Live Nation/Ticket Master won't give you your tickets unless you install their app

Yes because the security of barcodes and screenshotted tickets were such a huge problem before. Paying customers used to constantly miss out on events because someone else had already gotten in with their ticket. /s
- Yes because the security of barcodes and screenshotted tickets were such a huge problem before.
  I think what you just described is actually a problem. Friends of my parents were visiting somewhere, bought tickets to a show from a reseller, met up with the seller (normal looking guy, no red flags, gave some plausible story why he was selling) and paid cash for printed out tickets with barcodes. Printouts looked legit, dates on the printouts were correct, etc. Went to the doors, tried to scan their tickets, got told that unfortunately they'd just been scammed. The impression they get from the box office worker is that this sort of bad news is something they've had to deliver frequently. Anecdotal, but I doubt those friends of my parents were the only ones to get scammed in this way. TicketMaster still sucks as an organization but the extra security of rotating barcodes does serve a legitimate security purpose, just like the rotating security codes generated by an authenticator app.
  Airlines have recently been having problems with stowaways using screenshots of boarding pass barcodes or QR codes too. Such stowaways should get caught before departure by passenger headcounts or boarding ID checks, but clearly there are gaps or breakdowns in these procedures because some of these stowaways are getting caught at the destination. Others may have successfully flown for free. If it keeps happening I bet we'll see rotating barcodes come to mobile boarding passes too, if that hasn't already happened.
  
  I mean, that's sorta on them for buying from a scalper-at-best
  (Still, fuck Ticketmaster)
- Is it not where you are? Here it’s very questionable to buy online tickets as the person could sell them multiple times.
  If it’s coming from Ticketmaster I get it, but don’t they resell tickets themselves as well?
  
  They do. In fact they've been caught "reselling" tickets at scalper prices without them ever having been sold a first time.
  The entire scalping/resale market arguably shouldn't exist, instead tickets should be refundable within reason, at which point the organiser can issue and sell new tickets.
  
  Over here we use bar codes and QR codes exclusively and they deliver them through whatever method you want — PDF or image in email, text message, download PDF, you can even take a screenshot of the web page after you're done paying if you want.
  Which I've done many times (the screenshot thing) esp for things like movie tickets where I don't bother with creating an account because I don't go that often. I look up the movie or event, pick the seats, pay, take a screenshot of the QR code, send it to whoever's going on Whatsapp, done.
  I'm not sure I understand what the problem is. The venue already got their money. Either someone will show up to redeem the seat or they won't, they don't care either way. And it's trivial to make sure the codes can't be faked and that only the first scanned code gets in.
  The fact there's no way to check you're not getting scammed has actually led to an almost total disappearance of scalping. The only resales happen only through friends or friend of a friend sort of thing.
  Every once in a while there's some organizer who thinks they're smart and issue paper tickets and those are pretty much the only times you see tickets scalped online or outside the venue the night of the concert.

Live Nation could be hit with antitrust suit as soon as next month
- I, for one, am looking forward to the $.0036 Check in the mail. While some lawyer pockets $97 Billion. Any day now...
  
  I'm sure it'll be a voucher just like the last lawsuit against a ticketing company. I'd like to say it was LiveNation but I honestly can't remember. I remember looking at the concerts I could go to with the voucher and they were all shit.
  But that was the point, wasn't it. Give up potential profit that they were in fact never going to get in the first place.
  
  Antirust is very different than Class Action (were you'd get a 36cent check). This would be the FTC filing charges, which has much more power.
- "give us your personal information so we can sell it quickly before we might lose money"
- Good, it's about time!

I was given a free ticket to an event last night. I did it all using their web page. Their page was very slow and when I finally got to the point where it was supposed to show the ticket, it kept blanking the page right when the bar code would load. Luckily the gentleman at the booth could see it was legitimate and that there was a technical issue, so he printed it out for me.
That monopoly must go.

Another company that will never see my money again. Mastodon and Lemmy are making me save way more money than any financial advisor ever could 🤣
- As long as you're fine with never seeing any live music besides local bands again. Shits a monopoly

The Amazon equivalent for my country does this for their site on mobile by removing filters and making it so anything related to your account just tells you to use the app.
However If you toggle desktop mode in your browser everything works perfectly fine. It's almost as if they just want to data mine you. Surely no company would have that as a motive!
- Sadly, I tried desktop mode in Firefox and still got the pop-up

I'd say just use a different service but, uh... What other service is there? 😟
- Looks like AXS.com may be an alternate, found it through bandsintown.com
  // By the sounds of it, no, just a duopoly
  
  AXS is no better as far as ticket scalpers go. Used them for Cruel World fest last year, they’re just another version of Ticketmaster. Maybe marginally less invasive app-wise, but as far as jacking up event prices they’re the same.
  
