I am a devoted lifelong fan of Radiohead - I clearly remember the first time I heard “Creep” on the radio when I was 13 years old and I knew instantly this was THE great band of my generation.

On Saturday, April 12, tickets went on sale for shows at 4 venues in Southern California. My husband was in line at the venue box office at 1:00am and did not get even 1 ticket. I was on Tickemaster online at 10am and also did not get tickets to any of the 4 shows. However, Barry’s Tickets and other scalpers/ticket brokers have seats for all 4 venues in all price ranges from front row to back row. Tickets through Ticketmaster ran in the range of approximately $50 - $75 USD, but these brokers are selling them for $150 - $600 USD. This is an illegal practice for pure profit that has somehow become a thriving business to exploit the popularity of bands/performers through a handshake behind the scenes and a legal loophole.

I think that Radiohead should stand up for their fans and refuse to play venues that allow this activity to happen. At the very least, tell the venue that a required percentage of the tickets must be sold at the box office for those fans willing to spend all night to buy a ticket to their show. The fact that Ticketmaster only sells to other ticket brokers for popular shows is a joke (their site actually prompts buyers for sold out shows with a link to their “partners” so we get to buy outrageously priced tickets from these broker companies). I would ask that Radiohead to go one step further and refuse to sell tickets through Ticketmaster and either use their own website for all ticket sales or the venue box office. I know these ticket broker companies write computer programs to beat the online systems, and if this can’t be fixed, we as fans and consumers should refuse to buy tickets online.

I could afford to pay $500 a ticket to see a great show and a band I love, but I would rather give the extra $400 fee to a charity or someone more deserving than the company that figured out how to make illegal scalping into a legal business. I will also be writing a letter to my Congress person, Assembly person, and any other representative in our legal and governmental system who is supposed to prosecute criminals and pass laws to protect us from abuse and crime.

RADIOHEAD - YOU CAN CHANGE THIS ILLEGAL TICKET SALE PRACTICE. THESE BUSINESSES ARE COMMITTING ACTS OF EXTORTION IN YOUR NAME. Your fans are suffering. Please stay true to your fans and your reputation and make a statement for change. Miley Cyrus can do it, you should too. Selling “In Rainbows” on your band website was a positive statement in the right direction to change the music business, please take the next step.

Radiohead’s music has been more than entertainment in my life and one example of this is my husband and I still argue over who discovered the band first and it makes me feel like I knew him as a 15 year old skater boy in Virginia even though I was in Italy just starting high school at the time. Discovering that point of reference in time through music in both our lives was a bonding moment for us when we were beginning our relationship 7 years ago.

Above all else, being a music fan is fun and felt at a personal level that is unique from any other form of art and entertainment. I know that Radiohead fans are unique in their intelligence, devotion to and respect for the band and they deserve better. I hope this message reaches the band.

Thank you,
Austin (a loyal fan for 14 years and counting)
**favorite song: “Talkshow Host”