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No hope for Hannah Montana fans
30/10/2007 14:46 - (SA)
Washington - Soaring black market
prices for tickets to see pop idol Hannah Montana have enraged
parents and prompted probes by several states' attorney
generals, but the Richmond Federal Reserve says don't blame
market forces.
"Yes, it may be unfortunate that some little girls won't be
able to see Miley Cyrus (the real name of the performer who
plays teenybopper Hannah Montana) in concert," the Richmond
branch of the US central bank noted in an article on its website.
"The more fundamental issue is that promoters of the Hannah
Montana series apparently haven't priced tickets commensurate
with demand, opening the door to a secondary market with much
higher prices," the Fed said.
This secondary market has sky-rocketed. Hannah Montana
tickets officially priced at $25-$65 for a show on Monday in
Seattle were for sale on one major private on-line ticket
brokerage for between $163-$393.
Up to $2 427 each
Seats near the stage for a
November 7 performance in Los Angeles were $2 427 each.
Hannah Montana is the TV alter-ego of 14-year-old Cyrus,
who plays a teenager living a double life as a rock star on a
hit Disney Channel cable show.
The Hannah Montana 54-date "Best
of Both Worlds Tour" began in St Louis earlier this month.
Acknowledging the age group of the fan base - mainly young
girls - was a soft target for scalpers, the Richmond Fed
article nonetheless argued against cracking down on the
secondary market in tickets.
Instead, it urged rationing tickets to make sure that they
get to "real" fans, now that the old-fashioned solution of
sorting the diehard supporters from mere profit-seeking ticket
speculators - by making everyone line up to get tickets - has
been overtaken by technology.
Ticket speculators
"One version would be a system in which a certain number of
seats are auctioned off to the highest bidders, with the
remaining ones sold for a flat price.
"This aids the promoter in not over- or underpricing
tickets beforehand and more closely mimics a true market for
high-valued seats," the Richmond Fed said.
Ticket speculators charging exorbitant prices for big
sports events or shows have provoked anti-scalping laws in
parts of the United States.
But the crestfallen expressions of
young Hannah Montana fans have really struck a chord.
"I have a young daughter, and I really wish I could fix
this problem for all the parents with disappointed kids right
now," Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in a
statement last month.
Investigation
He launched an investigation after a Hannah Montana concert
in Little Rock sold out a few minutes after the official sale
opened, with tickets appearing soon after on various private
websites pitched at much higher prices.
The Richmond Fed noted that there had been other
suggestions for event promoters to winnow out scalpers by
quizzing prospective ticket buyers to identify real fans. This
might be flawed, but could still yield results.
"Perfect? Of course not. Scalpers could quickly educate
themselves and use the same old methods to cut in line ahead of
real fans. But at least this approach doesn't meddle with
supply and demand," it said.
- Reuters
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South Africa
