The Top 20 Concert Tours - October 2010

By The Associated Press The Associated Press – Thu Oct 21, 8:43 pm ET
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS

1. (1) Paul McCartney; $3,434,998; $145.72.

2. (2) Dave Matthews Band; $1,494,507; $58.57.

3. (5) Walking With Dinosaurs; $1,285,325; $45.41.

4. (4) Phish; $1,228,998; $50.01.

5. (7) The Black Eyed Peas; $1,155,868; $66.35.

6. (3) James Taylor / Carole King; $1,101,288; $72.46.

7. (8) Michael Buble; $1,094,514; $85.76.

8. (6) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; $1,056,601; $66.83.

9. (9) Rush; $759,731; $72.91.

10. (10) Toby Keith; $676,814; $36.10.

11. (12) Iron Maiden; $670,513; $57.77.

12. (11) Jack Johnson; $653,252; $40.75.

13. (13) Tim McGraw; $629,908; $41.94.

14. (15) Tool; $627,640; $57.88.

15. (14) Rascal Flatts; $599,219; $42.40.

16. (16) Brad Paisley;; $591,676; $40.63.

17. (17) Justin Bieber; $571,601; $46.76.

18. (18) Furthur; $440,833; $45.86.

19. (New) Carrie Underwood; $409,002; $47.99.

20. (19) Vans Warped Tour; $380,529; $31.70.

Mobile Ticketing Applications - The Future in Sports and Concert Tickets

E-Commerce is becoming the standard for purchasing since 1995 when eBay and Amazon came on the scene. Since then most consumers have become very comfortable with purchasing products online. Internet sales are projected to be close to $180 billion in 2010.

With this shift from conventional sales to e-Commerce the ticketing industry is also in a transition. In the past if you wanted to attend a concert or see your team in the playoffs in order to get the best seats you had to camp out in front of the venue or stadium a day or two before they went on sale.

Now, with the internet that is no longer the case. Today you go online and purchase your tickets. However, with the introduction of mobile devices such as Google's Android and Apple's iPad and iPhone, Mobile Ticketing is becoming the standard whereby fans can purchase, pay for and download tickets for sporting events, theatre and concerts.

Mobile Ticketing is a new technology that allows consumers to purchase their tickets to events using their cell phone application and have them delivered and stored until used at the concert or sporting event. This can even work for train, bus and plane tickets along with purchasing items from a vending machine.

The way this works is that your phone receives a special barcode that is scanned at the event. This will only work on phones that are Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) equipped. To be sure your phone is enabled if it is a camera phone or has web browsing capabilities then it meets this criteria.

But do not despair if your phone is not one of those. If you have SMS (Short Messaging Service) you can still receive a text message with an alphanumeric receipt for your purchase. However, this technology is going out of favor because of the security issues.

Here's How To Purchase And Use the Tickets:

1. Open the iPhone or Android App on your phone.

2. Browse for the event you want to attend. Usually on the home page of the app there are icons for Concerts, Sporting Events and Theatre.

3. Buy your tickets and choose the Mobile Ticketing as your delivery option. You can also have them delivered by other conventional means but this negates the convenience of storing the tickets on your phone.

4. Enter your Mobile Carrier, Cell Phone Number and if asked the Cell Phone Model.

5. After completing the order you will receive a receipt message with the special barcode image. If your phone can only accept text messaging then you will receive an alphanumeric code that is manually entered at the event. For some venues this may require entry through a special entrance.

6. Keep the message and do not delete it as this is your ticket. The good news is that if you do not have it at the time of entry the original ticket barcode can be cancelled and reissued in a matter of minutes, but this is a delay and negates the convenience of this technology.

7. When you get to the entrance at the event have the barcode ready to be scanned. Most venues now have the scanning capabilities in place already as they scan the barcodes on paper tickets and "Print-At-Home" tickets currently.

This new technology will make the purchase and use of event tickets a much more enjoyable process. It will make it easier and less costly for all involved and well as well as help the environment with the elimination of Paper Tickets.

EZ-Ticket's Mobile Ticketing platform is a user-friendly application, in which the customers can buy a ticket online via either through the Web or directly from their mobile phone.

The EZ-Ticket Mobile Ticketing Application is EZ-Ticket's answer to the growing consumer demand for purchasing tickets from their mobile device whether Apple's iPhone, iPad or Google's Android.

Juniper Research, the specialist in identifying and appraising high growth opportunities in mobile telecommunications, content and applications sectors, conducted a study of the mobile commerce market. They have forecast mobile ticketing transactions to exceed $100 billion as soon as 2012, which could be a little more than double the market in 2010.

The Top 20 Concert Tours - September 2010

By The Associated Press The Associated Press – Wed Sep 15, 8:11 pm ET
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS

1. (1) Paul McCartney; $4,474,865; $137.28.

2. (2) Eagles; $1,773,932; $104.84.

