Pearl Jam’s ‘Crusade’ Was Pointless

After covering every trivial twist in Pearl Jam’s bid to mount an alternative tour, Chuck Philips blew the punch line to the story, which is this: The band’s yearlong “crusade” for lower prices has netted its poor, beleaguered fans less than the cost of a copy of this newspaper (“Pearl Jam Tour to Take Alternative Ticket Route,” Calendar, April 4).

ETM Entertainment Network is charging anywhere from $2.06 to $2.45 in service and handling fees per ticket, depending on the number of tickets ordered, for Pearl Jam’s upcoming tour. That compares to Ticketmaster’s offer of $2.25 to $2.50. Had Pearl Jam worked with us, its fans could have seen the band a year ago for essentially the same price they’re paying now, and the industry would have been spared this pointless, protracted battle.

Fans also would have had the option of forgoing service charges altogether by purchasing their tickets directly from the box office in most cities. Under Pearl Jam’s agreement with ETM, service charges are mandatory because there is no provision for box-office sales.

Ticketmaster welcomes the opportunity for ETM and others to compete with us in an open environment. But we also feel that at this point it’s fair to ask, “Where’s the beef?”

From Day One we have correctly maintained that Pearl Jam had the ability to tour on its own. But the band, which has accused us of everything short of breaking up the Beatles, seemed more interested in perpetuating the feud than in scheduling concert dates.

Battling a popular rock band in the court of public opinion is no picnic, especially when the jury consists mostly of music writers who revere anything having to do with rockdom. Damaging factual errors have also been made. The Times, for instance, incorrectly reported last week that Ticketmaster planned to impose a handling fee on top of the service charge for Pearl Jam tickets. Those tickets were, in fact, earmarked for sale exclusively at our outlets, where there is no handling fee. The Times also reported that venue owners encouraged Pearl Jam to “exploit loopholes” in the venues’ contracts with Ticketmaster but failed to add that Pearl Jam also encouraged venues to investigate such loopholes.

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Ticketmaster has continued to successfully work with alternative acts such as Green Day, Offspring and Rage Against the Machine, whose tickets are priced at less than $15. We have also left the door open to compromise. Two months ago, a music industry executive arranged a meeting between Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen and Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis, believing that if the warring Mideast factions could peacefully discuss their differences, so could we. He was wrong. The band crushed the mediation attempt.

Now Pearl Jam finally has its tour dates lined up and, lo and behold, ETM’s fee structure virtually mirrors Ticketmaster’s. One can argue all day about what this says about the worthiness of the band’s crusade, especially since Pearl Jam is violating its own vow to cap fees at 10%. But the agreement proves beyond a doubt that our service charges are competitive and that these fees are driven by real economic factors, whether they’re assessed by an established company like Ticketmaster or a start-up like ETM.

Only time will tell if Pearl Jam’s fans are well-served by its ticketing plans. Pearl Jam manager Curtis has already raised concerns that “hiccups” could occur in the tour, since ETM has no experience handling such a large event and its automated technology is unproven. If that occurs, maybe critics will better understand why Ticketmaster pays more than 4,000 real human beings to staff its phone lines and offices--and why that convenience carries a just price that can’t be summarily dismissed by a petulant band.