets page for you to browse. Also, try to get to these shows in particular as the industry is abuzz about some surprise.

Depeche Mode Events Tickets at Madison Square Garden August 3
Depeche Mode Events Tickets at The Hollywood Bowl August 16

Number #5 Celine Dion

OK, why is this French Canadian on this list I hear ya. But, let’s be honest. This girl can sing. No one has the vocal cords that she does and almost no modern singer has been able to match her commercial success. She has made untold of gobs of money putting on that show at Caesars Palace. Gotta give some respect.

Number #4 Madonna aka Madonna Louise Ciccone

I am torn about her conclusion her for two reasons. One, she abandoned the Church of Rome and is now into Kabbalah or some shit. Second, I already put her on the Five Worst Jewish Musicians of All Time list. Basically, she used to have a good career so she gets included on the “Good” Catholic list for her past achievements.

That said people, Madonna can rock out. I saw her in Los Angeles earlier this year and you need to see her live to really appreciate her music. Because SaveFans.com got the hookup we set up a browsers page for you to find Madonna Tickets near you!

Number #3 Bruce Springsteen

The Boss, America’s Poet and all that Jazz. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band really do know how to put on a show as they demonstrated in the last Super Bowl. Take it from me. Check out his last ever tour and find the Bruce Springsteen tickets that are right for you! Look out for a few of the premier shows including their special Clearwater Concert at the Madison Square Garden featuring the Dave Matthews Band.

Bruce Springsteen Event Tickets at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 28
Bruce Springsteen Event Tickets at the Madison Square Garden on May 5
Bruce Springsteen Event Tickets at the Air Canada Centre on May 7

Number #2 Morrissey

I am a huge Morrissey fan. I know you either love him or hate him, but I gotta tell you straight up – the man’s a genius and has been so for decades now. I saw him last year in Santa Monica nice guy. I promised him that I would ask you to check him out at his last two 2009 US shows.
Morrissey Event Tickets at the Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque on April 15
Morrissey Event Tickets at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on April 18

Morrissey sends his love.

Number #1 U2

Who else did you think it was going to be? Bono, The Edge, and co. have been representing for Catholics for years! Whether it is fighting to end hunger, poverty, or AIDs, the boys from Ireland are center stage and constantly affirming their faith. Granted you got to wonder sometime, I mean was I the only once that saw the photos of Bono cavorting with those teenage and underdressed girls aboard his yacht earlier this year? Not that I gotta problem with that – that earns him points in my book.

Got a problem with Bono? Tell him yourself as his tour is re-routing back to the United States. We set up a U2 Tickets page for you guys and also encourage you to check out the following specific dates as these are the can’t miss shows!

U2 Event Tickets at Soldier Field on September 12
U2 Event Tickets at Giants Stadium on September 25

Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, America’s Poet, King of Jersey is coming to a city near you! Don’t miss his final concert tour.

The SaveFans.com marketplace always has the hookup people! We have the cheapest prices and rates that are guaranteed cheaper than StubHub and TicketsNow. Additionally, I am always going to be here to guide the hardcore fans and give them the 411 on the most coveted Bruce Springsteen tickets!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on April 15
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on April 16
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the TD Banknorth Garden on April 21
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the TD Banknorth Garden on April 22
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 28
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at the Wachovia Spectrum on April 29
Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews Event Tickets at Madison Square Garden on May 3
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Event Tickets at Air Canada Centre on May 7

Eight shows in five cities (Los Angeles, California, Boston, Massachusetts, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada) . Ladies and Gentleman Bruce Springsteen live from Paris, France – Born in the USA music video !