Live Nation Says Wednesday’s Sale Could “Send A Strong Message” Opposing High Ticket Fees

This Wednesday, Live Nation is dropping ticketing fees for 24 hours at major amphitheater concerts and will continue similar promotions throughout the summer. But are these promos designed to counter sluggish sales?

Two responses from a Live Nation spokesperson two our inquiries suggest that another reason for the sale. Live Nation hopes to send message backed by legions of concert goers to the rest of the industry,  including proposed merger partner Ticketmaster, that high ticket service fees have to go.

Q: Is this promotion a response to lower ticket sales and criticisms of ticketing fees?

"Fans are buying tickets at a healthy pace, despite the economy. As an indicator, we recently reported that our deferred revenue was up +24% to nearly $700 million in Q1. Since launching our new ticketing platform www.livenation.com in January, we have sold nearly 5 million tickets across the world. We know music fans dislike service fees, which is why we’re doing our best for them by waiving the fees for over five million lawn tickets on Wednesday."

Q. Will you be doing more experimentation with variable pricing beyond summer Wednesdays and the effect of ticketing fees on sales and customer satisfaction?

"Our June 3rd No Fee Wednesdays promotion is the biggest national promotion in the history of the company, so we think this is a great start. We encourage fans to take advantage of the huge savings that day. If they do, it will send a strong message to the music industry about how strongly consumers feel about ticket fees."

More: Live Nation Drops All Ticket Charges During "No Service Fee Wednesday's"