Ticketmaster may just be the villain the world cannot defeat. It is hated by fans, artists, and even the event organizers who are locked into exclusive contracts. Playing the part well, former Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen famously responded to the hate by replying “I have no sympathy for people whining about high ticket prices. . . the public brought all this on itself.” He refers to the trends of music moving online and onto streaming platforms, thus creating a stronger need for artists to seek revenue through live concerts. Why this has resulted in a dystopian world where ticket prices can be on average $600 dollars per event, however, is another story. By all accounts (including congressional hearings), the reason is simple: Ticketmaster has cornered the market, cornered the artists, and cornered the venues. And none of us—including the United States congress—can touch them.
Above Photo by Karina lago on Unsplash
Why this has happened is a long, long story. However, the bigger question is: Can anyone actually do something about this abusive monopoly?
The surprising answer is—according to UTIX CEO Maxwell Mayhew—YES. While a head to head competition is a non-starter, and attacking their monopoly is a fool’s errand, there may be a way to slay the dragon once and for all.
The Ticketmaster model centers especially around event venues. Their ability to have exclusive contracts prevents major artists from performing at any major location that isn’t connected to Ticketmaster, meaning they have to play by those rules. But here is where there is a chance for change, because there is a particular event that happens once a year, filled with events, but not held at major venues. This is an opportunity to show an alternative to Ticketmaster: fair prices, a safe secondary market, and the ability to greatly limit ticket fraud. What is this grand event? Freshers Week.
What Is Freshers?
For those who aren’t familiar with Freshers, this is an event that occurs in universities across the UK and Australia the first week of the school year. It’s a chance for incoming freshmen to explore the campus, meet new people, get introduced to college life, and perhaps most importantly—to have a great time.
Known as Orientation Week in the US, Fachchas in India, or Cherry Blossom Parties in Japan, the idea is the same: Bring in the new group, show them a great time to get them excited about the next phase of their life, and help boost their ability to start much needed friendships in this wonderful new world. The event seems to be a hit, too, with students spending more each year participating in the revelries. In the UK, students are spending on average over 421 pounds, much of which goes to tickets purchased for events. This chaotic environment often hosts these events (many concerts, but other entertainment as well) all over campus, at venues not controlled by Ticketmaster.
So how could upstarts like UTIX help? Their plans are to show what life could be like in a fair and secure ticket purchasing environment. Mayhew says of his company, “The university market thrives on the nightlife experience; it is a fundamental part of starting the next step in an individual’s academic career. It is a new social dynamic many haven’t yet experienced, so the importance of e-ticketing safety and security plays a vital role in the foundation of the nightlife experience. Paying fair prices is of high importance to a demographic that are notoriously cash-strapped, and secondary market issues is a ‘hair on fire’ issue for these students. Finding tickets and paying a fair price isn’t as easy as one would think, with universities housing at times, upwards of 30,000 students in cities and venues not equipped to deal with that level of demand, tickets sell rapidly, and are then often sold at a secondary price much higher than initially offered. The ability to enable an open and fair exchange, at set predetermined prices by the event organiser, will ensure that those that do miss out, can fairly, and at a reasonable price, find tickets on the UTIX secondary market. Blockchain tech enables us to set lower fees comparatively to our competitors and the blockchain validation means we can securely store student identification data, meaning student events are filled with just that, students. Additionally, a centralised hub for ticketing enabled ease of use for freshers, we aim to be a one-stop solution for every university event.”
Source: Canva
This type of ticket management serves two key purposes for the industry. First, it directly benefits all the students, universities, event venues, and performing artists by creating an organized, easy to use event ticket system. Second, it can go to great lengths in preventing fraud that continues to grow each year and technology and the schemes that drive them become more sophisticated.
Maxwell has thoughts on this aspect as well: “The main issue with student ticketing is the secondary market. Tickets that require re-sale are sold on social media platforms, duplicates are created, and students left out of pocket and disappointed. From my own experience, you need to trawl Facebook and Twitter pages to find users that are selling their tickets, then go meet this individual and exchange tickets for cash. It is inefficient, ineffective and can be dangerous. By migrating this entirely online, we ensure that students are protected, the tickets they purchase are real, and they’re paying the price they should pay rather than the price set by potentially an untoward character. In a paper QR world, it is extremely simple for someone to buy a legitimate ticket, scan it 100 times, and sell it to individuals on social media with absolutely no tools for them to verify legitimacy. UTIX changes that.”
What Could Be Gained?
There’s an irony when a company has betrayed all the stakeholders involved. With the decades-long frustration aimed at Ticketmaster, there doesn’t seem to be a downside if we find an alternative that provides fair prices and safe ticket sales. Freshers, along with similar events across the world, is a ripe opportunity to show how things could be done right. Putting the spotlight on this may be able to start the ball rolling on opening the ticket market once again to strong players who actually care. Let’s hope Freshers can create good memories not just for the freshmen, but for ticket holders everywhere.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.