Live Music inteLLigence An ILMC Publication. May 2011, Issue 35
iLMc 23: tHe RePORt Full review of conference weekend tOMORROW’s WORLd Industry-shaping new technology gOddess Of Live Kylie sets news standards in touring LOndOn’s ciRcLe Of Live The Roundhouse profiled at five LeAding tHe fieLds Switzerland’s divided live music market Getting it Right: Alex Hodges • Listen uP!: BRYAn gRAnt • The Summer of ’69: David Stopps • AnOtHeR BRicA in tHe WALL: RALPH siMOn
While the structure of the ticketing industry continues to morph, the product it sells is fast becoming unrecognisable. It’s all change then, in IQ’s fourth annual Ticketing Report… This Time lasT year, the Live Nation/Ticketmaster marriage had been all but cleared, paving the way for the creation of the world’s largest vertically aligned entertainment company. Depending on your allegiance, CTS Eventim’s ten-year deal to provide ticketing services to Live Nation (signed in 2008) was either a casualty of the merger or dropped because its system failed to meet expectations, but the German behemoth had just taken the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration. Twelve months on, and both sides are still skirting the issue publicly, while privately preparing for a showdown. When the judgement is announced some time in 2012, the consequences could be wide ranging. At ILMC in March, one well known Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) competitor argued that faced with an enormous fine, the cash-strapped company would be forced to hive-off Ticketmaster UK to Eventim as settlement. LNE insiders predict a small fine as the worst case scenario, and argue that there is plenty in the coffers to pay it. Both companies, meanwhile, have spent the year outwardly showing strength as the European market in particular continues to consolidate. In May 2010, Eventim purchased the 49.82% stake it didn’t already own in Italian market leader TicketOne for €21million, then in July it bought See Tickets Germany and Ticket Online Group for €145m. In November, LNE
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bought France’s second largest ticket retailer Ticketnet for $119m (€81m) in cash, then in February it added Spanish operation ServiCaixa to the fold. Financially, LNE remains the larger opponent (ticketing revenues increased to $978.3m [€674.4m] in 2010 compared with Eventim’s €193.9m) but both companies are continuing to expand their European base, and in some cases dance around each other’s strongholds. Eventim’s UK operation remains relatively quiet, while in Germany, 2010 saw LNE’s promoting office become dormant, while Ticketmaster (TM) spent the year regrouping. “We introduced a new system platform in January which we found was a prerequisite to do any competitive business in this country,” says TM Germany head Klaus Zemke. “We were preparing for it for most of 2010, so didn’t spend any great effort in the market last year.” Based on the system TM uses in Scandinavia and Holland, the platform caters to the self-service nature of the German market where theatres and venues predominantly manage their own operations. “Now we’re planning to gain a 30% market share over the next two years,” Zemke says. While LNE has its work cut out chipping away at Eventim’s base, what’s interesting is the relatively few markets where the operations of both giants overlap. And while both competitors continue to explore the white areas on the map (Russia being the latest, according to the
rumour mill), a union of the two in any sense would virtually sew up the European ticketing market in one fell swoop. With the US market stagnant, the international field is the obvious expansion area, and some argue that LNE could look to purchase Eventim entirely at some point. It’s a crystal ball with more than a little smoke obscuring the view, but what’s certain is that as the European market continues to consolidate, the ticketing business is going to have to make room for more entrants. Quite how AEG’s Outbox system, announced in February, lands in Europe remains to be seen, but these days everyone is in ticketing. “Concert promoters work on 3-5% margins and it’s not a sustainable business,” said Stuart Galbraith of AEG-owned Kilimanjaro Live during ILMC’s main room ticketing discussion in March. “It’s no surprise that Live Nation is now a ticketing company because Ticketmaster runs on a [much higher] margin. It’s no surprise that AEG is a facilities company because it makes more money running venues.”
White LabeL ticketing While the big boys continue to snap up operations, the ongoing digital transformation of the business solidifies a lower layer of competition. In its recent 10-K report, LNE states: “We face significant and increasing challenges from companies that sell self-ticketing systems and from clients who are increasingly choosing to selfticket.” White label solutions are far from a new trend in the business, but direct-to-fan ticketing solutions offered by numerous technology companies are allowing artists to ticket their own events, capture fan data and avoid paying out ticketing commissions. “There’s a shift in culture at the moment, certainly from the artists’ points of view who see that it’s their show, and they want to dictate how the money comes into it,” says Mark Meharry at Music Glue. “We’re a software services company, not a ticketing company. We’re taking the requirements of managers on board and we work directly with artists, to provide them with a set of tools.” Those tools have proved handy for Mumford & Sons, for whom Music Glue is selling up to 100% of tickets for their shows worldwide. “They want to book the venue and see every single penny that comes in for the event and they need a technology company to help them do that,” Meharry says.
