Theaters drop Ticketmaster; Eddie Vedder's gotta be smiling

The Paramount [Flickr photo via Resedabear]

Going to a show at the Paramount or Moore theaters? You'll have a new ticket vendor to deal with. The operator of the historic downtown theaters is dropping Ticketmaster in favor of Tickets.com, a move that will reduce ticket surcharges by an average of 20 percent, according to a report from our colleague Clay Holtzman at the Puget Sound Business Journal.

“We look at Tickets.com as a technology company, less so as a ticketing company,” Seattle Theater Group Executive Director Josh Labelle tells Holtzman.

Ticketmaster has long been accused of inflating its ticket surcharges, a business tactic that in 1994 caused a public spat with Seattle musician and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. The band said in a statement at the time:

"Our efforts to try to keep prices for tickets to our concerts to this low level and to limit the possibility of excessive service charge mark-ups have put us at odds with Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is a nationwide computerized ticket distribution service that has a virtual monopoly on the distribution of tickets to concerts in this country. It has been no secret that since Ticketmaster acquired Ticketron, the only other nationwide computer ticket service, service charges have been on the rise. It is today virtually impossible for a band to do a tour of large arenas or other significant venues in major cities and not deal with Ticketmaster."

After plenty of litigation, things appear to be changing from the times when grunge still ruled Seattle.

In addition to lower ticket surcharges, Labelle says that Tickets.com allows users to purchase tickets from mobile devices and to print tickets at home for free. The Moore and The Paramount are two of Seattle's historic theaters, hosting everyone from bands such as Iron and Wine to writers like David Sedaris.

[Flickr photo via Resedabear]