Ticketmaster Takes A Serious Beating
One solution to the Taylor Swift fiasco might surprise you.
Ticketing has been a source of frustration for music fans for decades. But things may have finally reached the breaking point with prices soaring and “junk fees” getting to the point where even the President felt the need to speak up. And that was before Taylor Swift just up and broke Ticketmaster, causing the cancellation of her public ticket sale schedule for this morning.
The resulting outcry has increased calls for the government to step in, with everyone from a Democratic Congressman to a Republican State Attorney General calling for investigations while the New York Times just announced that the DOJ has already opened an antitrust investigation against Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation. This isn’t good news for a company that has been riding a wave of record-breaking revenue since venues reopened after COVID. But like we already said, this is a problem that’s been building for years.
Back in 2017, Freakanomics Radio did an episode called “Why Is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up?” that is essential listening for anyone who wants to learn how industry consolidation, online sales and some good old fashion music biz shenanigans got us to where we are.
As for solutions? We have a fun one to try. One that takes us back to the days before online ticketing, when the only way to get your hands on tickets to the first Lollapaloooza tour in 1991 was to hang out in a record store parking lot all night with a bunch of other likeminded music fanatics. Because if you ask us, the biggest problem with concert ticketing is 2022 is that it’s simply too easy for casual fans (and profiteering scalpers) to shoot their shot at scoring a seat. Taylor Swift might have moved 2 million tickets on Tuesday during the “presale” portion of the ticket release, but how many of those folks would have actually qued up in the November cold instead of just hitting refresh on their phone?
Much like raising interest rates to stem inflation, when a market runs too hot, you need to introduce some friction. Like rubbing your hands together for warmth while sitting on the sidewalk in the middle of the night, waiting for the glorious moment when the employee unlocks the door and the line of newly made friends, bonded by shared exhaustion, shuffle to the counter and hold their breath in the hopes that some tickets will still be available by the time it’s their turn in line. Hell, half the time, that wait was more fun than the concert.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. TikTok Has Gen Z Hooked — Can Its Streaming Service Get Them to Pay for Music?
TikTok could combine discovery with streaming like no one else. But only licensing agreements with the majors get in line with the rest of the industry.
Takeaway: A new major player in the streaming ecosystem could bring in enormous value with such a user-friendly funnel. There’s also the possibility that a TikTok music streaming service could shake up what has become a fairly staid, predictable marketplace.
2. Spotify Study Shows Marquee is 10x More Effective Than Social Ads
Speaking of self-contained sales funnels, Spotify is insisting that their Marquee method of paid promotion offers better ROI than other social media campaigns.
Takeaway: While Marquee delivered an average of 10x more Spotify listeners per dollar than social ads, the release with the lowest rate in the study showed that Marquee led to 5x more Spotify listeners per dollar spent on social ads.
NO CONTEXT NEEDED
