With a Ticket Stub In Your Hand

This concert ticket charge thing has become out of control. Ticketmaster has certainly earned their nickname "Ticketbastard" this time. I'm scratching my head today trying to figure out how a ticket to see Interpol that was $25 somehow came $41.16 when I went to pay for it. It's rare that I have to use them any more since most of the bands I see use smaller ticket retailer like Frontgate and Ticketweb. I give props to Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits for using Frontgate and giving fans the opportunity to get in early and pay no added fees.

One thing I did see was a whopping $3.50 was added, not to mail the ticket to me, but to email it to me. Does it really cost $3.50 to create a ticket in an Adobe Acrobat file and send it to me in an email? The cost of a CD is getting inexplicably higher and higher. How long will it be before the cost of going to see a concert gets to the point where those who really want to see it are discouraged from going because of all of this? I don't think that $25 is unreasonable to see Interpol, but I think to most people who are fans of theirs will agree there is a difference between $25 and $40. As someone who attends a lot of shows, I have to be discretionary in what I can spend and on what band. But I suppose as long I keep paying it and allowing Ticketbastard to get away with it, they will continue to charge it.