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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Concerts, ticket prices, bots and scalpers: The ingredients for a watchdog series
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, fire was just invented by accident and printed newspapers were the primary source of information, I indulged my love for live music by buying tickets to the Schaefer Music Festival concert series in Central Park in New York City. For about nine years, spanning the late 1960s and into the mid-'70s, some of the best acts hit the Wollman Skating Rink stage. I ponied up the unheard-of price of $10 to hear Boz Scaggs perform his hit "Lowdown" and other numbers — and got a treat with the opening act, Maxine Nightingale. If you didn't have a ticket, you could sit on giant boulders nearby for free and hear just fine. The arena hosted so many shows of my early concert days: Allman Brothers, B.B. King, Marshall Tucker Band, Chicago and dozens of others. Back then, to get tickets you typically showed up with cash at a kiosk in Penn Station in Manhattan at Korvette's Department Store. The $10 price for Boz Scaggs was at the high end, and just before Dr. Pepper took over the operation. Tickets started at about $2 in the 1960s and jumped to $4.50 soon after — probably sending some concert fans into cardiac arrest. Today, if you paid a $4.50 fee on one of your tickets, you'd thank the music gods for the clerical error. MORE: Looming lawsuit could change the way we buy concert tickets - hopefully for the better MORE: Bots, scalpers send concert tickets through the roof, but look who gets the money Which is sort of why the Asbury Park Press, led by entertainment writer extraordinaire Chris Jordan, is embarking on a deep dive into the concert ticket world as the season ramps up and ticket prices continue to be an economic decision as much as an aesthetic one. As part of our commitment to watchdog investigative journalism, the Press is looking at a variety of Shore-related topics as the summer launches. From beach badge fees to beach replenishment, and from boardwalk rides and food vendor safety to tourism dollars, the Press will focus on the heart of what makes the Jersey Shore so special. And we thought, what is more summer at the Shore, and the rest of New Jersey, than music? Where once it was a fairly straightforward business transaction, the industry has turned into what is projected to be a $60 billion or so industry in the U.S. alone in 2025, according to IBISWorld. There have been some notable ugly milestones in the ticket buying milieu of late — Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen shows to name just two — that drove fans into a frenzy as ticket prices ballooned, spiraled out of reach for many, or forced some to take out loans (kidding. maybe) to see a show. But even on a smaller scale, with acts that are not global phenomenon events, it can be a harrowing experience timing your online buying moment to get two tickets to some show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel. Minutes after going on sale, tickets can be gone on the primary market and moved into the secondary resale market, where the ticket prices do not resemble the primary prices. It can drive a fan to listen to Musak in an elevator instead of fighting for the golden ticket. Which brings us to Jordan's initial stories. First, he looks at the federal government's antitrust case against the music entertainment behemoth Live Nation and its trusty ticket vendor Ticketmaster. The two merged in 2010, but now the government thinks things have gone in the wrong direction, issuing this statement about the case: 'The thrust of the complaint is that Live Nation engaged in a variety of exclusionary conduct to maintain its monopoly over primary-ticketing services, and consumers suffered injury by using those services and getting overcharged,' said U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in his ruling. Our second story explores the roots of the ticket price escalation and its complex system of buying, selling, reselling, bots, scalpers and unenforceable laws because, as one expert said, the software and technology to workaround the rules is so advanced, lawmakers and their enforcement agencies can't keep up. In addition, our series will look at fan resignation, how showgoers can navigate the murky ticket-buying seas, bitcoin's role in the process, and do politicians have the appetite, as the late New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell once exhibited, to go after the ticket brokers and secondary market purveyors? In the end, we'll be able to look at how the season went, what happened to prices, how did fans react, and what will be the status of the federal lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. That case is set for March 2026 in the Southern District Court in Lower Manhattan, ironically, just a few miles from where a young music fan snagged a Boz Scaggs ticket for $10. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Live Nation, Ticketmaster: APP series looks at ticket prices
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Does Nvidia-Backed CoreWeave's Lackluster IPO Signal the AI Stock Boom Is Officially Over?
