KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Remember, like, 20 years ago when you would buy concert tickets online and pay a lot of fees, like, to process your order or get your ticket mailed to your house? Even if you don't remember it, Ticketmaster does. In 2013, the company settled a class action lawsuit about those fees. And now people who are eligible can access their piece of the settlement. NPR's Rose Friedman reports on how that's going.
ROSE FRIEDMAN, BYLINE: Free tickets - that was the buzz online this week. But how to redeem them and for what shows - it's a little unclear.
CANDACE ARMSTRONG KOMAN: They are just really making this so hard for us.
FRIEDMAN: Candace Armstrong Koman of Washington, D.C., is eligible. So she went online to look at the list of shows available.
KOMAN: Some of them were things I might have interest in. Like, there were some artists on there that I like, but they were in cities that I don't live in.
FRIEDMAN: And she found the system clunky. There are three forms of reimbursement. Two are discounts, which you can use the next time you buy concert tickets. There are also some vouchers for free tickets. Candace had both free tickets and a bunch of those little discount codes for $2.25.
KOMAN: And I was like, they couldn't have made life easier for us and given us, like, one, like, $20-coupon or something like that? Like you have to enter these codes individually.
STEVEN BLONDER: Well, but hold on a second.
FRIEDMAN: Steven Blonder argued the case against Ticketmaster. He says those little amounts are not insignificant.
BLONDER: This person who gets $2.50, their whole claim may have been worth less than that. So they're getting real value for their claim.
FRIEDMAN: And Ticketmaster hopes people will see it that way too. According to the settlement, the company has to pay out $42 million over the next four years. They're actually supposed to do it through those little discounts. Remember, the whole lawsuit was over fees, which people paid in small amounts.
So if you're someone who bought concert tickets online between October 1999 and February 2013, go on the Ticketmaster website. You might have discounts or even ticket vouchers in your account. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis to Steely Dan, Pitbull, Blink-182, Gwen Stefani, Weezer, Snoop Dogg and others, including the Barenaked Ladies, which means if you act fast, this...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE WEEK")
BARENAKED LADIES: (Singing) It's been one week since you looked at me...
FRIEDMAN: ...Might be in your future.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE WEEK")
BARENAKED LADIES: (Singing) Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry. Five days since you laughed me, saying get back together, come back and see me.
FRIEDMAN: Rose Friedman, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE WEEK")
BARENAKED LADIES: (Singing) I realized it's all my fault but couldn't tell you. Yesterday you'd forgiven me, but it'll still be two days 'til I say I'm sorry. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
