Ticketmaster Platinum Premium is a premium ticket service offered by Ticketmaster for high-demand events. It provides fans access to some of the best tickets at events through a special presale before the general public. Tickets purchased through Platinum Premium are priced dynamically based on demand. This service has become controversial due to accusations of drastically inflated prices.
What are the Key Features of Platinum Premium Tickets?
Here are some of the key features of Platinum Premium tickets:
- Access to tickets before the general public – Platinum Premium provides access to tickets during an exclusive presale before the general on-sale.
- Prime seat locations – Platinum Premium tickets often include seats in prime or preferred locations at an event.
- Dynamic pricing – Platinum Premium uses demand-based dynamic pricing, so ticket prices fluctuate based on market demand.
- No listing fees – Platinum Premium tickets are not subject to service fees for listing tickets above face value.
- Refundable – Platinum Premium tickets are fully refundable if you can no longer attend the event.
The main benefit of Platinum Premium is getting early access to some of the best seats at an event. However, you’ll likely pay a premium price for that advantage through the dynamic pricing model.
How Does Platinum Premium Dynamic Pricing Work?
Platinum Premium utilizes demand-based dynamic pricing for its tickets. This means that ticket prices can fluctuate over time based on market demand.
Some key aspects of Platinum Premium’s dynamic pricing:
- Algorithmic pricing – Prices change according to proprietary algorithms based on demand signals.
- Fluctuating prices – Ticket prices can go up or down over time depending on demand.
- Inflated prices – Platinum Premium prices are often much higher than standard face-value prices.
- Premiums can exceed 200% of standard prices – There are no caps on Platinum Premium pricing, so premiums can be exorbitant.
The benefit of dynamic pricing for Ticketmaster is it allows them to capture more value during periods of peak demand. The downside for consumers is it can lead to unpredictably high ticket prices.
What Types of Tickets are Available Through Platinum Premium?
Platinum Premium offers tickets to many popular event types, including:
- Concerts – Rock, pop, hip-hop, country, and other major concert tours.
- Sporting events – Big games for NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and more.
- Theater productions – Broadway and West End theater shows.
- Comedy shows – Stand-up tours and comedy festival events.
- Festivals – Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and other major festivals.
Essentially any high-profile event with significant ticket demand could offer Platinum Premium tickets. The tickets are generally available during the presales prior to the general public on-sale date.
What are Some Example Platinum Premium Ticket Prices?
To illustrate how expensive Platinum Premium prices can be compared to standard ticket prices, here are some real examples:
Event | Standard Price | Platinum Price |
---|---|---|
Harry Styles, Chicago | $50-$150 | $200-$800+ |
Green Day, Los Angeles | $65-$129 | $200-$600+ |
Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh | $85-$215 | $200-$500+ |
Hamilton, New York | $99-$199 | $249-$849+ |
As you can see, Platinum Premium prices often far exceed standard ticket prices – sometimes by over 200-300%. The premiums enable Ticketmaster to maximize revenue on high-demand tickets.
Why are Platinum Premium Prices So Expensive?
There are several key reasons why Platinum Premium ticket prices are often so inflated compared to standard prices:
- Market-based pricing – Prices are set dynamically based on demand, not face value.
- Higher revenue for Ticketmaster – Platinum pricing allows Ticketmaster to capture more economics.
- More favorable split for venues/teams/artists – Platinum provides better revenue share for event partners.
- Optimal revenue management – Platinum prices are strategically optimized to maximize yield.
- Lack of regulation – There are no price ceilings imposed or defined “reasonable” premiums.
Essentially, Ticketmaster utilizes Platinum Premium to maximize ticket revenue. The highly inflated premium prices are a result of optimizing prices to capture maximum revenue during periods of peak demand.
What are the Pros and Cons of Platinum Premium Ticketing?
Here is a summary of some of the key pros and cons of the Platinum Premium premium ticketing service:
Pros:
- Access to best seats – Get early access to prime tickets before general on-sale.
- Refundable purchases – Full refunds available if you can’t attend.
- Higher revenue for Ticketmaster – Platinum pricing drives higher fees and revenue.