An up-and-coming company specializing in the hottest technology area decides to go public. It's teamed up with the most prominent player in that area. The company's initial public offering (IPO) is set to be the biggest for a tech stock in years. And then... pfffft. That's the story for artificial intelligence (AI) hyperscaler CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV). Despite backing by AI giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), its recent IPO was lackluster at best. Does this signal that the AI stock boom is officially over? Expectations were high when CoreWeave filed for its IPO on March 3. The company's revenue soared 737% year over year in 2024. It boasted major customers, including IBM, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. CoreWeave enjoys an especially close relationship with Nvidia. It uses Nvidia's GPUs. CoreWeave's software and infrastructure also help maximize the GPUs' performance. Nvidia wasn't just a partner, though: Before the IPO, the chipmaker owned roughly 1% of CoreWeave's voting power. Nvidia also came to the rescue when CoreWeave's IPO nearly fell apart. The small company planned to sell its shares from $47 to $55. However, not enough investors were interested in buying at that price range. Fortunately for CoreWeave, Nvidia offered to buy shares at $40 so the IPO could move forward. So what happened with the IPO? CoreWeave stock opened at the $40-per-share price Nvidia paid. And that's the same price the new AI stock closed on its first day of trading. It's now even lower. Contrast CoreWeave's experience with Tempus AI's IPO in June 2024, less than a year ago. The AI-powered healthcare diagnostics company was also backed by an AI giant -- in this case, Google parent Alphabet. However, Tempus AI priced its shares at the upper end of its initial IPO range. Its stock jumped almost 9% on the first day of trading and are roughly 20% higher now despite some huge up-and-down swings. Is the theme song for AI stocks now the B.B. King classic "The Thrill Is Gone"? That might seem to be the case. CoreWeave's lackluster IPO that nearly flopped without Nvidia's intervention could indicate that the infatuation with AI stocks is now over. Nvidia itself could provide another big hint that the AI boom has officially ended. The company has been the superstar of this boom from the beginning, skyrocketing more than tenfold between Oct. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024. But Nvidia's share price has now tumbled around 27% below its all-time high. In 1897, several newspapers reported that Mark Twain was seriously ill and possibly about to die in poverty. When contacted about the story, the well-known author was said to have replied, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." I think we should remember Mark Twain when considering whether the AI stock boom is really over. Sure, CoreWeave's IPO wasn't a huge success. Yes, many AI stocks have fallen quite a bit. That doesn't mean, though, that the AI stock boom is kaput. I suspect we're merely seeing a pause that will eventually resume. This pause, by the way, doesn't seem to be the result of serious worries about the demand for AI. Instead, the entire stock market is highly volatile primarily because of uncertainty about the impact of the Trump administration's tariffs. I'm not suggesting that investors jump on the CoreWeave bandwagon, if there is one. This is a stock that trades at a high price-to-sales ratio of nearly 10. The company also remains unprofitable. However, I don't think we've yet seen the full impact of how AI will revolutionize the world around us. Companies with the best AI products will have tremendous growth opportunities over the next decade and beyond. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the end of the AI stock boom are greatly exaggerated. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $281,057!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $42,114!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $502,905!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of April 1, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, International Business Machines, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Does Nvidia-Backed CoreWeave's Lackluster IPO Signal the AI Stock Boom Is Officially Over? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2025 Mississippi Blues Marathon set for Saturday
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Mississippi Blues Marathon will return for its 18th year on Saturday, February 22. The event will celebrate Mississippi's Blues heritage while promoting fitness and community spirit. 'We are incredibly proud to bring the Mississippi Blues Marathon to Jackson once again,' said Bill Burke, of Premier Event Management. 'This year is especially meaningful as we honor the centennial birthdays of two Mississippi legends, B.B. King and Medgar Evers, through the power of music and running.' Mississippi Driver Service Bureau locations closed statewide Timothy Orey, founder of the JXN Run Club and Lululemon Run Ambassador, announced a pre-race shop night for registered participants at Lululemon at Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland on Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The race offers multiple distances, including a full marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, and a half-mile fun run. Participants will start and finish near the historic Mississippi State Capitol, with live Blues music energizing the scenic course. Runners will receive finisher medals and race shirts, with a post-race celebration featuring food, drinks, and live entertainment. Limited registration spots remain, and organizers encourage interested participants to sign up soon. Packet pickup will be held at Buffalo Peak Outfitters in Highland Village. Race day registration will be available at Ole Tavern on George Street. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
