Oh Brother

So I've ordered tickets from TicketMaster.com a total of once I think. Usually I'll go to one of the outlets and buy them with cash. A lot of bands I like also give you the chance to buy tickets through alternative ticket sellers before they go on sale through TicketMaster. I also like a lot of groups that play smaller clubs, so I can just get them at the door. But, as usual, I digress.

So ever since I made my one order through TicketMaster for a couple of Wilco tickets last year I get emails, about once a week I think, announcing shows that I might be interested in. Now, in this era of Big Brother commerce, a lot of us are getting used to this. And a lot of these companies are really good at it. If you've ever ordered anything from Amazon you've probably noticed that they like to make suggestions for you when you visit them again. I've bought three things for myself on Amazon, two Robyn Hitchcock CDs and his live concert on DVD. I like to go to record stores, but some artists just don't get stocked in the local shops. So Amazon came in really handy. But I never knew about the whole "recommended for..." thing until I actually made a purchase a few months ago. And I was really shocked by how decent the recommendations were. Along with suggesting several Robyn Hitchcock albums that I already own, they recommended CDs and DVDs from They Might Be Giants, Frank Zappa, Richard Thompson, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and NRBQ, among others. A pretty good job I thought. A typical Robyn fan would probably like most of the people on that list. That Big Brother shit still creeps me out, but they sure are good at it. I imagine this has been one of the keys to Amazon taking over the world one person at a time. Thank fucking Christ they don't include gifts you had sent to other people to calculate your recommendation list. I shudder to think what shit they would be trying to get me to buy based on my Mothers Day gift of the I Love Lucy - The Complete 2nd Season for my Lucy-obsessed mom. Just another example of how good they are at this

So what's the deal with TicketMaster? They have been at this world domination thing a lot longer than Amazon and were once owned by the evil Paul Allen, who is a master at it. But after buying Wilco Tickets through them I couldn't get worse emails from them about upcoming shows. Here are the subject lines of the last two notices I got from them:

Don't miss Pop-Tarts Presents American Idols Live!

Don't miss Hilary Duff!

If you don't get with it TicketMaster, the other members of the Information/Capitalist Complex are going to boot you out. If you don't read my mind and tell me what I want to see, somebody else will.