Do concerts really sell out in 10 minutes?

Jacquie over at artifacts mentioned she had difficulty getting Radiohead tickets :

"After about 10 minutes of the tickets being on sale we were informed there were no single seats left, no seats at all for the two Toronto shows."

I've had the experience before, trying to get tickets and ending uphaving to pay a scalper to get into a show. Whether I use speed-dialing, internet, showing up in-person at the boxoffice, more times than not, I leave empty handed for big shows. Leave to to The Explainer @ Slate Magazine to answer whether concerts really sell out in 10 minutes?:

"Last week, a Slate reader told the Explainer that, despite using multiple telephones and computers, he was unable to buy tickets to an upcoming Radiohead concert—10 minutes after tickets went on sale, the Ticketmaster Web site told him the show had sold out. According to news reports last month, tickets to two Madonna shows at Madison Square Garden sold out in 10 minutes. A promoter also recently claimed that two Bruce Springsteen shows in the United Kingdom sold out in 10 minutes. Can a show really sell out in a few minutes?"more

The handiest thing I can give you is phoning a Ticketmaster in the neighbouring city ie. phoning Ottawa or Montreal when I want tickets for a Toronto show. The phone exchange is a less jammed than the home city.