Skip to main content

Ticketmaster may owe almost everyone free ticket vouchers

A crowd enjoying a music show that you are at because of Ticketmaster.
.
If you booked anything through Ticketmaster between 1999 and 2013, then you may be in line for some free stuff.

As part of recent settlement terms for a class-action lawsuit, the ticketing giant is handing out millions of free tickets and discount codes to U.S.-based customers who used its services during that 14-year period.

The handout is the result of the Schlesinger vs. Ticketmaster suit brought four years ago that accused the company of presenting customers with misleading information regarding fees. Ticketmaster has always rejected the accusation, but has nevertheless agreed to settle to the tune of $400 million.

At the center of the dispute appears to have been the company’s Order Processing Fee, a payment that customers assumed covered ticket-purchase processing costs but in the lawsuit was described as simply a “profit generator.” The suit also claimed that customers who received their tickets via mail had been overcharged.

Ticketmaster has been sending out emails to customers since Saturday with compensation details, but anyone who’s changed their email address in recent years is at risk of missing out.

If that’s you, simply log into your Ticketmaster account and click on “active vouchers” to discover if you’re one of the lucky recipients of free tickets or discounts.

Interestingly, the company is giving out a pair of ticket vouchers, or a discount code, for each purchase a customer made across that 14-year period, so if you were using Ticketmaster every time you booked to see an event, you’ll be compensated multiple times.

However, as far as the discount codes go, don’t expect too much. With some 50 million people involved in the lawsuit, each one is worth a paltry $2.25, though again, if you used Ticketmaster’s services multiple times, the amount could start to add up.

Oh, and there’s another catch – the company is only awarding the vouchers for “eligible events” hosted by Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company. Live Nation is yet to publish a list of those events (it’ll appear here), but we suggest it won’t be anyone too major, and more likely minor. Still, enjoy.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
What is hi-res audio, and how can you experience it right now?
Dlyan Wireless Headphones

High-resolution audio, hi-res audio, or even HD audio -- whatever you decide to call it (for the record, the industry prefers "hi-res audio"), it's a catch-all term that describes digital audio that goes above and beyond the level of sound quality you can expect from a garden-variety MP3 file and even CDs. It was once strictly the domain of audiophiles, but now that major streaming music services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz have embraced it, almost everyone can take advantage of what hi-res has to offer.

But what exactly is hi-res audio? What equipment do you need to listen to it? Where can you download or stream it? And does it actually sound better? We've got the answers.
What does the term 'hi-res audio' mean?

Read more
How to download music from Spotify for offline listening
How to download music and podcasts from Spotify: The downloads folder.

If you're a Spotify Premium user paying that premium Spotify fee, chances are you've taken at least some time curating playlists, liking songs, and using the platform's easy-to-use (and recently revamped) user interface to discover new and old music.

But sometimes all that music or your favorite podcasts aren't available if you find yourself without an internet connection to stream them from — like on a long plane ride or weekend camping trip in the sticks. That's where Spotify's offline listening feature comes in handy, allowing you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts through its desktop and mobile apps so you can still rock out while you're off the grid.

Read more
How to switch from Spotify to Apple Music
Spotify and Apple Music transfer on a smartphone.

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service for a reason. It has a massive catalog of music and podcasts, is full of cool music discovery and sharing features, and is really easy to use.
However, with its recent price increase and the fact that it still hasn't joined most of its peers in offering a hi-res audio quality option, you may be considering jumping ship for its closest competitor, Apple Music, which counts lossless hi-res tracks, mind-bending spatial audio, Dolby Atmos Music tracks, and a catalog that rivals Spotify's among the many attractive reasons to switch.

But there's one problem: you’ve spent a lot of time creating playlists and marking songs and albums as your favorites in Spotify. Is it worth the switch? Will all that hard work be lost in translation?

Read more