I am a very laid back person who really tries to live every moment of her life from a place of love. However, after this ticketmaster experience and reading the other comments, I also could imagine spending the rest of my life hating ticketmaster. I am enraged. Really. I cannot stop stewing about how WRONG this is! How is it legal?! How is it still going on?! If I could throw a brick through their office window right now, I would. I hope all those executives burn in the firey depths of hell where they belong.

I was attmpting to buy tickets for a John Legend concert at Radio City Music Hall online because I am oversees. I'm not sure if they have a box office or not, but in any event, I can't get there. The original price was 200 dollars for two tickets. Total came to $280 when all was said and done. That's almost one and a half times the actual price! Do you know how many other things you could do with 300 bucks?! I couldn't buy the tickets because of both budget and principle.

Below is what I just posted on the John Legend official website blog. I really think we need to start reaching out to the artists who use these venues. They were normal ol' people one day too, and at least they are the ones who presumably care about their fans and their music, not just profits. This was my blog comment:

"I went online yesterday to buy tickets for your Radio City Music Hall show and was horrified at what I discovered. I think you need to know what's going on, since it is your show.

Let me start here: I am a new fan of yours. I've been living in a small tiny village in Kyrgyzstan as a Peace Corps volunteer for the last two years. My access to new music was basically nonexistent until a friend of mine received a CD of yours from home. I put it on my ipod, and LOVED it! Your sound is great. I love how Motowny it is with a current kick. I listened to your music all the time: washing laundry by hand, dancing around my room, while herding sheep for three hours a day (not kidding here). I am about to come home, and imagine how excited I was to realize I'd be able to catch your show. Two years with no live music stinks. Among the many things I missed: family, friends, yummy food, gender equality- -good live music made it pretty far up on that list.

I was willing to pay 200 bucks for two tickets for my best friend and I. Pricey, I thought, but totally worth it. It's New York. It's Radio City. It's a great artist. Imagine the shock when I found out it would be almost 300 DOLLARS with all the fees tacked on! Do you realize that Ticketmaster is selling their tickets only to American Express card holders who then jack up the price to whatever they want and then sell it back on Ticketmaster's website to other fans at whatever price they want? This is legalized scalping and it makes it impossible for lots of good people out there to see your show.

You seem like a guy who gets it. Someone who cares about social justice in the broader sense. There are lots of good people out there teachers, social workers, NGO workers who sacrifice a lot when it comes to their salary in order to try and make the world a better place. And we want to see your show too! And we're willing to pay for it. But how can we when you've agreed to have your tickets sold by this corporation who operates however they want regardless of if it's right or not. Please, please, please reconsider using Ticketmaster venues who participate in this legalized racket. At the end of the day, even if all your fans were rich, it's just not right. I am so disappointed that THIS is the reason I'm not going to be able to see your show this year."

Hopefully, this will make a difference. I'm not sure if he or anyone on his team reads these comments, but it's posted, and I am really hoping for (though not expecting) a response from them. I'll let you know if one comes. In the meantime, I'm contacting my representatives and boycotting ticketmaster. This is just insulting. I know they're a company, which by definition, cares more about profit than about people, but enough is enough.