Posts filed under ‘Ticketmaster’
“A Good Decision is Based on Knowledge, Not on Numbers” – Plato 400BC-ish
Ticketmaster has hired “data guru” John Carnahan to head up it’s new Data Science group as the executive vice president of data science and engineering.
Ticketmaster looks inward to mine for gold, hires data science expert (exclusive)
I am sorry, but is it just me? A ticket is a means to an end. There is no demand for a ticket per se, there is a demand to attend an event that a ticket is a licence for and a seat – a location from which to experience the event.
Carnahan says “we don’t know what the value of a seat means to a user,”
“His goal for the Data Science group is to dig through Ticketmaster transaction data to understand the value of a ticket,“
Good luck with that …
Is there change in the wind regarding venue exclusive ticketing contracts?
Just maybe we have some potential precedents looming internationally … finally! It is not Ticketmaster taking it in the neck this time. However, the industry practice of venue exclusive ticketing contracts (introduced by Fred Rosen in the 80′s when CEO of Ticketmaster) is being questioned.
There are two cases currently, one in Singapore and the other South Africa, that are considering the anti-competitive impact of venue exclusive contracts.
Singapore
Competition Commission Singapore – Abuse of Dominant Position by Sistic resulting in a $989K fine with the appeal hearing on 3rd October 2011.
The Infringement Decision was 4th June 2010 – CCS Fines SISTIC.com Pte Ltd for Abusing Its Dominant Position to Foreclose Competition in the Ticketing Services Market
“CCS finds that SISTIC is the dominant ticketing service provider in Singapore with a persistent market share of [85-95]%, and that the restrictions under the Exclusive Agreements are harmful to competition by restricting the choices of venue operators, event promoters and ticket buyers. Symptoms of such harmful effects have been observed in the market, such as an increase in SISTIC’s booking fee for ticket buyers in 2008.“
South Africa
Competition Commission South Africa – Exclusionary Conduct by Computicket. Next hearing 13th October 2011
Press Release from the SA Competition Commission announcing the case of exclusionary conduct against Computicket back in May 2010.
“With a market share exceeding 95%, the Commission identified that Computicket is dominant in the market for outsourced ticketing services for entertainment events including theatres, festivals and live events.“
“Computicket’s exclusive contracts prevent rivals from entering the market thereby reducing choice and convenience for consumers. As a result the commission and fees that it charges for its services are higher than they would have been in a competitive market,” said Commissioner Shan Ramburuth. They don’t seem to be addressing the whole issue by focussing (maybe by legal necessity) on the B2C impact as opposed to the B2B effect upon event owners and presenters.
If these cases do set an international precedent, will we see an enduring change to the current ticketing model for venues and agencies?
Is a scalping bot a bot, if it looks and smells like a bot?
I was surprised by the candour of this website TicketBots – automating human efforts.
“Ticketmaster Helper Application is designed to help brokers, so that they get more organized and save time while purchasing tickets. This product is legal and developed by authorizing the lawsuits. Ticketmaster helper application just helps the user to reduce manual work that user does while purchasing tickets. It is just a transformation of human efforts into an automatic process of buying tickets.“
It appears that they are covering a fair few of the scalping opportunities with a suite of offerings:
Fred Rosen Taking on Ticketmaster
Wired recently carried an interview with Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard Young CEO Seeks to Reset Ticketmaster With Tech and Transparency
In it he addresses the “challenge that faces Ticketmaster: its reputation as one of the most loathed companies in America.“
“… given Ticketmaster’s abysmal track record on fees, transparency, privacy and customer service, it’s going to take more than a sweet jam to change the public perception of the ticketing giant.“
Meanwhile, ex-Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen is back and rattling Ticketmaster’s cage with a ‘new model’ partially explained in Taking on Ticketmaster
The article includes a video of Fred Rosen explaining how the model works.
Rosen “estimates that over the next 24 months, as many as a third of the current contracts between venues and Ticketmaster will expire, and Outbox hopes to make a play.“
We wish him luck, many have tried in the past as Fred well knows. I hope Outbox has deep pockets to stump up with key money or a suitable replacement in terms of financial incentive.
We believe that we own the tickets we buy, but do we?
I have been watching this movement with interest since the start of the year.
The Fan Freedom Project rails against the “new restrictive paperless ticketing technologies under the guise of innovation and convenience.“
It is the terms and conditions that are now being applied to paperless tickets that the Fan Freedom Project sees as restrictive:
Two types of paperless ticketing, both of which have negative implications for fans of live events:
- Restricted transfer (closed-loop system administered by the ticket agent)
- Prohibition of ticket transfer (ticket tied to one credit card or ID)
While I applaud the sentiment and the call to action for change, I am not so sure about the statement – “We the fans believe we own the tickets we buy.” My understanding is that a ticket is just a licence to attend an event at a specific location, date and time (and maybe seating location). Does the consumer really own it and own what? Any opinions?