- Better split for event partners – Venues/teams/artists enjoy a better revenue share.
Cons:
- High and unpredictable prices – ticket premiums can exceed 200-300% of base prices.
- Perceived as unfair – Pricing seen as scalping and restricting access.
- Hurts fan experience – Price gouging limits and alienates some fans.
- Lack of transparency – full event demand and pricing logic not transparent.
There are good arguments on both sides. Platinum Premium provides benefits like prime access, better revenue splits, and refundability. But many criticize the inflated prices as unfair profiteering that hurts average fans.
Why Do Some Criticize Platinum Premium as Ticket Scalping?
Ticketmaster faces widespread accusations that Platinum Premium essentially amounts to ticket scalping. Some of the key criticisms are:
- Dramatically inflated prices – Premiums exceed reasonable definitions of “market value”.
- Captures secondary market value – Critics see it as a way to divert secondary sales to Ticketmaster.
- Lack of regulation – Platinum prices have no limits or consumer protections.
- Reduces ordinary fan access – Pricing out average consumers reduces access.
- Opportunistic model – Takes advantage of demand peaks to maximize revenue.
- Lack of transparency – Full pricing logic and demand data not disclosed.
Many view Platinum as enabling Ticketmaster to scalp its own tickets based on insider data. Without regulation, critics argue Platinum Premium extracts unfair prices that hurt fans.
Has Ticketmaster Faced Legal Issues Over Platinum Premium Pricing?
Ticketmaster has faced some legal and regulatory issues over its Platinum Premium pricing:
- Class action lawsuit in Canada (2018) – Suit alleged deceptive pricing. Settled for $4.75M.
- Settlement with FTC (2019) – Settled claims around Platinum and service fee disclosures.
- New York Senate bill (2020) – Unsuccessful bill sought to ban variable “speculative” ticket pricing.
- Various state-level legislative efforts – To limit ticket “price gouging” and increase fee transparency.
While Ticketmaster has faced scrutiny, Platinum Premium has largely avoided major legal consequences so far. The service occupies a grey area without regulations defining limits on premium pricing.
What Measures Has Ticketmaster Taken to Address Criticisms?
In response to widespread criticisms, Ticketmaster has taken some steps to modify or defend Platinum Premium:
- Platinum Verified Fan presales – Prioritizes Platinum access for active superfans.
- Marketing it as “fair market value” pricing – Claims Platinum prices reflect true market demand.
- Defends premiums as reasonable – Notes most ticket prices remain much lower.
- Claims Platinum deters scalpers – Provides a secure alternative to secondary sites.
- Highlighting artist/venue revenue – Notes Platinum provides significantly better revenue splits.
However, many critics argue these measures are insufficient. They call for formal regulations on ticket pricing transparency and premiums.
Could Capping Platinum Premium Prices Improve Fairness?
Some argue that capping maximum Platinum Premium ticket prices by law could help rein in some of the rampant price inflation. Potential benefits could include:
- Preventing extreme price gouging – Stop 200-300%+ ticket premiums.
- Improving affordability – Bring high prices back towards reasonable levels.
- Increasing access – Limit prices to keep more tickets in reach of ordinary fans.
- Promoting transparency – Force disclosure of info justifying price levels.
- Preventing exploitation – Set consumer protections against predatory pricing.
However, Ticketmaster would likely argue that artificial price caps distort fair market pricing. It could actually reward scalpers who resell under-priced tickets.
Conclusion
Platinum Premium reflects Ticketmaster’s market-driven strategy to maximize ticket revenue for high-demand events. While the service provides benefits like excellent seats and refundability, its demand-based pricing frequently inflates ticket costs to exorbitant levels.
Many frustrated consumers view Platinum Premium as Ticketmaster scalping its own tickets. Without regulations on pricing transparency and premiums, the company has significant leeway to charge prices exceeding perceived fair value. But Ticketmaster defends Platinum as reflecting true market demand and providing fairer splits.
Ongoing public debate continues around what constitutes reasonable measures to make premium ticketing services like Platinum more fair, transparent, and accessible. But Ticketmaster so far retains considerable freedom to manage pricing as it sees fit in pursuit of optimal revenue yield management.