Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, episode 042: Ticket Scalper Crimes

A concert ticket is a simple thing. It symbolizes a contract between you and an artist that allows you admission to a performance set for a designated venue at a specific time. That’s it.

But getting your hands on a concert ticket can be a difficult (if not impossible) task. Beyond the cost (which can be substantial), there are all the hoops one must jump through to secure a ticket.

You must be computer literate. You need to be at your computer, ready to go when the appointed on-sale time arrives. And you have to be prepared to jockey for position in the queue with other fans who are not just from your area but who are logging in from around the world.

And then there are the scalpers, the crooks, and the shysters who somehow elbow their way to the front of the line to scoop up hundreds of tickets before you even get a chance to enter your credit card number.

These people—and the tools they employ—cause all kinds of headaches and heartbreak among fans who just want to go to a show. And how these scalpers operate often involves tactics that are not exactly legal.

Bribery has been a problem for decades. So have insider activities. And since the beginning of the 21st century, music fans have had to contend with special software programs that buy concert tickets by the hundreds within seconds.

The result is that buying concert tickets has become one of the most frustrating and opaque of all consumer experiences.

Who are these people who cheat their way to the best seats? And how do they do it?

This episode 42 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry.” This time, our focus is on the tactics, misdeeds, and crimes of scalpers who prevent you from buying a concert ticket.

Get Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry wherever you get your podcasts. Both Uncharted and The Ongoing History of New Music will be heard back-to-back overnights five days a week on these Corus news stations:

Showtimes (all times local)

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• Calgary: QR77 (770 AM) (1-2am)
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