  Axs is worse
  They force you to download the app. You can get around it with ticketmaster sometimes
- DICE is great, but most of these are tied to venues. Most of the bigger stages, stadiums, theaters, etc. all have contracts through LiveNation, so TicketMaster/LiveNation is the only way to enter those venues.
  You can sometimes call the box office directly though.
  
  dice too gives you tickets in their app
  https://dicefm.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/22367835146513-Why-we-ask-you-to-download-our-app
  "why we ask you to download an application"
  we want to mine your data
  we want to mine your data
  you need to give us this data
  come on you'll love being datamined

Well if they want people's data from having their app they should give heavily discounted tickets 👁️👁️👁️🤣🤣🤣🤔🤔🤔🫡🫡🫡🙄🙄🙄
- You're talking about the same company that charges a "convenience" fee for ordering online. Then if you decide to go to buy them in person you charge a "facilities" fee.
  
  how is this legal?
- Oooh, nah, let's just do both!

I’ve seen my last show
- It's really sad because the artists have little to no control over this. It is the venues who are contracted through Ticketmaster.
  I remember Pearl Jam suing them for this in the 90s. Unfortunately, Pearl Jam lost and here we are 30 years later still dealing with their monopolistic tactics.
  
  It's really sad because the artists have little to no control over this. It is the venues who are contracted through Ticketmaster.
  Yeah, it's like if every movie theater only used Fandango. It would be ridiculous if that was the case, yet that's what's happened to live events.

- How the hell would you double dip? They scan you in.
  I built a ticketing app for folk festivals 2 decades ago and we had that problem beat even then.
  
  Sure, they can you on, but which patron is the real patron?
  Suppose the ticket was supplied as a PDF. Then it is either in the users Downloads directory or in their email. If that PDF is obtained by a malicious actor, it could be resold countless times. You could have 100 "guests" arrive at a venue with a bogus ticket but only the first one gets in, because they were scanned. That first person may not be the legitimate ticket owner.
  Now, if your using their app, they usually put an animation over the barcode, and the gate attendants know to look for that. If that animation isn't there, don't scan. Pretty simple instructions to give to anyone. And accessing the app likely requires logging in, probably with some form of MFA (though probably SMS), so it gets a lot more difficult to rip off both the legitimate users and Ticketmaster in this way.
  I don't like having to use a specific app for things like this, but "I kinda get it".
  Now, it'd be better if we had a universal standard format for putting secure, validated passes into the native phone app. Perhaps registering your device to your account via their website, then only allowing the ticket to be installed on one device. I'm sure there'd be more to it, im just spitballing.
  
  Actually think this is more about protecting against unscrupulous scalpers selling tickets multiple times.
  When you can just email a pdf or print it, nothing stops you from doing it multiple times.
  At the end, it's ticketbastard that has to listen to the people that got scammed. This method forces authentication and secure the chain of custody.
  
  Change a number. Then when they scan it you claim it's an error and then you are dealing with a "technology problem".

It makes me so mad that there are so many artists I cannot see because they only offer tickets through this scam. Billy Joel has been a lifelong bucket list artist, and I can't go see his tour because of this bullshit.
Oh well, I'll continue going to concerts using tickets sold by the venue.

You can use your phone’s browser to access the ticket. From https://help.livenation.com/hc/en-us/articles/9907955578129-How-do-I-use-Mobile-Entry-tickets
How do I find and use my tickets?
On a mobile browser:
Open a web browser app and go to Ticketmaster.com.
Sign into your My Account.
Tap the circle in the top right and tap Upcoming Events.
Find your order and tap View Tickets to access your tickets. We recommend adding your tickets to a digital wallet so that you’ll always have your ticket on hand.
Your phone’s your ticket — scan it at the venue entrance and you’re in!
Also, if the event isn’t Mobile-only, you can select a different option for your ticket. See https://help.livenation.com/hc/en-us/articles/9902009367953-How-are-tickets-delivered for more details.
- That doesn't work anymore. If you follow those instructions you'll receive the pop-up I posted.
  
