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They’re the top music club in Knoxville, are one of the Top 100 worldwide clubs according to Pollstar, and they’re now a part of the TicketBiscuit family. We’d like to extend a hearty welcome to Gary Mitchell and his team at The Valarium and Cider House. We’re looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with you all.
I think one of my favorite things about working in tech is when we make connections with other companies that are interested in solving the same problems we’re trying to solve. That’s what makes today’s announcement about our partnership with ScoreBig so cool. These guys have figured out a new way to help venues and live event organizers move excess inventory and sell more tickets. Unlike some of the other discounting services out there, ScoreBig’s approach doesn’t cannibalize full price sales or devalue our client’s brand. It’s innovative awesomeness, for sure.
Those that know TicketBiscuit know that our core mission is to relentlessly innovate to help clients sell more tickets. We were among the first to offer full social media integration, are one of the only to offer a powerful built in email newsletter engine, and remain one of the sole ticketing companies with an active affiliate program. We’ve led the way in helping active customers find and buy tickets, and empowering ticket buyers to spread the love socially and virally about the events they’re attending.
ScoreBig opens up a whole new horizon to our clients: the ability to be introduced to new customers. We see this as the perfect complement to our efforts to date. Plus, ScoreBig’s tech is way cool. They apply a Priceline-type “name your own pricing” approach to event tickets. You can find out more about ScoreBig here, or read the full press release below.
Welcome to the TicketBiscuit family, ScoreBig!
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TicketBiscuit, ScoreBig Announce Strategic Marketing Partnership
Birmingham, Alabama – February 2, 2011. TicketBiscuit, a leading provider of ticketing software and services, and ScoreBig, a new website that allows live entertainment fans to make an offer on more than a half million live event tickets - all below retail price and without fees – today announced a marketing partnership that will enable hundreds of TicketBiscuit clients nationwide to leverage ScoreBig’s proprietary platform and marketing network to increase ticket sales.
TicketBiscuit CEO Jeff Gale said the partnership will help solve a key problem in live entertainment. “Currently, some 40% of tickets to live entertainment events go unsold. ScoreBig has developed a business model and service that solves this problem. ScoreBig fills unsold seats – and here’s the key –without devaluing our clients’ brands and cannibalizing full price sales. It’s a truly innovative approach, and it fits perfectly with TicketBiscuit’s core mission: to help our clients sell more tickets.”
Gale added that the ScoreBig partnership is the latest in a series of ongoing innovations at TicketBiscuit. In addition to pioneering social media integration with Twitter and Facebook, and offering a built-in email newsletter engine, the company unveiled an affiliate program in August that pays commissions to website publishers for referring ticket sales. “Our clients have seen great results from our affiliate program. It helps active customers – those who already plan to purchase – find our clients,” Gale said. “The partnership with ScoreBig is the perfect complement: it helps introduce new customers to our clients and move inventory that would otherwise perish.”
ScoreBig VP of Business Development Mark Meyerson said that having TicketBiscuit on board will broaden ScoreBig’s inventory and make the service more valuable to members. “TicketBiscuit’s impressive client roster of music venues, comedy clubs and event organizers will give ScoreBig members even greater access to quality entertainment at great savings nationwide.”
About ScoreBig
ScoreBig offers members guaranteed savings of up to 70% on tickets to live sporting, music and theater events with no fees and free delivery. ScoreBig partners with venues, sports teams, promoters, artists, entertainment properties and others to help move unsold ticket inventory safely and securely without the cannibalization risks and negative brand perceptions associated with traditional discounting. ScoreBig was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. To learn more about ScoreBig, visit www.scorebig.com.
About TicketBiscuit
TicketBiscuit, founded in 2001, provides proprietary software that powers the online ticket sales of over 500 clients in 1500 venues across the United States and Canada. TicketBiscuit’s complete suite of services and solutions empowers clients to sell tickets online through their own websites, via call center, and via the TicketBiscuit web-based box office interface. For more information on TicketBiscuit, please visit http://www.ticketbiscuit.com .
Contact:
TicketBiscuit Press Inquiries
866.757.8330
info@ticketbiscuit.com
ScoreBig Press Inquiries
Jill Wahler
646.428.0602
press@scorebig.com
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When tickets go on sale tomorrow for the April 4 Guster concert at WorkPlay, fans of the popular band will find the online buying experience a bit different. That’s because WorkPlay, Guster, and TicketBiscuit have collaborated to present an “All In Price”. So, when the ads say advance tickets are $25, fans will truly pay only $25 per ticket. The price will be the same whether the fans buy online, over the phone, or in person, and there will be no added fees at checkout.