Take a look at the infographic for a quick summary of the issues.
Is Ticketmaster pinning its hopes for survival on international growth?
On the back of the AEG split from using Ticketmaster, more evidence that Ticketmaster sees its best option at survival with the domination of international markets. Ticketmaster Acquires ServiCaixa, Spain’s Largest Ticket Retailer.
Back in March 2007 FULL HOUSES posited this move with Moving market forces are changing Ticketmaster’s global growth strategy
At that time one of the international ticketing operators that Ticketmaster absorbed was Tick Tack Ticket of Spain. Now Ticketmaster is back to clean up the rest of the Spanish market with the acquisition of ServiCaixa.
A not so well kept secret has been let ‘out the box’
We always expected Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) take the opportunity to go its own way with ticketing. Particularly as it is #2 to Live Nation, now owners of Ticketmaster.
It is not surprising that AEG chose not to Ticketmaster’s system, surely this is an endictment of the decision and logic of the antitrust regulators?
AEG has entered a joint venture called Outbox Enterprises. Fred Rosen, former Ticketmaster CEO who steered Ticketmaster to dominance in the 80′s and 90′s, is the new venture’s CEO. Outbox originates from Canada and is responsible for the sexy Cirque du Soleil online ticketing interface written about in FULLHOUSES last year.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the industry takes to the ‘white label‘ model that Outbox offers, removing the need for a central ticket agent online brand selling directly from the venue or event owners website. Is it the end of the agent middleman?
“This isn’t about trying to go out there and build a whole new brand around the name Outbox, … This is about service.” AEG Chief Executive Tim Leiweke
Mobile Apps – How do you butter your bread on both sides?
Live Nation (owner of Ticketmaster) has just announced that it has launched an iPhone app for the Apple OS. Ticketmaster parent Live Nation drives ticket sales via mobile commerce platform
Live Nation has previouslyl become involved with Apple in providing concert listings for iTunes 10.
But back in 2009, Ticketmaster launched Ticketmaster for Blackberry (albeit described as “a glorified browser shortcut/plugin“) and has since stated that Blackberry is the “Official Smartphone of Ticketmaster“. Although the page on the Ticketmaster site does confuse the issue with the tag line “love seeing it live”
Is this an example of how a monopoly vertically integrated company just tries to ensure that it is all things to all people?
A vision of the future? But where are the crowds?
This press release pushes a pretty sexy new toy, however only for the venues that can afford it currently. But we do know affordability improves with accessibility.
Ticketmaster and Iomedia Deliver Interactive Ticketing Technology
Some other competitors already offer seat views by way of photos for sections of seats, but this seems to be the next step.
Check out the demonstration video
I was entertained by some of the cited features:
Select your seat interactively by criteria such as:
- chanting or singing
- consumption (alcohol I presume)
- soccer knowledge etc.
You can check out the view from your seat using a variety of criteria:
- daytime vs nighttime
- shade by time of day
You can even compare the view from two different seats.
It started to get a little spooky when it started showing some of the product placement opportunities for advertisers … oops sponsors.
The only thing missing was the audience. Lots of views of empty seats. It is a shame it does not give an option for view with crowd and view without. But then I guess it would need settings for half full vs half empty and with or without really tall person sitting in front 
A Serious Competitor for TicketMaster?
Outbox Technology Inc. plans to announce, former Ticketmaster Chief Executive (1982-98), Fred Rosen as the CEO of a new U.S. subsidiary, Outbox Enterprises LLC. You may remember the seven part interview with Rosen that was featured on FULL HOUSES last year.
The new company is a partnership among the Canadian company, Mr. Rosen and Cirque du Soleil Inc., for which Outbox has provided the ticketing technology for several years.
“Instead of listing and selling tickets for thousands of events on a single, centralized website, the new company plans to offer a so-called white-label service that will enable clients such as concert venues, festivals and sports teams to sell tickets to consumers directly from their own websites.“
“The middle-man model is dead, … You have to evolve.” says Rosen
Whilst it is great to see another option that is allowing producers to deal directly with their customers and via a pretty sexy interface as well, the challenge is still to get past the barrier of venue exclusive ticketing contracts. It was easier for Cirque du Soleil to get past that handicap as they controlled the venue, in many instances their own tent.
READ FULL ARTICLE ONLINE Ticketmaster Ex-CEO to Lead a New Rival>>