Ticket Center sells 500,000 tickets annually in Germany, and senior partner Stefan Siebert concurs with Meharry’s position: “Never give up your own ticketing,” he says. “Artists, promoters, venues and agents should make direct conversation with their customer and never make any kind of exclusive deals with the big ticketing companies.” There are perhaps parallels with the radical shift the recording industry underwent in the 90s when affordable equipment saw makeshift bedroom studios wipe out a huge swathe of professional premises within years. Although according to those very same larger players, there’s room for all. Chris Edmonds is MD of Ticketmaster UK. “There’s always going to be a place for companies like Ticketmaster or See,” he says. “You’ll always be able to create a white label solution that takes you to your core database. That’s fine but there are still a significant amount of tickets that have to be sold off the back of proactive marketing initiatives or distressed inventory that you need to move to make sure you get the people on those seats.” Edmonds admits that Ticketmaster has been slow to adapt to certain new technologies over recent years, but he adds that as a result of the merger, “we now have an artist division, promoter division and e-commerce/ticketing division. I think we’ll see a more rapid level of change and innovation. I’m really optimistic”. And as Zemke adds: “The major players haven’t yet flexed their muscles in this area. I think that we’ll see how it develops.”
the VaLue chain
It might seem obvious, but one of the more astute remarks made at ILMC this year was Live Nation Denmark’s Flemming Schmidt, who commented on the blurring of boundaries within the business. “The key thing is to add value,” he said. “If you can add value, then there’s always going to be a space for you.” Regardless of whether he was talking about the role of the promoter, the same notion stands true for ticketing companies. Whether major primary players or techno upstarts, operations that bring more to the table than they take will always find a space. In the UK, retailer HMV boasts a 3.4million-strong database, in addition to its network of 200 stores that sell tickets. In the last year, it’s moved from a Seatem system to an in-house operation including a call centre and dispatch office. “A lot of our work has been about “ There’s always going to be a place for companies adding value,” says ticketing head Jason like Ticketmaster or See… there are still a Thomas. “Marketing support is more significant amount of tickets that have to be sold on a promoter’s agenda than ever. If you can’t add value as a ticket agent it’s off the back of proactive marketing initiatives.” harder and harder to get inventory.” - Chris Edmonds, Ticketmaster Entertainment HMV sold tickets for 5,000 events over the last 12 months compared
network of offices around the world. Digonex’s system considers factors such as historical sales data, secondary ticket prices and competing shows to make recommendations on pricing. “The ability to move that price to respond to demand uncaps all sorts of potential,” says company head Rex Fisher. “If you’re selling out in 15 minutes, you’re leaving money on the table. That may be okay, but there are strategies to be able to leverage that demand.” Another company offering dynamic services is TopTix, headquartered in Israel and with offices in the US and UK. With 54 full-time staff including 33 full-time developers, its SRO box office system has been four years in development, and now offers dynamic pricing as one of a suite of options. “It’s a service-orientated architecture, which means that all the functions are separate services. It has never been used in this industry before, so it’s quite revolutionary,” says John Pinchbeck, VP of international development. “Checking availability, selecting a seat, buying a ticket, printing a ticket, are all services; they’re all independent, which means that a client can rearrange those services in any order they like. The system runs by rules so if capacity drops below 10% you can automatically increase the price. Or you simply change the price breaks in a venue according to demand. During a massive on-sale like Take That, it could be done automatically.” Chris Edmonds relates that some of Broadway has already adopted a wider dynamic pricing model, and the discussions are ongoing about bringing the idea to London’s West End. Through analysing a wide range of available data, the ability to price concert tickets closer to their true market value, thus biting into secondary sales and increasing revenue, is something that all primary players welcome. However, many are predicting a more moderate series of dynamic price breaks as opposed to a true airline model where tickets are priced almost individually. “The problem is that unlike the airline industry, and the theatrical industry to some extent, we have one-off shows that don’t have predictable demand curves,” says Barney Wragg at digital consultancy Barney Wragg Associates.
“ Marketing support is more on a promoter’s agenda than ever. If you can’t add value as a ticket agent it’s harder and harder to get inventory.”
