KISS and Def Leppard are touring together, and tickets for many shows went on sale this afternoon. As I browsed Ticketmaster, I noticed something new that I’ve never seen before when purchasing concert tickets — and it’s something you should take note of too if you’re planning to buy tickets for anything with Ticketmaster / LiveNation.
So, I did, and this is what it said:
Okay. Nothing specific about what these fees are for. I scrolled down the page and prepared to pay for my tickets, and I saw this:
“Ticket Special Bonus: One year subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine. A $12.95 value with today’s ticket purchase. Your first issue will arrive in 4 to 6 weeks. Offer available to new Rolling Stone subscribers in the US only. For subscription and rebate details click here.”
Note that this is not a free subscription to Rolling Stone – it is included in the price of my ticket purchase. This has got to be one of the worst product placements ever.
Rolling Stone subscriptions are being forced on people buying KISS tickets. Rolling Stone magazine has not been kind to KISS over their long career. To fully understand the ridiculousness of this, you can read what one of their longtime writers states about the band we love. (Seriously – take a moment to read that garbage. He wrote that ten days ago. Now, think about KISS fans reacting to a forced Rolling Stone subscription..!)
Well, I didn’t want once cent of my money to go to Rolling Stone magazine, so I clicked “I decline the bonus subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.” I then went to the next screen, where things got even more ridiculous:
So, in order to opt out of the Rolling Stone subscription that I’m forced to pay $12.95 for as part of my KISS concert ticket purchase, I have to actually wait for the subscription to start, then fill out another form and mail it via postal mail along with a printout of my ticket confirmation page in the browser. Again — is there any more appropriate word for this than “ridiculous?” I’m glad I printed the confirmation page before closing my browser!
Anyway, I wanted to give you guys a heads-up for those ordering concert tickets online this year. Make sure you read all the fine print.
And have fun out there. I intend to :)
pattycakes says
My son noticed this last summer when he purchased tickets for the Summer Set Festival in Somerset, WI. He ended receiving two issues of the magazine and then sent in for his rebate, which they did send him. However, he was the only one in his group that remembered to file for the rebate. My daughter just purchased tickets for the Vans Warped Tour near Pittsburgh this summer and was at least able to opt out of purchasing the subscription. Now I’m thinking that in her haste to purchase her ticket, she may not have read it thru properly and might have to file for a rebate too. They’re both college students and I can’t account for their taste in music, but the last place they’ll look for news about their favorite bands is Rolling Stones!
Cnelson34 says
That is crazy – thanks for pointing it out to us. I am sure that most people won’t even notice that, much less bother to send in the rebate – pretty sneaky way for RS to make $. It makes me wonder why I am suddenly getting Good Housekeeping when I didn’t subscribe to it…I must have quickly clicked something along the way.
QueenKitty says
Because he has been receiving this magazine all summer and when I called about it they said it was a free subscription. He doesn’t know how he signed up for it either. Now I think I know how he got this “free” subscription. Bummer!
iamthatgirl says
Thank you for the warning on this b/c we are looking at tickets for some festivals this summer!
Also don’t you think you could have gotten better front row seats in your concert picture of Kiss, your way off to the side =)