Tickets For the People, By the People
On the heels of my rant about Ticketmaster's ridiculous service charges, Kottke points me to Brown Paper Tickets, which bills itself as "The first and only fair-trade ticketing company".
From their site:
Ticket buyers and event organizers have been held hostage by ticketing companies long enough. Our mission is to keep as much money in everyone's pockets as possible. That way, producers can put on more shows, performers can earn a better living, and ticket buyers can see more shows! That's what building a community is about.
It's good in theory, but in practice, people go to Ticketmaster because that's where tickets are sold for events that they want to see. Until BPT can make a compelling case to venues that their tickets should be sold through BPT, we'll all have to suffer at the hands of Ticketmaster.