Some students are turning to an untraditional source to locate tickets for shows and concerts, while others have found an easier way to sell.
“SFSU Concerts” is a Facebook page utilized by fellow Gators to sell and buy concert tickets, as well as promote shows and join their peers in concert excursions around the Bay Area.
Katy Johnson, former SF State student, created the page as a timid freshman in August 2015. After moving to a new city from San Diego, she hoped the page would help her find friends who share a mutual taste in music and a similar urge to explore the city.
“The city is a pretty scary place to navigate on your own sometimes, and I just really wanted people to find other students to mob to venues with,” Johnson said. “What better way to meet people than at the show of your favorite band or artist?”
Johnson’s original purpose has evolved and the page has become a marketplace for purchasing or selling tickets to students looking for live music entertainment.
“The page seems to have devolved into a sort of ticket auctioning medium, which is not what I expected, but I’m glad people are getting use out of it,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s page has had some success for the current 242 members, but many students believe it would be more beneficial if more people knew it existed and added themselves to the page. Kinesiology major Irlanda Goulding was added to the page through a friend, but hasn’t had any success with tickets.
“I haven’t been lucky with getting or selling my tickets,” Goulding said. “It’s kind of hard since I think people on the page aren’t as active as other colleges’ concert pages.”
She believes if the page expanded it might create a broader spectrum of concerts available.
“Students would get a better range searching for tickets that they need or (are) selling,” Goulding said.
Buying tickets on the Facebook page might help students avoid up-charges through other distributors such as Stubhub or Ticketmaster resellers. Johnson claims it’s a better alternative that will save students money.
“I guess it is a better way to find tickets because there is no middle-man charging a fee for use,” Johnson said.
Promoters like SF State communications major Jasmine Saephan uses the page to promote events at venues across the city.
“I use it to promote events at POPSCENE,” Saephan said. “I’m trying to get more people to check us out.”
Johnson believes there is potential for this page to become much more for students and musicians in the SF State community.
“I feel like it could be so much more than what it currently is,” Johnson said. “The San Francisco music scene is a place for all kinds of artists, and I think it would be a great idea if there was a single place for artists and musicians from (SF) State to try to connect and work together.”