- Jason Thomas, HMV
with just 300 for the year before. “We do lots of e-tickets, value added bundles and we can ring fence allocation for certain stores,” Thomas says. Mining the 3.4 million entries on its combined database, Thomas says HMV is becoming more adept at getting to know its customers’ preferences, and it’s gearing up to include ticketing as an option for its 14,000 affiliates. (Meanwhile, using fans as affiliate brokers is also proving popular – Fatsoma has built up a network of 18,600 reps who promote shows via Facebook, and several festival promoters are following suit.) But for affiliate sales, TicketSwitch might prove to be a ground-shifting new development. Tagging itself as “the global distribution system (‘GDS’) of event ticketing”, TicketSwitch was developed by Seatem but bought last year by Ingresso Group. Via the three existing GDS networks that links travel agents with airlines and hotels worldwide it aims to connect live allocation at venues and ticketers to the network of global agents. Imagine BA.com offering tickets to shows in the city you’d just bought a flight to, or Expedia or Opodo offering seats to a concert with real time allocation. Former Seatem founder and chief executive Paul Burns is tasked with rolling out the system, and he says that most promoters and venues offer agents an inside discount on ticket sales, or charge an external booking fee to make up a suitable margin. TicketSwitch charges a 3% technology fee per transaction.
the Dynamic age As IQ was preparing to go to press, Ticketmaster announced that it had partnered with analytics company MarketShare to create dynamic ticketing tools that would allow clients to adjust prices for live events according to demand. The announcement came just two months after Ticketpro revealed that it had partnered with Digonex Technologies to offer dynamic ticketing solutions to its
RFiD Given that its primary product need not take any particular shape, colour or form, ticketing has always been a prime candidate for trialling emerging technology and new ideas. RFID (radio-frequency identification), while far from groundbreaking in the technology stakes, has the potential to radically alter event ticketing. Last summer, German promoter FKP Scorpio issued 500 RFID Right: The on-sale for Take That’s Progress Live tour demanded large-scale systems
Below: ID&C’s RFID band from Coachella
cards for cashless purchases on-site at Hurricane Festival while Hungary’s Sziget festival adopted a wider trial using 11,000 cards that could be used at 300 terminals around the site. Meanwhile, in Canada, the Festival d’Été de Québec sold 150,000 RFID wristbands as entry tickets for an 11-day line-up that included Arcade Fire, Santana and Black Eyed Peas. April 2011, however, was a tipping point.
looking at apps going forward, and I would expect to see a significant upwards shift next year,” Edmonds says.
SociaL meDia
Juniper Research’s latest mobile ticketing report predicts that one in eight mobile phone users will either have a ticket delivered to their mobile phone or buy a ticket with their phone by 2015, which equates to over 750 million “ Thanks to CRM and the collection of data, ticketing users. The proportion of tickets being companies are evolving into marketing partners sold via mobile phones as barcodes that don’t sell tickets anymore, but fill seats.” is still relatively small in developed European markets and non-existent - Serge Grimaux, Intellitix in others, but combine it with social media, and RFID or near field communication technology, and the Last month, Coachella festival in Los Angeles adopted result is explosive. With global email traffic falling, and internet users an RFID wristband system for its 75,000 ticket buyers. Early reports say that queues were reduced and the system spending less time Googling and more time posting, there’s drastically cut touting. “There were no technical issues a fundamental digital shift occurring as consumers switch whatsoever, the technology performed seamlessly,” says from a push to a pull lifestyle. Social media marketing and operations director Steve Daly at ID&C which supplied the opportunities it opens for ticketers is well discussed and the bands, chips and patented locks. The access control developing fast. As well as selling tickets via its 18,600 reps, corridors and back end system was from Intellitix, the new Fatsoma recently launched an iPhone ticket scanning app company established by Ticketpro chief, Serge Grimaux. that can scan both e-tickets and mobile barcodes from a And there were more than a few interested promoters on- remote laptop. Consumers will soon be able to share their ticket purchases to select user groups, but others argue that site to observe. “We start where other ticketing companies stop,” geo-locational social media is prime for exploitation. “If you look at social media and the fact that people says Grimaux. “We start with access control and then there are cashless possibilities and all sorts of new sources are prepared to tell you where they are and what they’re of income that are generated by RFID. It’s a less invasive doing, you can put a proposition in front of people because experience for the fan, where they’re entering into a world you know that they’re in the same place as the gig,” Wragg of technology