  Yup, found this out at Dead & Co in SF last summer. Had to stand off to the side with my wife and 2 friends while downloading the app and going through the bullshit high off my ass with an army of deadheads behind us.
  
  I did exactly that in February.
  The thing didn't scan right anyway, likely due to my phone being a filthy potato with a gradually failing protective screen.
  
  What happens when you click the “Next” button down at the bottom right?
  If it doesn’t take you to your ticket then that sounds like a bug. Definitely a frustrating one; hopefully not intentional.

I hate Ticket master with passion. It's a personal life goal to see this disgusting business die.
- You and me both

Haven't bought anything on Ticketmaster or their owned companies in years. And I generally go to 2 to 5 live shows a month.
This and their policy towards VPNs means I won't support them.
- where do you buy your tickets?
  
  Directly from many venues. And some ticket sellers that aren't owned by them. Some smaller venues use them, and some artsier places.
  But for the mega concerts, I just don't go where Ticketmaster holds the venue contract. I fly and see who I want elsewhere.

I'd ask for a refund

Even NFTs would be better than this.
- NFTs and Crypto/blockchain have some really good usecases. Unfortunately everyone one that shills them is a hustle bro type.
  
  Unless they're dealing dope on the DNM. Then they're professional suppliers that want their product to generate as much as possible an oncoming, long term relationships that are respected for their strength in security and quality. You're about as likely to get fentanyl in your meth when you buy from regular long term vendors as you get real professionals on the street that won't stab you in the back; literally *and * metaphorically.
- NFTs aren't inherently bad. Ethereum is however inherently bad.
  
  Can't you use NFTs on any blockchain?

You can add it to your own mobile wallet as well.

When I have a concert I usually install the app, load the ticket into my mobile wallet, and delete the app
- Hell I have the app on my phone, but yesterday, I received a ticket for an event, accepted it, and downloaded it to my phone without using that app at all.
  I think OP is misunderstanding what is happening. The code changes every so often, probably to prevent people from passing around a screen shot and trying to get in that way. You can get the ticket without the app.

You also can't do shit with their service, app and web, if you're on a VPN. It just refuses. Even -- and this may be illegal -- unsubscribing from their emails.

One step closer to 1984. :(

you might be able to add them to Google wallet if you have Google wallet.

Pitiful. Shameful.

I just got some tickets from ticket master, and they didn't have this, but AXS does force you to install the app no matter what.
I think it tells you when you go to buy them, in the delivery method.
- I found this out after getting past security but before entering the venue. I had shit cell service and was just finding out I had to download, create an account for, and sign into their app, I was outside for maybe 10 minutes. Funny how they dont make you do any of this to buy the ticket, only after I paid money for it. AXS can suck my dick.

I think this has been the case for a while

Just do Will Call. This is to mitigate scalping, everyone should be in favor.
- Will call usually has 2 people at the window and 200 people in line. Lol. You think Ticketmaster wants you using willcall?
  And scalping still exists, only it's Ticketmaster doing it now.
  
  There's a downside to everything but you just gotya put on your big boy undies and checks notes wait in a line.

- You sound boring

While they suck horribly, also scalpers. I have almost no issue with a venue requiring a verified app and quite frankly picture ID to allow entry. But please figure out how to do it without giving ticketmaster a dime.

This is simply false. They're an awful company, but you can just use your browser.
- Trying to view them through your browser will bring you to this pop-up. And it says you can't use screen shots or print outs.
  The only other option is to use a mobile wallet, but that prevents me from sending my friends their tickets, since I purchased them all together.
  
  The reason you can't use screenshots or printouts is because they're now using rotating barcodes. Much like the rotating codes in an authenticator app, the number values behind the barcode are changing on some regular cadence. Only the most recent barcode value is considered valid.
  The only other option is to use a mobile wallet, but that prevents me from sending my friends their tickets, since I purchased them all together.
  Some ticket sellers allow you to transfer tickets from one wallet to another wallet, but of course TicketMaster isn't one of them because they're fucking TicketMaster. What TicketMaster does allow is transfers from one TicketMaster account to another. Of course then everyone needs to have a TicketMaster account, needs to have the app, etc. It's either that or leave all the tickets in your app or wallet and go in together. If you tell the door person "I have the tickets for these X people," they'll be able to handle that.
  
  I just used this service on Saturday and I didn't get this pop up.