Across AXS ’ s other AEG clients , including the OVO Arena Wembley and festivals BST Hyde Park and All Points East , around 80 % of tickets sold are mobile and 20 % are e-tickets . More broadly , around 30 % of tickets sold are in physical formats .
Ticketmaster UK MD Andrew Parsons says the shift to digital ticketing is speeding up across the UK : “ The benefits were always there but are even more clear cut in a post- Covid world . For the fan it provides a convenient and frictionless experience . For the event organiser ; more insight than ever before . In the past when someone would buy four tickets , it was a matter of guessing who those other three tickets went to .
“ Now , we can serve everyone up a more personalised and enjoyable experience from the moment the ticket lands in their Ticketmaster account right through to showtime .”
Full stream ahead The success of livestreamed concerts during the pandemic was not lost on ticketing companies . Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster formed Ticketmaster Livestream , which is available in more than 10 languages and can accommodate 135 currencies . It enables event operators and artists to sell tickets or accept donations for their digital events directly on their website and can also be plugged into any third-party streaming platform .
The company also teamed with Redeam to provide bundled travel and live event bookings . Live event organisers can use it to create packages and promotions that travellers can combine with other experiences as they book their trip .
DICE expanded into streaming last October with the acquisition of electronic music live event streaming platform Boiler Room .
DICE founder and CEO Phil Hutcheon says he had been speaking to Boiler Room founder Blaise Bellville for more
Amazon ’ s palm reading technology
than a year about how to support artists better . He says the combination of Boiler Room with the distribution and technology of DICE creates “ substantial opportunities in a sustainable , transparent and fair model ”.
May 2020 saw the launch of streaming platform Festicket Live . It was the result of Festicket-owned Event Genius partnering with Paris-based music and lifestyle channel Clubbing TV , which had streamed shows by festival brands including Tomorrowland and We Are FSTVL .
In was another step toward Festicket becoming a 360-degree offering , with its Event Genius platform already providing services across ticketing , accommodation , travel and packages , marketing , data insights and analytics , access control , POS and cashless payment .
Hossenally says , “ We have the ability to view transactions all the way from the purchase to travel to the on-site experience .”
Tackling touts Ticketpass , founded in 2016 by Rodrigo Bautista , has a clear USP . Described as an ethical ticketing alternative , the company donates 50 % of its booking fee to charity projects in more than 170 countries , while also capping booking fees and eliminating touts .
Bautista says , “ As a ticket buyer I got fed-up with the current ticketing systems . It is hard to get tickets because of bots and touts , and on the other hand it is hard to resell your tickets : finding buyers , sending tickets and getting paid .
“ We provide all event organisers with their own ethical secondary marketplace where fans can transfer or resell their tickets at face value .”
Newman says AXS works closely with Reg Walker and the Iridium Consultancy to cut out touts , as well as checking suspicious booking patterns and blocking users on its booking system .
“ We do as much as we possibly can to stop touts and make sure as many tickets as possible get into the hands of real fans .”
Hossenally says Festicket recently launched a ticket activation system , whereby customers are given a “ fan
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