Coming Soon to a Wal-Mart Near You!!!

Wal-Mart ticketing.

Won't someone please save the children?!?!?!?

todayy's e-mail from bob lefsetz www.lefsetz.com

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With the death of the CD, the Fayetteville, Arkansas company has decided to
deliver what the public truly wants, tickets.

Aware of their failed online music strategy, said tickets will only be available
in stores, delivering what Wal-Mart truly wants, foot traffic.

Shows will be offered on an act by act basis, everything will not be available.
Rather, Wal-Mart will pick and choose which performers it wants to work with.
And in exchange for making this deal, the Arkansas company will deliver tons of
promotion, and cash.

First act to sign on the dotted line?

Bon Jovi.

Bon Jovi has been criticized for scalping its own tickets. To the point where
fan club members have been complaining on the band's boards and the act has been
removing these posts. It's a no-win situation. Bon Jovi wants all that
secondary market revenue, but does not want to appear greedy. In this case,
Wal-Mart has guaranteed the spread. After months of negotiation with Rob Light,
Wal-Mart has determined exactly how much money Bon Jovi got from scalping its
own tickets and is paying the act this sum. The band's next tour will be
advertised in all Wal-Mart flyers, and Bon Jovi stores will be constructed in
each retail establishment, where one can buy band merch, musical products and
DVDs of the filmed entertainment Jon Bon Jovi has participated in. Rumor has it
that live DVDs of each show will also be sold in Wal-Mart, but I have not been
able to confirm this. As Michael Rapino has so often said, the Live Nation
venues have been fitted with hi-def video equipment, so this could be easily
done. And further foot traffic could be garnered at Wal-Mart. But the sticking
point has been how big a piece Live Nation gets.

Tickets will go on sale starting at 10 A.M. You must be present to purchase.
There will be no telephone sales, and no online sales. You will be limited to
two ducats. This is why Bon Jovi rejected Costco's offer. Costco insisted on
bulk purchases. With each buyer purchasing a block of twenty tickets, more than
any individual can use, at a very cheap price. Costco saw this as a consumer
give-back, that it would deliver pandemonium at its stores and burnish the
brand. And was willing to pay Bon Jovi handsomely for the privilege. Double
what Wal-Mart is ultimately paying. But Bon Jovi nixed this plan, even though
the end result would be the same as today, with most of the tickets ending up on
the secondary market.

To prevent resale of Wal-Mart tickets, every entrant at the gig will have to
provide a Wal-Mart sales receipt from the date of ticket purchase. The original
plan was to require a $100 minimum total in addition to the ticket price,
insuring Wal-Mart's ultimate gain, but this was scrapped at the final hour.
Other anti-scalping strategies have also been devised, but they won't be
revealed in advance. Industry insiders believe once scalpers are left with
unusable tickets, the secondary market will decline.

It is envisioned that the lineup and sales process will be an event unto itself.
With people camping in the parking lot overnight. Wal-Mart will sell hot dogs
and soft drinks, but no beer. It will be just like the old days, but you won't
have to bring your own provisions. And Wal-Mart will be selling tents and
sleeping bags to make the wait more endurable.

In a bidding war, Viacom has beaten out Disney to gain the right to provide
entertainment at the lineup. The goal is to break Disney's stranglehold on the
development of new acts. Each on-sale will feature live entertainment from a
Viacom act. Yes, Viacom is going into the "record label" business. By signing
a 360 deal, you will get not only recorded music sales and these live gigs, but
tons of TV exposure. With its cradle to grave strategy, Viacom can deliver
eyeballs for kiddie acts to has-beens, from Nickelodeon to MTV to VH1.

Second in line after Bon Jovi? KISS! The KISS advance is much lower than the
New Jersey band's, but there are numerous side components. You cannot buy
tickets alone. You must also buy authorized band merch, a minimum of fifty
dollars worth. Anything from t-shirts to action figures. Or, you can make a
down payment on a KISS Kasket.

Irving Azoff has gone on record that it is not Ticketmaster's goal to be
monopolistic. He has no problem with Wal-Mart entering the ticketing business.
He believes it will reduce the D.C. heat and grease the way for the
Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger to be approved. He is releasing Ticketmaster
venues from their exclusives when it comes to Wal-Mart deals.

Randy Phillips and Doug Morris were seen lunching at the Palm. AEG and
Universal may be joining forces. Consolidation seems to be in the air.

Jerry Mickelson and Seth Hurwitz have already put out a press release decrying
Wal-Mart's entrance onto their turf. Both have rebuffed similar deals from
Target, claiming that it's best to live in the seventies forever.

Not every act will have the privilege of going into business with Wal-Mart.
They're interested in superstars. But the tickets of the most famous are the
hardest to get, so most people see Wal-Mart's move as a positive step. Then
again, years ago, people could only see the good in Wal-Mart coming to their
town. Before the behemoth eviscerated the local economy. Will Wal-Mart
eviscerate the value of music, leaving the touring industry on the side of the
road as it goes on to sell Pampers and other household products? It's too soon
to tell right now. But this is a done deal.

The fans are going to love being able to finally get the seats they want.

Get used to it.

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Thoughts??

There is no band I would wait in line overnight to buy tickets for anymore. I'm not so sure this strategy is going to work. Bands like Bon Jovi and Kiss, while still big, have older fan bases. The kind that have been there done that with waiting in person to get tickets.

I'm not saying this model isn't going to be successful, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it either.

Hell with all the deaths and injuries that are caused at Walmart on Black Friday, I dont really see this as being a good move.

I will just stick with my American Express card.

Wow..... I don't know if it's the answer (and I don't think it is), but it's nice to see that *something* else is being explored.