Nine Inch Nails take on scalpers with fan club, auctions
By Jon Zahlaway for liveDaily on August 5, 2005
Industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails (tickets | music) hope to keep tickets for their North American fall tour out of the hands of scalpers by implementing a two-prong ticketing program for some of the best seats to each show.
The first part of the band's plan involves its recently launched fan club, which has been holding online ticket presales. Members who purchase tickets from the club have to pick them up 30 minutes before doors open in each city, and will be "immediately escorted into the venue," according to Interscope Records.
No other advance ticket programs--such as those frequently offered by venues, radio stations, email lists and sponsors--were offered, according to the label.
"We've put extra effort into developing this program as an effective way to ensure that Nine Inch Nails fans get into the show with the best possible tickets," NIN leader Trent Reznor said in a statement. "The only complaints will be from scalpers and those who want to put our true fans at a disadvantage."
The fan club controls 10 percent of the tickets for each show, according to details posted at NIN's website. More information about the club is available at the site.
Part two of the band's anti-scalper crusade is a series of online ticket auctions offered via Ticketmaster. Starting Monday (8/8) at noon local time, fans can log on to the auction's website to bid on premium tickets for NIN shows at 19 venues throughout the U.S. and Canada. Auctions for additional shows will launch on Aug. 22. (Ticketmaster is liveDaily's parent company.)
All auction proceeds above the face value of the tickets will be directed to The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that provides post-conviction DNA testing to yield conclusive proof of innocence, according to a press release.
"We know we cannot stop all ticket reselling, but if we can redirect some of that unauthorized margin to a good cause like the Innocence Project, it makes me feel like we have done something worthwhile," Reznor said.
Nine Inch Nails will kick off their North American arena tour Sept. 16 in San Diego. Tickets for a number of shows--including a handful of just-added November stops in Canada--will hit the box office Saturday (8/6). Details are included below.
In May, NIN issued "With Teeth," its first new studio set since 1999's "The Fragile." The new album debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart.
"With Teeth" features the singles "The Hand That Feeds" and "Only," the music videos for which are posted at NIN's website.