Hannah-mania Scalped, Re-Sold Tix Prices Raise Ire

Hanna Tix Are Hot

The hottest concert ticket of 2007? Not surprisingly, it's a pop artist whose only two albums boast sales of over four million and counting. Somewhat surprising, it's an artist who has not had a Top 40 hit ... and who basically gets the lion's share of airplay on a syndicated radio network -- the network being DISNEY RADIO, and the artist being MILEY CRYUS, the 14-year-old star of DISNEY Channel's "HANNAH MONTANA."

The AP reports that tickets to her upcoming 54-date tour, which begins later OCT 18, are fetching higher scalper prices than concerts headlined by THE POLICE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. The going rate for a $65 ticket to a CYRUS show is averaging $214, which is more than resold tickets for TIMBERLAKE ($182), BEYONCE ($193) or THE POLICE ($209).The latter band had been STUBHUB's best-selling tour in the company's history -- until HANNAH MONTANA sold 35% more tickets in the same amount of time, outselling THE POLICE in dollar volume by 25% .

"We knew it was hot, but we had no idea it was this crazy," said DEBRA RATHWELL, SVP/AEG LIVE, which is handling her tour. "It's like THE BEATLES."

Case-in-point: One ticket for a CHARLOTTE, N.C. show sold for $2,565. 

Ducat Prices Get Out Of Hand

Yet the ticket frenzy has also brought another issue to light. A growing number of frustrated parents -- faced with shelling out megabucks to get HANNAH MONTANA tickets for their daughters -- now are far more cognizant of something that has peeved regular concertgoers for years: exorbitant scalped or re-sold ticket prices.

"It's always been a problem and it getting worse and worse," RATHWELL said. asserting that AEG LIVE is doing all it can to reduce scalping. But with every show selling out immediately, there are few options for parents.

"HANNAH MONTANA has essentially exposed a lot of frustration the average, uninformed ticket buyer has," the story quotes STUBHUB spokesman SEAN PATE. "There is so much demand that ticket sellers are pricing on the high side. It's almost unreasonable."

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