Why is this significant? The standard industry practice with live entertainment ticketing is to advertise one price, but when ticket buyers go online to purchase, several fees are heaped on to the total. For example, across town from WorkPlay at the larger arena in Birmingham, tickets to a popular upcoming country show are advertised at $27, but after ticketing fees, delivery fees, and order processing fees are added these tickets actually end up costing the buyer almost $20 more per ticket. Fans have long complained that ticketing fees are exorbitant and unnecessary.
The concept of an “All In Price” is not entirely new. Live Nation / Ticketmaster experimented with convenience fee- free tickets during the summer of 2010, but fans complained that the fees were dropped for only the least expensive lawn seats. Ticketmaster announced on a company blog in August 2010 that it would present fees earlier in the purchase process, yet the fees presented don’t include add-ons like ticket delivery and order processing charges.
By contrast, all of the advance tickets for the April 4 Guster show are the “All In Price” of $25, with no added fees or charges at checkout. Prices will be $27 on the day of the show.
“The collaboration of a ticketing company, a venue, and an artist to arrive at a fair price represents a new way of making live entertainment a more pleasurable experience for the fans,” TicketBiscuit CEO Jeff Gale said. Todd Coder, who recently joined TicketBiscuit as the Director of Business Development, added “The process was pretty easy, it just required clear and open communication among all parties, and a bit of willingness to deviate from the way things have always been done. A lot of credit goes to WorkPlay and Guster for helping us make this happen.“
TicketBiscuit plans to use the positive experience with Workplay to make the All In Price more common in live entertainment. We’ve recently launched a website, www.allinprice.org , to share our approach and insights with other venues, artists, and ticketing companies hoping to further the practice. “The fans demand an All In Price for tickets, and if we can give it to them, they will buy more tickets.” Gale said.
Tickets for Guster go on sale at 10 am Wednesday, January 19, at the All-In-Price of $25. They can be purchased at www.workplay.com or over the phone at 205.879.4773.
What a great piece of news heading into the holiday season, and what a great way to set the stage for 2011. We announced today that we’ve secured a round of capital from C&G Capital Partners in Tuscaloosa, AL. Mike Chambers and John Gaffney are the principals of C&G, and in addition to their investment, they’re going to bring a motherlode of insight, advice, and mentorship to our team. To say that Team TicketBiscuit is excited about having these guys on board would be a colossal understatement. Big ‘Biscuit props to Zane and his team over at Founders Investment Banking, and our friends at Goodrich Law Firm for their guidance and help through the process!
Throughout the history of our company, we’ve developed technologies and services to help our clients sell more tickets and operate more profitably. Consider that in the last 24 months alone, we’ve rolled out mobile ticketing, Facebook and Twitter integration, Customizable Print-at-Home tickets, and an Affiliate Program that puts our client’s events on huge industry websites like eventful.com, SongKick, SonicLiving, JamBase, and more.
With this capital, we’re going to continue aggressively investing in technologies and services of this type. We think that’s a smart move – one that will benefit our promoter and venue clients, our investment partners, and live entertainment fans. As Jeff Gale, TicketBiscuit’s CEO, said in the official press release, “ We’ve got an amazing team of developers, industry veterans, and generally brilliant people. And we’re laser-focused on delivering real, innovative solutions to the challenges facing live entertainment ticket sales.” Let’s do this!
More Info:
Birmingham Business Journal: TicketBiscuit Secures Capital Funding
AL.com: Birmingham-Based TicketBiscuit gets Capital Infusion
Official Release from Founders Investment Banking: TicketBiscuit Secures Growth Funding Round
Todd Coder (Image source www.b-Metro.com)
TicketBiscuit is excited to welcome Todd Coder to our team! Todd begins work for TicketBiscuit on November 10 and will be laser-focused on spreading the ‘Biscuit love to the nation’s best music venues.
And Todd knows music. He originally joined WorkPlay as talent buyer in 2006, and has been instrumental in establishing it as one of the top music and entertainment venues in the nation. Consistently voted best music venue in Birmingham by its patrons, Todd introduced an increased frequency of nationally recognized artists to the WorkPlay Theatre and WorkPlay Soundstage. Over the last year, he produced a ton of events outside of WorkPlay, among them the Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival, the Concerts for the Coast Series which included Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley, and Back to the Beach 2010 featuring Vince Gill & Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Todd’s new position with TicketBiscuit is part of a unique arrangement that we envision will be mutually beneficial to both TicketBiscuit and WorkPlay. In addition to his role with us, Todd will also continue to book national and regional talent for WorkPlay, while transitioning day-to-day duties to WorkPlay staff. Our CEO, Jeff Gale, explains: “Todd’s renown as a music industry expert and extensive network will unlock opportunities for TicketBiscuit to gain new marquee clients, and TicketBiscuit’s reputation and resources will help Todd establish new relationships and bring more national talent to Birmingham at WorkPlay. Everybody wins, especially Birmingham.”
Drop Todd a line at tcoder@ticketbiscuit.com .
