Ticketmaster's price of admission: getting spam

Customers of Ticketmaster are complaining they are receiving much more junk e-mail since ordering tickets from the company online.

The ticket service is widely used in North America it has a lock on selling tickets to most major entertainment events.

Discussion groups devoted to privacy issues included former clients talking about getting "targeted" e-mail personalized with full names, the city and other pieces of information they gave to Ticketmaster.

The company's online ordering service does not let buyers opt out of receiving e-mail pitches from event producers and other businesses in the industry.

The Ticketmaster privacy policy says customers can "opt out" of getting e-mail from Ticketmaster itself but cannot refuse to share their personal information with "event partners" defined as: venues, promoters, artists, leagues and other third parties associated with that concert or event.

"Event Partners...may consequently use your personal information to contact you and may share your personal information with others. You will need to contact those Event Partners who contact you to instruct them directly regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them," states the policy.

Kerry Samovar of Ticketmaster has said the company has no choice but to share the information it collects with the businesses associated with the events.

Samovar says the businesses "use the information to help fulfill ticket orders and may use it to contact the consumers."

Samovar recommends customers unhappy with the policy should use Ticketmaster's outlets to buy their tickets.

Ticketmaster sold more than 95 million tickets last year worth more than $4 billion.