Talk:Ticketmaster/Archives/2015

Artist Perception

The ticketmaster vs artist feud cannot be understated. Pearl Jam eventually became involved in the Ticketmaster flap as a result of a series in the LA Times. Investigatie reporter Chuck Philips wrote of series of investigative articles in 1991 about Ticketmaster that revealed its monopolistic nature. These in connection with the work of long-time Washington staffer John Edgell and the help of musical group Pearl Jam, who filed an anti-trust complaint, first disclosed int he LA Times, prompted Congressional hearings .

The Real History of Ticketmaster Founding, from Gordon M. Gunn, III, the entrepreneur who put the whole business package together, the risk capital, the venture capital, the hardware, recruited the software and firmware developers, filed the original articles of incorporation: In 1974, Gordon Gunn was a DEC computer equipment dealer for Arizona and New Mexico. Albert Leffler's wife is the sister of Gordon's oldest friend, Norman C. Peyton, then of El Paso, Texas. Albert and his wife were living in Tempe, and Gordon was living in Phoenix, AZ, so they got together socially. Albert Leffler was an intern in Auditorium Management at Arizona State University, specifically Grady Gammage Auditorium, which was using an HP based computerized ticketing system developed by Bill Bliss. Gordon was looking for software development opportunities for DEC hardware, and Albert saw a need for an improved ticketing system. Albert had the ticketing expertise, and came up with the name TicketMaster. Over several months, Albert began writing specifications for the software, and Gordon Gunn recruited the software developer, Peter T. Gadwa, and the developer of the smart ticketing terminals Thomas W. Hart, Jr. Peter and Tom both were amenable to working "on the come" as there was no capital. Peter Gadwa was a grad student in computer science at ASU, and was introduced to Gordon by the department head who (ASU) also was a DEC hardware customer of Gordon's. Gordon set out to find risk capital, then venture capital. The risk capital came from Lester Bernstein, a retired retail merchant from Rhode Island. Lester's money paid for the development computer and some small expenses. Gordon continued to search for venture capital, and over a 6 month period found Charles H. Hamby, Jr., a semi-retired CEO whose company was Computer Mailing Consultants of America (CMCA), who lived in Phoenix. Charles Hamby recruited two other wealthy friends of his, Jerry Nelson and Cecil Crawford to share the venture, and it was incorporated as TicketMaster Corporation in Arizona in 1976. The founders were divided into "founders" and "financiers." The founders group were: Gordon M. Gunn, III, Albert I. Leffler, Peter T. Gadwa, and Thomas W. Hart, Jr. The financier group was Charles H. Hamby, Jr., Cecil Crawford, and Jerry Nelson. The financiers held 80% of the stock, and the founders collectively held 20%. Lester Bernstein was bought out at par by the financiers. The original officers and directors were Charles Hamby, President and CEO, Gordon M. Gunn, III Executive Vice President and COO, and Cecil Crawford, Treasurer. Al Leffler, Pete Gadwa and Tom Hart were listed as V.P.'s and directors. By that time, Peter had finished a working software package, and Tom Hart had finished the intelligent ticketing terminals and Dian ticket printers. The first commercial system was installed in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976, and the first commercial ticket ever sold by TicketMaster was to an Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) concert at Johnson Gymnasium at the University of New Mexico. That ticket was purchased by Gordon M. Gunn, III, is still owned by him, and is not for sale. The second community served was El Paso, Texas using a dedicated telephone line from the El Paso terminals to the computer in Albuquerque. Gordon began marketing in Houston and New Orleans, forging parterships with D. H. Holmes and Foley's Department Stores, but was forced out of the company before they were installed. A rift with the financiers early in 1977 forced Gordon Gunn and Tom Hart out of the corporation, as the financier group became woefully undercapitalized and unable to fulfill their verbal commitment to the founders group. Al Leffler and Pete Gadwa managed to stay on as employees, and the original financier group managed to find an angel in 1978, Jay Pritzker of Chicago, who bought everybody out. Al Leffler and Pete Gadwa apparently lost their original equity, but both made satisfactory arrangements with the new owners and stayed on for the duration. Al Leffler holds employee badge number 1, and at last report was still with the company. All this can be verified by Albert Leffler, Peter Gadwa, and Tom Hart, all are current residents of Arizona. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gordon Gunn (talk • contribs) 05:18, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

