FInally! Some Competition for Ticketmaster...Hopefully

We've all bitched about Ticketmaster's monopoly which results in ridiculous prices, service fees (for what service, by the way?), and a host of other charges that add easily 15% or more to a ticket price. And despite the efforts of a variety of bands (Pearl Jam gets the biggest kudos for the greatest effort) Ticketmaster has challenged all comers and won.

But maybe that will change.

Turns out former Ticketmaster CEO Fredric Rosen is going to become CEO of an Outbox Technology subsidiary that enables organizers of concerts and other events to sell tickets through their own websites. The subsidiary, Outbox Enterprises, provides ticket-processing technology to performers, events, and venues -- essentially cutting out the middleman.

In addition to hopefully providing a credible challenge to Ticketmaster, which could drive costs down, Outbox turns the entire ticket-selling system on its head. Where Ticketmaster has developed a centralized ticket processing operation the Outbox approach is to decentralize ticket sales, creating an almost grass roots approach to sales.

Of course just because there's competition doesn't mean the additional fees would suddenly vanish -- those are here to stay. But the Outbox approach does allow artists and venues to decide how much of a service fee to charge, and Outbox receives a percentage of that fee.