You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Uncategorized' category.
According to Pollstar’s numbers, the concert industry made more money this year than it did last year, but sold fewer tickets. You can find the WSJ Article here.
What does this mean? Promoters raised prices. Now, how much of the 3% decline in ticket volume is related to the economy versus the almost 8% rise in price is related to the economy is anyone’s guess, but I think this picture could get a lot bleaker if the industry doesn’t come to Jesus. Quick. And I’m not talking about incorrect ticket pricing (this time), although I do still believe the industry is stuck in the dark ages on that front too.
It’s about embracing technology. Tech enables you to do things faster, cheaper, and better, but the concert and live entertainment industry has been slow to really embrace what tech can do for them. Trust me. Some folks are just anti-change (some of our clients are this way).
I read today that the Seattle Theater Group is dumping Ticketmaster in favor of one of our competitors, Tickets.com (too bad, STG - allllllmost a win). The most telling quote in the development is from STG Executive Director Josh Labelle:
“We look at Tickets.com as a technology company, less so as a ticketing company.”
YES, YES! Ticketing is just the beginning. Technology is the evolution. Venues, Promoters, and Artists have to start asking about how the technology in their partnerships (especially ticketing providers) is helping them reach more fans and sell more tickets. We’ve been innovating in this space for years and have tons of tools for integrating into the leading social media networks. I’m not sure how much more simplistic it can be: entertainers generate fans; ticketing companies should be able to connect to those fans, and help those fans reach and connect to each other.
I spoke with a young lady in the promotions business a couple of months ago who was using TicketWeb / Ticketmaster for their ticketing operations because of their “marketing” features. I showed her on paper how she was literally costing her company over a million dollars a year, ticketing fees that her customers are currently paying to TicketWeb that her company could keep if they went with an alternative provider.
What could you do with $1 million additional advertising? To cap it all off, with just a little effort, this marketing moron could have created her own online community around her act and had a marketing machine that was several times more efficient and long lasting (their show is targeted at kids, and several studies show that moms in general are very active online). FAIL.
Until the concert (and live entertainment) industry embraces the technology to improve their operations, they will have to continue to raise prices in order to deliver growth. And eventually (read: THIS YEAR) the customers will have enough and they will collectively say, “No, thanks.”
We never stop innovating to help our clients sell more tickets. That’s kind of become our motto here lately. We’ve been quietly building the Facebook integration for a few weeks and beta testing it to the hilt, and I am happy to say our super genius dev team has done it yet again.
Now, when you set up an account in TicketBiscuit, you can automatically publish your event to your Facebook page. If you update the event, it will be updated on Facebook as well. There is simply no easier, quicker, or cooler way to connect with your fans and keep them in the loop.
I know what many of you are thinking: “I don’t have time for some kid’s toy!” But think again. Rapidly approaching 100 million registered users worldwide, the Facebook community is expanding into all demographic categories. Those 25- 40 year olds with deep pockets? Over 11 MILLION are registered on Facebook in the United States alone. That will probably be 12 million by the end of the month. The takeaway is that this ain’t just a kids toy. It is a serious marketing tool and can reap mucho benefits. (UPDATE: read this blog post if you’re still not convinced)
Check this page out to learn more about Facebook Pages. Here’s another overview page about the other business products you can get.
If you’ve already set up a Facebook account and want to get this feature hooked up pronto, give us a call.
(Full Press Release: TicketBiscuit Ticketing System adds Automatic Facebook and Eventful.com Integration)
I really don’t know why I’ve never heard of this before. Orange RockCorps started in the US in 2003 “to act as the bridge between communities in need and young adults in a position to help.” The group organizes volunteering events, then rewards volunteers with exclusive concert tickets.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/10/rockcorps.volunteering?gusrc=rss&feed=society
While the article does present a negative side to this idea - that volunteering should be altruistic - I agree with Orange RockCorps founders that it is a great way to mobilize young folks.
Kudos all around, guys.
What You Don’t Know About Hurricanes
August 27, 2008 in Commentary, Musings, Uncategorized | Tags: Commentary, hurricane gustav | by ehoush | No comments
BUT- there are many things you DON’T know about hurricanes. For example, did you know that this Gustav is actually the fifth tropical cyclone to share that name? Look it up.
Find out what else you don’t know about hurricanes – check out the quiz hosted by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. You just might learn something.
Speaking of learning something- we occasionally post ticket selling tips on this blog, like last week’s post on event aggregator sites. We’re interested in your thoughts on these tips. Are they helpful? Do you have tips to share? Let us know.