The launch of FB Timeline Apps has arrived and there was much excitement last week about Ticketmaster’s contribution, with TechCrunch calling it one of the best. I decided to kick the tires on this new event discovery/ticket purchasing incorporation – perhaps they had done a better job than with the social integration of select-your-own-seat, of which I wasn’t exactly a fan.

Well, I can’t say I was surprised to see that Ticketmaster’s attempt at a Facebook App was disappointing.

In particular:

#1: The events it recommends: So Ticketmaster is going to recommend concerts and events to me based on my listening history and the bands I “Like” on Facebook, sounds simple enough. Wait – why should I go see the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns play basketball? Oh, it’s because I like the band Phoenix.

#2: Adding to the noise and clutter of Facebook Events: You can RSVP to events from inside the Ticketmaster App on Facebook and it will show up in your timeline, that’s pretty sick. Until you realize that there were already too many events for every concert already on Facebook and Ticketmaster just added one more, sort of. Let’s take Wilco at The Fox Theater in Oakland for example – there are six separate event pages on Facebook already: One created by the venue, two created by Sonic-Living Events, one from Pollstar, one from FanSnap and one from Bandsintown. Inside my FB app, it tells me one other person is going to see Wilco, but The Fox tells me 57 other people are going while Bandsintown has 4 RSVP’s. And if I invite someone to go via the TM FB app, all it does is drive them to a screen to buy tickets.

#3: With all the excitement about new “nouns and verbs,” they still couldn’t get tenses right: Alright, now this isn’t so much a functionality issue as much as it is a WTF moment when looking at a company with unlimited development resources. When I RSVP for events from the app, it publishes to my timeline about the shows I am going to – though apparently it also gives me the ability to shift time as it indicates I have already gone to shows taking place in the future. I “Attended Radiohead at HP Pavilion at San Jose on April 11, 2012” – it was great, but I wish they had played more stuff from OK Computer.

Now perhaps I am being a bit harsh on an application that still has that word “beta” plastered on its banner, but it is terrible. In addition to main gripes, it recommends events that are sold out, just wasting the customer’s time. Not only did it recommend I go see the Phoenix Suns, it recommends it multiple times because Ticketmaster has the event listed multiple times, the event itself, the Mezzanine level, premium parking for the event – all separate line items. And it’s slow, painstakingly slow.

At its core, the functionality is cool – recommend events based on the bands I like and my listening history. However, that only functions if the bands are large enough to play a Ticketmaster/LiveNation venue, which does not apply to the majority of small and upcoming bands that we music nerds are going to discover on our own.

Why can’t a company as rich in money and developers as Ticketmaster, with the blessing of a thriving company such as Facebook, knock this out of the park upon launching?

Sounds like a scalper’s dream: create a bunch of fake Facebook accounts and get priority access to tickets. But not if this was for a paperless ticketing system where credit cards or proof of identification were needed to be shown to enter the concert. I personally think that events that are 100% paperless are a pain the ass. Any number of scenarios can create a hassle: What if you have to cancel last minute, what if you want to gift a ticket to someone, etc? Instead, I am all for a plan which would allow customers to opt-in to this process to secure a group of tickets together. Under my plan, the benefit of this system – deterring scalpers – would outweigh the potential inconveniences of paperless ticketing. Tickets could be contingent upon a code only accessible via a person’s Facebook account and a matching ID presented at the door.

The way the system was launched seems to only work for very slow-selling not sold-out shows. If a friend buys tickets in Section 204, Row 11 seats 7 and 8, I would love to buy seats 9 and 10 directly next to him if they are available – but this will only work well after the initial on sale when hundreds of tickets are not being gobbled up by the second. If you’re not directly next to your friends it is arguably more frustrating to have them nearby but not next to you. “Oh, hey, there’s my friend Andy, I’d love to tell him share something, but he’s 20 seats away.”

My mind races at the positive benefits this dream system would enable. What if instead of the first ten rows at arena rock concerts being filled with those willing to spend a premium on the secondary ticket market, they were filled with large groups of the band’s biggest fans, those that got a group together and put in their request before tickets went on sale? What if scalpers could no longer use their sneaky (and potentially illegal) methods to snatch up the best tickets and resell them to you at a premium? What if this service was offered up at no additional cost but instead, customers actually felt like they were receiving something of value for the 20-30 percent convenience fees tacked on to every ticket.

