Ticketmaster Saves Concerts

GM DOers!

Ticketing is a mess.

When was the last time you paid a reasonable price for a concert ticket to your favorite band?

As a concert-goer, you may be familiar with the anxiety that comes with buying tickets online.

Waiting in a queue, constantly refreshing the page, and discovering that the already high ticket price has tripled can be an incredibly stressful experience!

We need a better solution.

And Ticketmaster has taken note. They’ve recently announced they’re rolling out an NFT-gated ticket sales feature that allows bands to offer their most dedicated fans the ability to front-run the scalpers and purchase tickets without stress.

Simply connect your wallet, verify what’s inside, and purchase the ticket at your leisure!

Event ticketing is one of the most potent web3 use cases out there - the incumbent alternatives are a pain to use, events are relatable to everyone, and the added capabilities and easy UX of NFT tickets are immediately felt upon trying.

That’s why it’s so great to see one of the ticketing giants, Ticketmaster, adopting web3 technologies and doubling down on NFT ticketing.

So let’s jump in and explore the problems with the way ticketing is done currently, and how this new feature solves them in more detail…

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Everything Wrong With Ticketing

Where to even begin?

The process of buying concert tickets online can be expensive, aggravating, and risky due to widespread scams, concealed charges, ticket scalping, and exorbitant secondary market resale values.

As you can see, there are numerous pain points plaguing the events industry.

There are opportunists who have turned profiteering from ticket sales into a profession, resorting to various tactics.

This includes flooding ticket sites with bots, as well as selling fake tickets in secondary markets, which makes it impossible for regular, honest-to-God fans to simply buy a concert ticket for a decent price…

So how do we overcome these challenges?

The difficulty in differentiating between a bot or a malicious individual and a sincere person extends beyond the events industry—it's a widespread issue across the internet.

Demonstrating one's humanity has been a long-standing challenge, but the emergence of web3 is rapidly transforming this landscape.

But as it relates to ticketing, a practical solution would be to prove one's genuine fandom and engagement within the community. This is precisely the strategy that Ticketmaster has adopted to address these challenges.

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NFT-Gated Ticket Sales

Web3 communities have been utilizing NFTs as access passes for digital spaces and live events for a while now, providing various perks for holders.

To date, Ticketmaster has already minted almost 15 million digital collectibles tied to events, including NFL games.

Now, Ticketmaster is set to bring token-gating to the masses with the introduction of a new feature, allowing artists to offer exclusive access to concert and event tickets for eligible NFT owners.

In collaboration with the popular metal band Avenged Sevenfold, Ticketmaster has rolled out the Ethereum NFT token-gating feature for artists.

Avenged Sevenfold, which boasts its own Deathbats Club NFT collection, was instrumental in testing the token-gating feature prior to the full launch.

During the purchasing process, Ticketmaster prompts users to connect a wallet to verify ownership of eligible NFTs.

From there, it's essentially the same buying process, but without the stress of competing against a vast sea of ticket-hungry fans (and bots… 🙄).

This is fantastic news both for web3 and music fans:

• For web3, this will bring a ton of music fans into the space, accelerating adoption;

• For fans, creating a wallet and purchasing music or community NFTs from their favorite artists will be a no-brainer, as it essentially guarantees access to concerts at regular prices. Furthermore, it’ll open up doors for them to explore web3 beyond their initial intent, such as token-gated communities, redeemable merch and special perks at concerts;

Overall, it’s great to see the platform prioritize true fans, giving them exclusive access, seat selection, and the best prices.

Let’s hope that it catches on and other artists start using this feature as well!

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The Future That Lies Ahead

This is a great start, but there's still work to be done.

Ticketmaster's NFT tickets and NFT token-gating feature is just the beginning.

There are numerous NFT ticketing features they could implement to fully tackle the issues plaguing the ticketing industry, and make the space more equitable and fun for all.

Although these features exist in fully web3-native products/services already, web2 companies are slow to adopt them.

Some potential improvements include:

• NFT tickets with built-in resale price controls, preventing exorbitant markups.

• Decentralized ticket marketplaces for secure, trustless transactions.

• Transparent pricing structures to eliminate hidden fees.

• Royalty schemes for artists, ensuring they benefit from ticket resales.

However, we must also acknowledge that Ticketmaster has played a role in the problems surrounding high ticket prices and predatory behavior in the industry. So we must stay vigilant and keep them accountable.

Some reservations notwithstanding, Ticketmaster does seem to be on the right path, and its adoption of NFT and web3 technology is a promising step toward revolutionizing the ticketing industry.

Let's hope the company continues to execute on a vision that genuinely benefits artists, fans, and the entire events ecosystem.

What do you think, will NFT-gated tickets finally put an end to ticket scalping? Reply to this email with “Yup!” or “Not happening…” 😉

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Wouldn't it be cool to buy and hold parts of an expensive NFT and share its ownership and utility, like airdrops or exclusive access?

Well, say hello to SegMint.

SegMint is a non-custodial NFT platform set to launch in Q3 of this year and aims to allow users to easily create access keys and share ownership of NFTs with friends and community members.

The team is going through their Beta release soon and has opened up their waitlist for Web3 Academy listeners.

If you want to stay at the forefront of web3, sign up for SegMint's waitlist today!

Uncover More of Web3’s Latest News

• OpenAI connects ChatGPT to the internet with their latest feature - Plugins: Source

• ZkSync launches scaling solution for Ethereum, enabling the building of dApps that can be used by hundreds of millions of users: Source

• Gucci is working with Yuga Labs to bring high fashion to the Metaverse: Source

• Hotel by Wassies, themed after the popular "Wassie by Wassies" NFT collection, opens its doors to customers in Singapore: Source

🟣 Hold on, DOers!

The “Academy” in Web3 Academy is there for a reason, so we’ve got some homework for you 😉

EXPLORE

Ticketmaster is great, but have you heard about the most popular web-native ticketing solution called GET Protocol? From selling to scanning, tens of thousands of events have trusted GET Protocol's ticketing solutions to deliver memorable experiences. Take a look at GET’s stats, explore its FAQ section, and keep an eye out for events that are powered by GET Protocol!

LISTEN

In this new segment of the podcast, we debate whether holders of an NFT project should have the right to demand whatever they want as if they were shareholders of a company, taking as a starting point the recent controversy around Doodles no longer being an NFT project. Give it a listen! 😉

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you on Friday! ❤️

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not financial advice. Conduct your own research and consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions or taking any action based on the content.