that’s never been so sharp.” While Ticketpro comments. It’s yet another future step that the industry continues to look for new markets to expand into, last year might consider taking, and one of a myriad changes that saw it ticket the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the ticketing business is facing whether it’s prepared and shifting 2.4million tickets for 21 venues over 11 days. But accepting of such change or not. “Thanks to CRM and Grimaux is equally focussed on his new venture. “We will the collection of data, ticketing companies are evolving most likely activate a million RFID chips by the end of into marketing partners that don’t sell tickets anymore, but the year,” he says. “I hope to double or triple that number fill seats,” says Grimaux. “I believe that in the near future there’ll be companies that start to refer to themselves more worldwide by the end of next year.” Kilimanjaro’s Stuart Galbraith was equally as as admission companies.” It’s all a far cry from a time when evangelical at ILMC. “Once RFID arrives in telephones, numbered pieces of paper were printed out and posted, then the sky is the limit in terms of what we can do in but then ticketing has never been a more exciting industry ticketing,” he said. “Next year, the Sonisphere phone app to be involved with. will be the ticket. You’ll buy the ticket, it will be sent to your phone and will talk to you in the six months leading up to the festival. It’ll update you with running order changes, it will have technology so you can tell where you and your friends are on-site, and it’ll become your wallet and you can buy your merch, food and drink with it. For me, that’s stupendous.” And AEG is not alone in developing mobile phone apps as tickets. “Live Nation’s wider tech strategy is
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euro Box office AustriA
Major ticketing coMpanies: cts eventiM, Wien ticket CTS Eventim is the market leader, followed by Wien Ticket, the inhouse system of the Stadthalle arena in Vienna. “I sometimes get the feeling it’s only Vienna,” said Norbert Stockmann of third-ranked company Ticket Online. Most sales are made online (around 70%) with box office accounting for roughly 20%. average ticket For an arena shoW (av tick): €50
BAltic stAtes
Majors: tiketa, Bilietu pasaulis, Bilietai (lithuania), Bilesu serviss, Bilesu paradize (latvia), piletilevi ticketpro (estonia) The biggest event in ticketing in the Baltic States this year will be the European Championship of Basketball in Lithuania, for which Tiketa plans to sell more than 100,000 tickets. All three countries are recovering from the recession but sales are growing slowly but steadily. The big international names are selling out arenas, but promoters report consumers holding back more for mid-level artists. The major sales channel is still the box office, but “the quality of the internet shops and functionality like being able to choose seats has dramatically developed online sales,” says Jaanus Beilmann at Baltic Ticket Holdings. av tick: €40
Belgium
Majors: tts, sherpa, proxiMus goForMusic Live Nation Belgium reports that the main operators are TTS and Sherpa while most tickets are sold via Belgian telecoms platform Proximus Goformusic. Belgian reservation fees are some of the lowest in Western Europe, with fees averaging €4. av tick: €40
DenmArk
Majors: Billetnet, Billetlugen There are two main ticket suppliers: Ticketmaster-owned Billetnet (which has one of the largest e-commerce sites in the country) and Billetlugen, which is part of the Venuepoint Group. The two companies have a roughly equal share of a relatively small market, although there are a few smaller players, run directly from theatres. Booking fees are fixed at €2.68 and advertising a ticket above face value is illegal, so there is little secondary market. Online transactions account for over 90% of sales. av tick: dkk 500-dkk 600 (€53-€67)
FinlAnD
Majors: lippupalvelu, lippupiste, tiketti, Menolippu The market is well developed and dominated by two major operators, Lippupalvelu (Ticketmaster) and Lippupiste (CTS Eventim). Due to consumer laws, all box office fees must be included in the ticket price, so service fees have remained reasonable – between €1 and €3.75. Online sales are now reliable and account for the majority of sales, while secondary sales are restricted due to ticket limitations. av tick: €60-€70
FrAnce Majors: Fnac, ticketnet Online sales account for up to 40% of tickets, although several stadium shows have recorded 50% online. Live Nation purchased Ticketnet in November 2010, giving it a strong foothold in the market. Booking fees are an average of 10-12% of the face value of the ticket and according to Live Nation France, the market is “reluctantly” starting to work with resellers, with Viagogo being active in the market. av tick: €50
germAny Majors: cts eventiM, ticket online Germany is a fragmented market, both regionally and in terms of content. CTS Eventim is the outright leading ticketer, a position that has been consolidated since the purchase of See Tickets and Ticket Online Germany in 2010. A raft of regional players or online-only companies operate such as Smart Tickets, Ticketscript and München Ticket. av tick: €40-€60 greece Majors: ticket house, ticketpro The leading ticket company in Greece is Ticket House, which is partnered with Ticketpro for online sales, though other online sellers include ticketarena.gr, ticketnet.gr and eleventickets.gr. E-ticketing is growing in popularity, but the majority of tickets are still sold through outlets such as Ticket House, Metropolis record stores and Public, while other options include Piraeus Bank, Wind and Vodafone stores. av tick: €50 HungAry