References

I can confirm the details provided by Gordon Gunn (I presume "III") are consistent with stories I was told by Pete Gadwa and Albert Leffler circa 1984 and 1985 while employed by them at Ticketmaster up to the point in the story of Jay Prizker buying everyone out. That buyout was closer to 1982; there was an interim period where TicketMaster expanded operations into additional cities, including the Superdome in New Orleans. Pritzker, I believe (but this needs to be confirmed by others) owned the foodservice operation at the Superdome. It was through this linkage (circa 1978 or 79) he became aware of Ticketmaster and initially made an investment into to the firm. It was later (circa 1982) when it looked as though his investment was going bad that he made the decision, on the advice of a lawyer in his employ named Fred Rosen, to go all in and buy the company. Rosen was put in charge of it at that time. Leffler is still with Ticketmaster working out of their Phoenix office. Gadwa is retired and living in VA the last I spoke with him (more recent than Gunn's information.) Dmittleman (talk) 03:40, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Ticket Master Flap and Congressional hearings

Please note that the following section in addition to about 12 other section were deleted by administrator Diannaa within hours of edit dispute on the Sean Combs page she edits. In all of her edits from August 21- August 22 she falsely designated origiin od authorship, removing any articles that were written by LA Times Chuck Philips in an apparent retaliation for my insertion of a small correction into Sean Combs Wiki page. This original expose ( summarized below) details the original Ticketmaster flap that culminated in congressional hearings. This was the first expose. It was by LA Times. The paragraph explains the background of the flap. It was The following section (which Diannaa deleted in addition to aout 12 other sections within 10 hours of her rampage, clarifies the history of the Tickemaster flap which did in fact lead to Congressional hearinggs (contrary to Diannaa's misinformation.) I would be glad to engage the efforts of the Washintgton staffer who ushered these investigation to fruition if necessary I hope this won't be necessary. Dianna's contributions From August 21 to August 22, deleted all Philips original research in widely ranging areas . She would have had to read hundreds of pages within a few hours to come to her conclusions, which would not have been possible. I'm requesting an advanced referee on on this. Also I've enlisted the aid of the original author. Please review and reinstate these reference. To fail to do so would be false designation of origin on authorship The section reads as follows: "Investigatie reporter Chuck Philips wrote of series of investigative articles in 1991 about Ticketmaster that exposed its monopolistic nature and helped trigger a federal anti-trust investigation — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.89.155.100 (talk) 14:08, August 25, 2012 UTC

References

I have re-added a sentence about the Pearl Jam incident, choosing one article that does indeed back up the claim that hearings were held. That was a mistake on my part; sorry. And I also added another sentence about its outcome. -- Dianna (talk) 15:05, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for giving me the link SA. I was in Washington at the time and the series by Chuck was the reason I could get it done. I'll add back the citations. I'll also check Diannaa's work if I can - but don't know much about art gotta say. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.89.155.100 (talk) 22:34, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

It needs to be added Pearl Jam was prevented from playing by Ticketmaster. It coincided, not culminated, in them not playing. Fred Rosen set out to make sure that they could not play in major venues in the US. They had to set up concerts in far away outdoor locations, making it difficult for fans to attend the concert and ultimately forcing fans to abandon the band. I'll be glad to give the history of it according to a Washington staffer. Maybe a neutral editor should contact Pearl Jam for their view. Otherwise I think the last editor should add this line in.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.89.155.100 (talk) 23:30, August 25, 2012 (UTC)

What do you mean by the last editor? There's only two people in this conversation. Me, and someone posting from IP address 76.89.155.100. -- Dianna (talk) 00:23, 26 August 2012 (UTC)