Leading the Way

What was your best live ComeTogether ticket QR codes can be simply moment of 2021? scanned at venue access points

TOP SHOUT I promoted the Foo Fighters in Fairbanks, Alaska, on 21 August oped was the NFT collectibles app, UniqTogether. Collecting tickets and other event memora2021. Not only had they not had a major show in the city since bilia has always been a part of going to events. Covid, it was the first major arena rock show in the market in We bring this to the digital world. It works in nine years. The town did not have t-shirt concert security, so we conjunction with digital ticketing or standalone got help from the military base down the road, The town had and includes a marketplace for future resale. The ticket can be an NFT, with artwork and even one rigger, so we flew in eight additional riggers from the States. dynamic content (eg the setlist) but we can also The police call for the show was to be six, but Fairbanks as a city create NFTs linked to the live event with images, only has 12 policeman total and could not make that work, so video highlights, fan-generated content, and exwe called the towns around them and got our police from the clusive artist content for event attendees.” north pole (not joking at all). A Bright FutureProduction had to be driven in from days away as concert The growing adoption of blockchain ticketing, sound and light of this scale just did not exist in the market. The NFTs, and the likes of blockchain-based royalvenue team had never put on a concert before, but we talked ties applications in the wider music industry are them through it all and pulled together to make it happen. The show required proof of a vaccine or a negative test. The building the foundations for what could become a multibillion dollar sector in the years to come. Central to blockchain’s appeal is its transparvaccine rate in Fairbanks was very low, and the number of tests ency, allowing people to track transactions at in the market did not meet the demand, so we set up a free every stage and to see how money is genuinely testing site at the venue for 24 hours leading into the show. shared between the various rights holders. Seeing the band on stage for soundcheck was a major Sharing his belief that blockchain will continue to become more prevalent in ticketing solumilestone in my life and career, only to be topped by the fans’ tions, Mitskas says, “The news is full of stories faces when finally seeing a world-class rock band on stage in their about ticket touts ruining the fan experience town as the house went to black, and Dave and the boys brought and revenue model of events all around our the house down for well over three hours. The fans had been touched by the rock gods, and the band had felt it, too, not only industry. The more blockchain is deployed the more we can control this. “Blockchain enables the industry to create promising to return but also spreading the word to other bands new marketing programmes, such as NFT colthat the good people of Alaska have earned more great rock & lectibles, to drive stronger fan engagement and roll, and they need to come play for these amazing fans. I was ongoing revenues. During 2021, we saw incredblessed to be in the room that night, as it was a reminder of how great live music is. ible NFT success stories where NFT music was auctioned at very high prices; but these scenarios were only applicable to a wealthy audience. Our Dan Steinberg | Emporium Presents vision is that NFTs become something available to everyone at every price point.” Mitskas continues, “We envision a future where multiple ticketing vendors (or other stakeholders) will have the incentive to participate in a ticketing public blockchain network. This would result in a collaborative ticketing economy built on a public blockchain that allows for vendors to cross borders to increase their revenue and ticketing market share. How would this work? Imagine a ticketing vendor in England who wanted to include events taking place in Greece in their portfolio of tickets available for sale.” Looking toward the future, Pamplin says Beat Hive is predicting huge growth. “We are incredibly excited for what’s in store for the music industry. Much of what we predicted back in October 2020 has happened, and we are expecting much of the same moving into 2022. One particular standout is an increase of public adoption and awareness for blockchain itself.” Pamplin predicts, “Throughout 2022 we will continue to see an uptake of digital wallets that can hold NFTs and cryptocurrency. This will enable the live events sector to use blockchain more in everyday life. Live online performances can become more profitable for the creators using NFTs, and when the time is right, we have some wonderful ideas on how we can team up with venues and event organisers. “We also have to talk about the Metaverse! It sounds crazy, but we do believe it will supplement the live event industry in years to come. We have some land in a metaverse, and it would be silly of us to let you know all our plans for it, but we are keeping a close eye on the metaverse/ event space and looking forward to sharing more news with you throughout 2022.”

For his part, SecuTix executive Ziche contends that many people will turn to blockchain technology to fulfil tasks that traditional ticketing providers have been unable to deliver.

“Many in the event industry have had bad experiences with the legacy ticketing players,” states Ziche. “The trust in their ability to solve the transparency and fair exchange equation has been eroded. We are now seeing some large sports rights holders and music artists pushing for action to protect their true fans and allowing them to buy a ticket at a fair price thanks to blockchain. A perfect example of this is SECUTIX’s use of blockchain for Ed Sheeran’s 2022 tour in Europe to combat ticket fraud.”

And Ziche tells IQ that while there are obstacles to overcome, the sector has been preparing itself for a full-scale assault, post-pandemic. “The building blocks have been coming to maturity in 2021 and solutions like our own TIXNGO is already embracing those new capabilities and applying them to ticketing. For example, leveraging blockchain smart contracts to regulate secondary market transactions, generate new revenue stream for organisations, and create a trusted resale experience for fans.”

Indeed, GET Protocol’s Biggs concludes that the current wave of blockchain operations is merely the start of a new commercial marketplace that he insists will grow exponentially in the years ahead.

“At the risk of coming across slightly biased, I feel it is safe to say that we have only seen the first iterations in a lot of revolutionary blockchain-based applications,” says Biggs. “From our own NFT ticketing applications to the enormous potential of metaverse events, the drastic increase in people building within this corner of the industry illustrates the fact that we have truly only seen the tip of the iceberg.”

The Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, hosted Foo Fighters in August 2021 When Frank Turner walked on the stage at Clapham Grand on 19 July. After 438 days of silence. I don’t think it would be possible to explain all the emotions that went through my head in words. Mark Davyd | Music Venue Trust

Kings of Convenience matinee show at Royal Festival Hall, 26 September: a warm Sunday afternoon on the South Bank; first of two shows. A large percentage of the crowd had travelled to London from around the UK and Europe. This was the band’s first major show in years, and it was sublime.

CONTRIBUTORS

Rob Challice | Paradigm

I can only reply self-centredly as it was mostly a bleak year in terms of concerts (not other things). It was [early December] performing in Mexico City in the courtyard of the Vernacular Institute to 50 or so arty types. I think I OLIVIER BIGGS | GET PROTOCOL channelled all the fury that lingers inside me STATHIS MITSKAS | COMETOGETHER following two years of absurd struggle. JOSH PAMPLIN | BEAT HIVE Nick Hobbs | CharmenkoLUCA ZICHE | SECUTIX

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