Majors: ticket express hungary, ticketpro Now that it sells tickets for the three major promoters – Live Nation, Multimedia and Danubius – as well as several festivals and exhibitions, Ticketpro holds a 50% market share, with Eventimowned Ticket Express retaining around a 15% share. Internet sales are increasing rapidly, with around 40% of the market accounted for by e-tickets and online mail order. Other ticketing outlets include Jegyelado.hu, Jegymester Kft., and Ticketline. av tick: 12,000 huF (€45)
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irelAnD
Majors: ticketMaster Ticketmaster holds 70% of the market, with the rest being sold in-house at venues. Business is still good, although due to the recession, promoters report that customers are holding back and making ticket purchases closer to the day of the event. The Irish market is distinct for its remaining tradition of overthe-counter sales, while online sales account for roughly 50%. av tick: €50
itAly Majors: ticketone The dominant ticket company is TicketOne, which sells 80-90% of all tickets. Additionally, there are a number of smaller ticket companies, mainly distributed in the north and central Italy. Tickets sold in outlets are often sold for less than online, and while over-the-counter sales still account for the majority of sales (around 60%), online sales are growing. av tick: €50-€55 tHe netHerlAnDs
Majors: ticket service nederland, see tickets, cts eventiM, live nation The market in the Netherlands is well organised and runs effectively. Live Nation has scrapped all its outlets and is now exclusively selling tickets via the internet and call centres while many promoters now also sell predominantly online. A law to limit resale to 20% above face value is currently in the House of Lords. av tick: €52.50
norwAy
Major: Billettservice Billettservice, owned by Ticketmaster, is by far the dominant ticket provider, while many venues run in-house systems. The market is well organised and the ticketing fees are fairly low compared to the rest of Europe. The majority of tickets (over 60%) are sold
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online. Secondary ticketing is illegal. av tick: €65
PolAnD Majors: cts eventiM, ticketpro Promoters report a recession-proof market, with fans snapping up tickets to big name acts when they go on sale. Cash sales are still very popular; online sales (roughly 40%) were boosted by one of the outlet networks, Ruch, which terminated contracts with all ticketing companies last year because the profit margins were too small. av tick: €35-€50 PortugAl Majors: ticketline, Blueticket Internet sales represent only 15-20% while the biggest share of ticket sales are made through the venues’ box offices and outlets like Fnac, Worten, El Corte Inglés and national post offices. av tick: €35-€40 sPAin
Majors: tick tack ticket, serviticket, entradas.coM Tickets are predominantly distributed via outlets at department stores and networks of cash dispensers. With Tick Tack Ticket (Ticketmaster Spain) and Live Nation’s purchase of Serviticket in February, the entertainment giant now has similar market share to El Corte Inglés. Booking fees are low, and print-at-home is starting to gain popularity, but it is hampered by few venues having suitable access control systems. av tick: €42
sweDen
Majors: ticnet, cts eventiM, tickster Live Nation has switched from CTS Eventim back to Ticketmasterowned Ticnet, but the majority of ticket allocation still remains with venues and their contracted arrangements with ticket sellers. Ticnet has a majority market share, and the traditional reservation system is being phased out by online
sales. Live Nation reports that over half of all tickets are now sold online, with print-at-home a particular growth area. av tick: sek500 (€45)
switzerlAnD Majors: : ticketcorner, starticket, ticketportal The market has calmed since CTS Eventim paid €60million for market leader TicketCorner in February 2010. The most established ticket seller in the Swiss market, TicketCorner has a 60% share of the market, including a network of distribution points in train stations and post offices across the country. av tick: chF75 (€45)
turkey Majors: Biletix, ticketturk, MyBilet Ticketmaster-owned Biletix has a near-monopoly on concert ticket sales in the market, as well as the rights for selling home tickets for the three largest football clubs. E-tickets are the most common form of purchase for big shows, whilst door sales are dominant in club shows. av tick: €25
uk Majors: ticketMaster, see tickets Ticketmaster holds the top slot in the UK, followed by See Tickets, although the market has many other sellers vying for market share, including HMV, Ticket Factory and WeGotTickets. With See reportedly up for sale, and CTS Eventim having opened a London office in 2010, expect a change in the UK landscape shortly. Over 90% of sales are online. av tick: £35 (€40)