Hacker News Reader

I agree. Patronizing a company diametrically opposed to one's interests is terrible. Disproportionately, music lovers seem to be the first to deride TM but defend why they won't use anything else.

View on HN

What choice do they have? Music is not fungible. You can't substitute Kanye West for Michael Bublé, or Miley Cyrus for Bruce Springsteen.For most shows, there is only one online option. An increasing number of venues don't even sell advance tickets in person any more, and when it is an option, it has additional costs in time and effort, as well as risk of missing out completely.

The choice is to not participate. Boycotts are not supposed to be easy. This discussion reminds me of the "It's impossible to not use Facebook" arguments.

Buy the music, not the live performance. A live performance is usually suboptimal because the audience is noisy, the venue's acoustics aren't wonderful, the performers have done the same sets for the last three weeks, and you have to make a significant effort dealing with transportation and the like.

Just buy the music. Cut ticketmaster out, cut live nation's venues out, and listen to a great performance with good acoustics in the comfort of your own home as often as you wish. For much less money.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com