More grift from the Trump admin, a Trump ally is on Ticketmaster board and they fired the DoJ antitrust chief last month to make this deal happen. Ticketmaster paying 3 days of revenue as a fine and getting a slap on the wrist. The terms include them promising not to do any more illegal stuff that was already illegal and they just did anyway, such as retaliating against artists and venues that try to oppose them. Meanwhile we get to continue paying a 30% convenience fee for our tickets, the only reasonable remaining way to support artists in the Spotify era, plus we get to use their shitty app.
Yeah there is something fishy here. There is ample evidence of anti competitive behaviour. TM/LN are well known in the industry as being bullies. This should be a slam dunk case for someone who really wanted to chase it.
The resale market at minimum should be separated, if not the ticketing from the touring side.
Wait a year and Ted Cruz or another Republican Senator will make a big thing about standing up for the average Joe getting ripped off by Ticketmaster and promptly do nothing about it again.
All corruption (and other dishonest ways of making profit or advantage) is graft, to attempt sell something under false pretenses is to grift [0].
Grifting is often among the techniques used to effectuate graft.
IMO, the upthread post reads better with “graft” which is a abstract noun, matching the use upthread, where “grift” is usually a verb (I've also seen it used as a concrete now for a particular operation in which the agent is perceived to be grifting.)
[0] Most dictionaries I think will still say this is specific to small-scale swindling, but I think that's a lagging indicator; IME, usage has drifted to be more generalized, with large scale operations often referred to as grifting.
Follow the money.
Rock is truly dead. Regulatory capture disguised as antitrust enforcement.
More grift from the Trump admin, a Trump ally is on Ticketmaster board and they fired the DoJ antitrust chief last month to make this deal happen. Ticketmaster paying 3 days of revenue as a fine and getting a slap on the wrist. The terms include them promising not to do any more illegal stuff that was already illegal and they just did anyway, such as retaliating against artists and venues that try to oppose them. Meanwhile we get to continue paying a 30% convenience fee for our tickets, the only reasonable remaining way to support artists in the Spotify era, plus we get to use their shitty app.
Yeah there is something fishy here. There is ample evidence of anti competitive behaviour. TM/LN are well known in the industry as being bullies. This should be a slam dunk case for someone who really wanted to chase it.
The resale market at minimum should be separated, if not the ticketing from the touring side.
Wait a year and Ted Cruz or another Republican Senator will make a big thing about standing up for the average Joe getting ripped off by Ticketmaster and promptly do nothing about it again.
Right wing populism is so depressing to watch…
Is grift the right word to use here? Is all corruption grift?
All corruption (and other dishonest ways of making profit or advantage) is graft, to attempt sell something under false pretenses is to grift [0].
Grifting is often among the techniques used to effectuate graft.
IMO, the upthread post reads better with “graft” which is a abstract noun, matching the use upthread, where “grift” is usually a verb (I've also seen it used as a concrete now for a particular operation in which the agent is perceived to be grifting.)
[0] Most dictionaries I think will still say this is specific to small-scale swindling, but I think that's a lagging indicator; IME, usage has drifted to be more generalized, with large scale operations often referred to as grifting.