VIEWPOINT
Just the ticket How NFT technology will revolutionise event ticketing. Ryan Kenny, CEO of SeatlabNFT, explains
NFT ticketing technology has the potential to improve traceability, eliminate fraud, reduce the impact of scalping, and incentivise fans
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lockchain technologies, quite frankly, will impact all industries and sectors. There’s a calling for greater transparency and less monopolisation in current times, and we’re now entering a new dawn of technology that makes all this possible. We’re seeing a clear shift in the ticketing industry towards more innovative solutions that give event organisers increased control over the ticket process compared to more established outlets. But who’s thinking of the artist or promoter? Big-name artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have publicly voiced their concern over the out-of-control secondary ticketing market and called for an end to ticket touting and scalping. The pandemic has only accelerated the move towards fairer ticketing solutions; the spotlight has fallen on transparency and traceability for organisers looking to get back on track after a turbulent few years. NFT ticketing technology has the potential to improve traceability, eliminate fraud, reduce the impact of scalping, and incentivise fans in ways never before possible. Blockchain’s public ledger will allow artists and event organisers to
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form stronger connections with fans by recognising and rewarding loyalty with collectible NFT memories and other exclusive perks. Let me explain how.
WHAT IS AN NFT?
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. In short, NFTs are non-interchangeable digital assets stored on the blockchain that people can send between themselves using a cryptocurrency wallet. However, they are not like regular cryptocurrency. You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin. Bitcoin acts like digital currency; if two people both had one Bitcoin, they could happily swap them with each other and still have one Bitcoin. You can do the same with a £1 coin; it doesn’t matter which £1 coin you have, it’s still a £1 coin. But NFTs are more like diamonds. If two people had a diamond each, they’d be less inclined to swap them as each diamond will have unique characteristics like cut, colour and clarity. Diamonds are considered nonfungible because while they hold value, no two are the same. An NFT is a unique, one-of-a-kind digital token.
HOW CAN WE USE NFTS IN EVENT TICKETING?
By issuing event tickets as NFTs, we can take full advantage of the things blockchain technology offers us. NFT ticketing marketplaces are using the increased transparency of the public ledger to make it impossible to forge NFT tickets while simultaneously giving artists and event organisers more control over the secondary market and a new way to incentivise or reward fans.
ROYALTY SPLITS
Conditions can be attached that govern what people can and can’t do with NFT tickets using smart contracts. Royalty splits can transfer a given percentage of the revenue generated from secondary sales to a royalty beneficiary specified when tickets are created. For example, if a royalty split of 15 per cent was set and somebody resold a ticket on the secondary market for £100, £15 would be sent to the royalty beneficiary’s wallet. This gives artists and event organisers unprecedented control over secondary sales and opens a new revenue stream. Royalty splits take money out of the scalpers’
