This week, the Cornell Concert Series instituted a new $2 transaction fee for sales of all single tickets to concerts priced at $10 or more, a move prompted not by financial difficulty but by a longstanding need to streamline CCS operations, according to officials.

Although CCS had considered adding a transaction fee for tickets purchased online, in person and over the phone since it switched to a web-based ticketing system in 2007,  officials had decided that doing so would be inappropriate given the tough economic climate.

“We were considering a fee in 2008 but that was preempted by the economic crash, and we just didn’t get around to it until this January,” Tokiko Nobusawa, concert manager for CCS, stated in an email Tuesday. “While we are not prompted by any financial difficulty now, we believe that delaying steps to ‘get with the times’ for too long could land us in a rut down the road.”

Nobusawa stressed that CCS’ transition to online ticketing, although initially “very experimental,” has now become so dominant that it was no longer sufficient to limit transaction fees to tickets purchased at a ticket booth or over the phone.

Proceeds from the new charge will be funneled directly to the private firm that manages CSS’ ticket provider system, which will apply the funds to “costs associated with software development and upkeep, fail-safe data back-up, financial security compliance and so forth,” according to Nobusawa.

“I think most patrons will accept that a $2 fee is a reasonable charge for assurance that their seat will not be oversold or their credit card number sent to Nigeria,” he said.

Yvette Lucente, audience and public relations coordinator for CCS, said that the fee is a necessary adjustment to maintain the organization in today’s fast-paced technological climate.

“We’re aware that there’s a growing public concern over companies like TicketMaster who charge excessive, multiple ticket fees,” Lucente said. “We’re sensitive to this and have tried to keep the fee as low as possible. $2 per ticket covers a reasonable ticket system cost.”  

Lucente explained that CCS has been able to sell tickets at prices that are “artificially low”  due to subsidies from Cornell. As a result of this sponsorship, the $2 fee will still be less expensive than the fees of comparable organizations: Cornell Concert Commission and the State Theatre, charge $2.50 and $4.45  in transaction fees, respectively.

According to Nobusawa, the addition of a fee is a small supplement to the University’s contribution that will be used to benefit CCS programming.

“The $7,000 to $9,000 that we [will] collect toward ticketing service —  3,500 to 4,500 single tickets sold in a season — will help out a bit, but believe me, no one’s getting mega-rich on ticket fees,” Nobusawa said.

Nobusawa said that concertgoers may be able to escape this fee by buying tickets at a group rate or by purchasing a subscription to CCS, since those transactions are handled directly by CCS rather than by a private firm.

Nobusawa also emphasized that no other aspects of ticket purchase are affected by the new charge.

“Students and faculty with active net IDs will continue to be able to sign in for a C.U. rate,” Nobusawa said.

Despite the addition of the new charge, Nobusawa said that she remains confident that CCS is on the right track.

“One thing I can say for sure is that, compared to when I started in this job in 2004, student attendance of CCS concerts has doubled, and that must be thanks to online ticketing,” she said. 

To Nobusawa, the fee is simplya necessary evil for CCS’ continued survival in an unpredictable technological era.

“[The $2 transaction fee] is here to stay unless industry practices and audience habits change ... I’m sure they will continue to evolve, but it’s difficult to say how,” Nobusawa said. “Remember what cell phones were like 10 years ago?”