Ticketmaster wants to brand itself as a more fan-friendly company but it has a long way to go. Basically, everyone hates Ticketmaster. I am intrigued and maybe even a little excited that it is trying to embrace social in a way that enhances the fan’s experience. I think it got it backwards. Build a system allowing all of this to take place before the dreaded on sale, instead of after the fact, and watch massive networks of friends commit to buying tickets, the best tickets, and you’ll know it’s them that are in the seats. Bands will know it’s their best fans in the front row and while we’re at we’ll fuck the scalpers too.

What do you think of the system DaveO proposed? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

A recent Hollywood Reporter article details some of the topics we can expect the book to hit and of particular note is a revealing chapter on String Cheese Incident’s successful challenge to Ticketmaster that includes details of the group’s settlement with the ticketing giant which were previously undisclosed. There’s also plenty in the book about the Grateful Dead and the launch of the band’s Grateful Dead Ticketing Service.

Baron and Budnick will host a panel on Thursday, May 26 at the 92Y Tribeca on 200 Hudson Street in New York City from 7 – 8:30PM in conjunction with the book’s release featuring renowned promoter John Scher, StubHub co-founder Eric Baker, Madison House co-founder Mike Luba and Ticketfly principal Andrew Dreskin. Attendees will be able to ask the panelists questions in addition to those posed by the authors. Hopefully between the book and the event we’ll gain some insight into why concerts sell out so fast, why Ticketmaster isn’t considered a legal monopoly and other questions we’ve always had about the incredibly sketchy industry.

In the past, consumers weren’t privy to the full price – including all of the additional charges – per ticket when buying ducats from Ticketmaster until late in the process. Now, those fees will be disclosed up front. The first post on Ticketology goes into full detail about the new arrangement and from the wording you’d think poor ol’ Ticketmaster  was bullied into hiding the real cost during the ticket sale process…

Over the next few days we are rolling out a new way of presenting pricing and fees on Ticketmaster.com.  Going forward, just like almost every other business in the world, we’ll tell you up front how much you can expect to pay for a certain ticket.  We’ll still break out the “face value” from the other fees where required, and we haven’t broken down per-order fees yet (although you will begin to see many of our clients move to truly all-in pricing, because they know it sells more tickets and makes you happier).  This user experience mirrors what you see across the web from leaders in their field – Amazon, Apple, Expedia, Zappos and more.  It’s not complicated, it’s just the right thing to do.

Ticketmaster has also announced a 3-day return policy for tickets bought for Live Nation venues.  We’re all for transparency in an industry that has had little of it over the past few decades. It remains to be seen whether these new policies will help Ticketmaster sell tickets and consumers feel more secure about buying tickets. With the Live Music Industry falling upon hard times after a few years of bucking the recession, all the players in the business are coming up with unique ways to help spark a rebound. Hopefully the consumers will benefit in the end. [via The Daily Swarm]

There are two groups that Ticketfly needs to win over – consumers and venue operators/promoters. By offering venue operators who are in competition with Live Nation a chance to keep business away from Live Nation, Ticketfly has been able to take advantage of the animosity surrounding the merger helping them to sign on the 9:30 Club, Brooklyn Bowl, Maxwell’s and the aforementioned Merriweather Post Pavilion as clients.  Live Nation/Ticketmaster contracts with venues expire all the time giving Ticketfly a chance to gain market share over the next few years.

Does using Ticketfly lead to lower prices for us ticket buying folk?  According to the AP, “Ticketfly boasts that its add-on fees are on average 40 percent lower than those charged by Ticketmaster, and that it has no charge for printing tickets at home.” One thing Ticketfly needs to work on is their ability to handle high-demand shows. We had a bitch of  a time getting on to the site when Phish tickets went on sale.

The ticketing landscape continues to evolve and despite what you might have heard, Ticketmaster/Live Nation isn’t the only player in the field. AEG and Comcast/Spectacor are in the ticket selling business, but unlike Ticketfly both of those companies own venues. Will Ticketfly’s focus on selling tickets and lowering service fees allow them to compete with the big boys? Reality says TM/LN has control of too many venues and has too much cash to lose much ground. Yet, if Ticketfly really cut fees by 40% without raising the base price, we sure hope more promoters and venues turn to them.

Apparently, TicketsNow has lost tons of business because LN/TM can’t link to the ticket reselling site leading Rapino to try to get the artists themselves to increase the price of premium tickets moving forward.

