I saw Pearl Jam 16 years ago at a festival. They put on a great show! But yeah, now Pearl Jam begrudgingly(?) embraces the Ticketmaster policies and pricing.

Ticketmaster offers packages to artists who would get a huge portion of their touring and concert business taken care of. They'll provide venues that have most of what a touring act needs; stage, up-to-date sound systems, help with customs and visas if needed, and more. So I see the draw.

I don't know what it's like over there in the UK, but Ticketmaster owns and operates most venues worth playing at or they have exclusivity deals for being the ticket provider in my city in Canada. For the few venues that aren't owned by them, TicketWeb has exclusive ticket sales deals with these other venues. Take a guess who owns TicketWeb? It's more or less how they get around being a monopoly.

The way they price is a problem and they are in control a huge percentage of the concert industry, but it's just a part of the problem. Artists (and therefore fans) are getting hosed left, right, and center.