3. (4) Dave Matthews Band; $1,331,423; $53.75.

4. (3) James Taylor / Carole King; $1,302,143; $80.79.

5. (5) Phish; $1,207,644; $49.82.

6. (6) Michael Buble; $1,094,514; $85.76.

7. (7) Walking With Dinosaurs; $1,088,162; $42.95.

8. (8) Nickelback; $891,460; $60.73.

9. (9) Maxwell / Jill Scott; $680,358; $85.29.

10. (10) Jack Johnson; $663,040; $40.51.

11. (11) Brad Paisley; $638,405; $39.33.

12. (12) Iron Maiden; $636,588; $53.38.

13. (13) Tool; $621,028; $57.86.

14. (14) Tim McGraw; $608,033; $44.23.

15. (15) Brooks & Dunn; $567,627; $41.73.

16. (17) Justin Bieber; $562,286; $46.23.

17. (16) Chayanne; $545,653; $71.46.

18. (18) Star Wars: In Concert; $402,953; $49.70.

19. (20) Neil Young; $360,477; $126.00.

20. (21) Carrie Underwood; $360,178; $48.46.

The Top 20 Concert Tours

By The Associated Press - February 4, 2010, 8:44AM

The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS

1. (1) Metallica; $1,369,182; $69.70.

2. (2) Miley Cyrus; $1,113,391; $68.89.

3. (3) AC/DC; $942,001; $72.55.

4. (4) Aventura; $767,582; $77.13.

5. (5) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $642,942; $44.53.

6. (6) KISS; $590,007; $59.89.

7. (8) Dane Cook; $534,309; $62.22.

8. (New) Lady Gaga; $464,404; $47.75.

9. (9) Star Wars: In Concert; $463,024; $56.09.

10. (10) Robin Williams; $457,731; $90.98.

11. (11) Leonard Cohen; $383,296; $100.24.

12. (12) Jeff Dunham; $367,407; $46.13.

13. (14) So You Think You Can Dance; $253,500; $51.86.

14. (15) Tiesto; $206,613; $55.67.

15. (16) Rob Thomas; $179,670; $52.62.

16. (17) Daughtry; $168,834; $39.01.

17. (18) Mannheim Steamroller; $143,365; $55.97.

18. (19) Jason Aldean; $140,120; $27.84.

19. (New) Brian Setzer Orchestra; $115,370; $53.80.

20. (20) Zac Brown Band; $113,378; $30.35.

Customer Service - Cancelling Online Orders

When a customer makes a purchase online and they cannot see the merchandise, mistakes can be made and disagreements can arise between the vendor and customer. The problem with canceling an order and making a refund is that many times the vendor did not have the inventory in stock. He was required to purchase it from a wholesaler and have the item drop shipped to the end customer. Cancellation and refund policies should be in place for all to see.

Most online ticket brokers have a clearly stated cancellation policy and must be acknowledged before making a purchase by the customer. Many brokers still receive complaints and chargebacks because of the customer’s failure to read and abide by these policies. Our stated policy which is posted as follows:

"CANCELLATIONS: ALL SALES ARE FINAL. There are no refunds or cancellations of orders. Upon request we will attempt to place your order on an A Try to Sell Basis. If we are unable to fill your ticket order as specified, we will exercise the following procedure: 1) Comparable tickets will be provided 2) Tickets will be upgraded 3) Tickets will be downgraded with a partial refund 4) Ticket order may be canceled with a full refund. For all cancelled events, clients will receive a full refund in the form of a store credit (except for an act of God, strike, act of war, terrorist act, lockout, or any postponements). "

With the acknowledgement of your stated policy by the customer before checkout the vendor has met the criteria to prevent chargeback. However, the end result is with the credit card company. Regardless of what you have in place the credit card company can and many times does go in favor of the consumer. This is because the credit card company will want to make their customers happy and by making the chargeback to the vendor they will receive their money and not have any financial liability. The final outcome will rest with which party is most convincing and persistent with their claims.

The problem is that most online brokers do not own the tickets they sell themselves and therefore must purchase the tickets from other brokers or wholesalers. This creates the largest cost to them and if they refund the purchase price to the consumer they may be stuck with the tickets that cannot be resold. Usually the retailer's profit consists of a portion of the service charge.

If confronted with a mistake like this by the customer try to work out a reasonable solution. However, it is best to tell the customer that you cannot cancel the order but can and will try to sell the tickets or merchandise on a consignment basis for them. Make no guarantee the tickets or other merchandise will be sold. Another alternative is to be willing to buy the tickets or goods but this is usually at wholesale and most times is 20-30% below the base cost. If the retail broker had wanted these tickets or other merchandise in their inventory to begin with he would have been the original purchaser.

The final decision as to what to do is in the hands of the business owner. Is a happy customer with no assurance of repeat business more important than your current sale. However, if this is a long standing good customer that needs your help in rectifying a problem the choice is simple.