Let’s take a quick peek at what else is goin’ on this hump day…

• List Time: Urlesque’s Top 11 Bluegrass Covers on YouTube
• Pitchfork shares pics of the Groening-curated ATP festival
• Gov’t Mule announces plans for its first-ever show in Israel
• The 2010 lineup for the XPoNential fest in Camden, NJ is out
• UM’s Andy Farag releases hip hop CD and barbecue rub
• Check out the comprehensive 2010 WSP Spring Tour Stats

Finally, we’ve been keeping tabs on Stones Week, but Jimmy Fallon isn’t the only late night host to book great bands this week. Last night, MGMT played a set at the Ed Sullivan Theatre as part of the Live on Letterman series. You can watch the entire performance below…

“Concert Tickets+” appears to be a system in which tickets will be sold through iTunes and transferred to Apple devices as a paperless ticket. I’m sure we’ll hear much more on this story over the coming years.

Let’s take one final look at what else is happening…

• Volcanic Ash has led a few bands to cancel on Coachella
• You’ll soon be able to access the Rolling Stone Archives
• Spin Magazine lists America’s 15 Best Indie Record Stores
• The Disco Biscuits are set to appear on NPR, add SC dates
• Soundgarden will play their first show in 12 years tonight
• We hope to see lots of entries for Coventry’s Phish-araoke

Finally, the part of the UC at Santa Cruz library that will eventually hold the contents of the Grateful Dead Archive has been damaged by fire. No worries though, the contents of the vault are safe and sound at an undisclosed location and no one was hurt or injured at the scene of the fire.

Have a great weekend everybody and we’ll see you on Monday.

Not only does the new company have to sell one of its ticketing divisions but it must license its software to a competitor. It’s quite possible these divestitures will ensure that there are two formidable competitors to Live Nation/TM’s throne. Also, LN/TM will be subject to “tough anti retaliation provisions” for the next 10 years that “aim to prevent abuse of its powers over concert tours, artist management, ticketing and theaters.” [NYT]

These conditions seem like a good start, but we’ve got a few others we’d like to see the Department of Justice make the new company observe…

• Ticketmaster/Live Nation promises not to refer to exorbitant fees as “convenience charges” anymore
• Ticketmaster/Live Nation promises not to re-direct customers to one of their in-house scalpers for instantly sold-out shows
• TM/LN promises not to sell any more Creed or Nickelback tickets
• TM/LN promises to entertain customers with a joke while we wait 15 minutes to see if tickets are available to a high-demand event
• TM/LN promises not to add “Oxygen Usage Fee” to ticket prices
• TM/LN promises to make water bottle caps available at all venues
• TM/LN promises to stop charging for “the right” to print your own tickets
• TM/LN promises to print the actual price you paid on the ticket
• TM/LN promises to stop killing puppies & pushing seniors down stairs

Thanks to Ace for the assist. What other conditions do you think should be added to the agreement? Let us know by leaving a comment…

I’m not sure how you get around a merger providing close to 80% control of concert ticketing and promotion. In order to do so, I’d imagine there are some pretty creative minds trying to find concessions that will trick satisfy the Justice Department so that the merger can go through.

Finally, as pointed out in the big Wall Street Journal article last week about the merger, this high profile doozy represents the first under the Obama administration and falls right in their wheelhouse for a case whereby they can showcase the changing of the guard.

The merger, formally proposed in February, is the first high-profile combination to come up for antitrust review during the Obama administration, and it is attracting attention far beyond the confines of the music business. Under President George W. Bush, the Justice Department rarely blocked mergers based on antitrust concerns, but the Obama administration has signaled it will take a tougher stance.

Not to get ahead of ourselves too much here, but it looks as though Uncle Sam might just take care of us music fans this time and keep these two behemoths from mating. Sources say a decision will not likely be reached before the end of 2009 or possibly delay into 2010, but if I were a betting man, I’d guess this thing drags on and on and ultimately just fizzles out.

In other Crowes news, the band is offering a free MP3 download of a track from their latest album, Before The Frost…, which hits stores on September 1. The song, I Ain’t Hidin’, has a bit of a Disco feel to it while still kicking ass like any good Crowes’ rocker should. Check it out.

Here’s some other links of interest to help you get over the hump…

• TicketsNow has to shell out $50,000 over deceptive practices
• Bruce Hornsby’s new album contains a song by Robert Hunter
• Topper Headon talks about just how he got fired from The Clash
• Fark.com users discuss and list their 10 Most Hated Music Genres
• Here’s six lessons the Grateful Dead can teach us about writing
• Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet team up for an album of covers

Finally, Dave Anderson pointed us in the direction of the New York Times’ profile on the brand-spanking-new Brooklyn Bowl venue that Relix Publisher and former Wetlands owner Peter Shapiro is about to open. The space sounds and looks amazing and we’re almost more excited to bowl and watch The Last Waltz on a powerful audio/visual system than to see a show.