Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped
Reading this book won't make you any happier about spending four hundred bucks to go to a rock show but you'll understand how it happened and who's to blame.--Bill Flanagan, authorEvening's Empire,A&RIf you wonder why you're paying ten times as much for overblown, cross-promoted spectacles that are one-tenth as satisfying as the rock and roll of your youth, you need to read this book. --Steve Silberman, editor,WiredmagazineFor anyone who's ever suffered rock concert sticker shock -- and we all have -- Dean Budnick and Josh Baron'sTicket Mastersis the best seat in the house to the show behind the show.--Fred Goodman, authorFortune's FoolandThe Mansion on the HillDean Budnick and Josh Baron brilliantly chronicle the storied history of ticketing, providing a front row seat to the back room drama. A must-read for any music business enthusiast.--Shirley Halperin, Music Editor,The Hollywood ReporterWhen community meets commerce, things gets complicated. InTicket Masters, Josh Baron and Dean Budnick take you behind the box office and explain the real reasons a good seat costs so damn much.--Alan Light, former Editor-in-Chief,VibeandSpin"[A] lively, sprawling chronology of the concert-ticket sales business . . . Budnick and Baron offer information in accessible language fortified with verbatim dialogue from a pantheon of music-industry brass." —Kirkus Reviews(April 15, 2011)"In other hands, this book could have been dull and academic, but it reads like an adventure story, full of colorful characters, shady transactions, and surprising twists and turns. For everyone who has been dumbstruck by the extra fees added to the price of admission, this book is just the ticket. Highly recommended for eventgoers everywhere." —Library Journal(May 1, 2011)"A clear, comprehensive look at a murky business, the book is also an encyclopedia of information about the rise, decline and rebirth of the live music industry." —Wall Street Journal(May 28, 2011)"Fascinating. . . . [The authors] delve deep into every aspect of the tour biz, from the rise of computerized ticketing to the consolidation of concert promoters." —Rolling Stone(June 9, 2011)"A fascinating insider's portrait of the music business once all of the pulsing lights, fog machines and sound equipment have been turned off." —Maclean's(June 27, 2011)"Budnick and Baron did a tremendous job in chronicling the history of the U.S. and Canadian concert business and how the business models have changed. . . .Ticket Mastersis an excellent book for music historians and business geeks alike." —www.boomerocity.com“Ticket Masterscovers a lot of terrain, and a lot of terrain in fine and meticulous detail.”—Douglas J. Johnston,Winnipeg Free Press“Who turned concert ticketing into a monstrous machine for bleeding music fans dry? Dean Budnick and Josh Baron of Relix chronicle the rise of the Ticketmaster juggernaut — and hell-spawn like Clear Channel, StubHub, and Live Nation — by following the money with the dogged persistence of detectives and a knack for turning bottom-line history into engaging narrative . . . If you wonder why you’re paying ten times as much for overblown, cross-promoted spectacles that are one-tenth as satisfying as the rock and roll of your youth, you need to read this book.” — Steve Silberman, Editor,Wired magazine