Will NFT Ticketing Overtake Ticketmaster and Eventbrite?
NFT technology is revolutionizing many different industries, but the ticketing industry is perhaps the most natural fit
Tickets have been the same for decades, barely making the jump from physical to digital around the time Eventbrite was founded in 2006. Since then, not much has changed and the industry has developed some serious issues. Luckily, NFT technology offers a solution and a brighter future for event hosts and fans alike.
A Better Ticketing Experience for Consumers
One of the most frustrating aspects of selling or buying tickets is the number of middle entities in the process. If you want to see a show, sometimes tickets pass through two or three hands before you receive them and often each of those hands includes a service fee. More hands equal more fees and more opportunities for fraud: an irritating combination.
NFT technology enables the ticketing industry to cut out many of these intermediaries and affords a greater level of transparency for the consumer. Since NFTs are created and developed on a blockchain (which is a public, unalterable, chronological record of transactions), it becomes almost impossible to hawk fraudulent tickets. As a result, NFT tech is the most efficient way to cut down on the shadiness of the industry while simplifying the buying process, adding new levels of digitization and security so fans don’t have to worry about losing a tiny slip of paper or buying fake tickets — something still lacking in Eventbrite & Ticketmaster!
Many event-goers are wary of or confused by crypto, and most NFT marketplaces require cryptocurrency and knowledge in order to purchase. But, now some ticketing platforms like Tixy are actually bridging that knowledge gap for customers and allowing genuine NFT tickets to be purchased using all currencies, without the need for a crypto wallet. This includes all the benefits of blockchain technology without arguably the biggest downside of requiring previous crypto knowledge. Plus, it helps attendees store their tickets in a central and singular location.
Why NFT Tickets Are Better Than Traditional
Do your parents or grandparents ever talk about the concerts or artists they’ve seen live? Someone has probably heard the classic, “Oh yeah, I remember Woodstock, it was the craziest festival ever” from an older family member. Can they prove it with a ticket stub or do you simply have to take their word for it? And how much would those ticket stubs be worth today (especially if they contained miniature versions of the original poster art)? What if Ticketmaster or Eventbrite existed then? How much would those “spent” tickets be worth?
In addition to the enhanced security and secondary market control, NFT tickets are revolutionizing the industry because after the show, they become unique digital collectible assets instead of a worthless barcode that disappears in your email inbox afterward. Can you imagine having a ticket (with the assurances as secure and definite as blockchain technology provides) that proves you saw AC/DC BEFORE they became big? Or a live rendering of Angus Young’s iconic duck walk on your ticket? A piece of memorabilia like that would be worth a small fortune and serve as an amazing memory! With NFTs, that can become a reality. Because NFTs are stored digitally on the blockchain, they never decay, fade, or get destroyed while potentially increasing in monetary value.
NFT Tickets also allow a better access point for event creators to interact with their fans. Tickets can now be imbued with special access privileges, such as backstage passes, skip the line, and merchandise. This allows artists to cultivate a deeper bond with their following and results in a personalized and customized experience for fans. The communication process between creator and fan is also enhanced. Creators can now easily interact with fans after events via NFT airdrops directly to their accounts, personal messages, and discount codes on future events.
From a business perspective, NFT tickets warrant festivals, concerts, and all event organizers (as well as the artists that make these events worthwhile) to obtain a new revenue stream that before was out of their reach: resale royalties. This means that when tickets are RESOLD (either before or after the show — remember they can be sold after the show as collectibles), a percentage of the resale price can be received by the entity that’s creating the value. In other words, if after a legendary concert a certain band’s clout goes up and the tickets from their previous shows are being sold as keepsakes to new fans, the band receives perpetual royalties on those resales.
Lastly, it allows for promoters and organizers to create tailored event pages to interact with ticket holders before the event, and afterward have instant, valuable data on ticket sales. This kind of analytics helps them become more profitable and ultimately leads to the creation of exceptional shows and experiences for consumers and bands alike.
NFT Ticketing Platforms Must Fight for Their Spot!
The global events industry exceeds $800bn in value and is bouncing back stronger than ever after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Consequently, event ticketing alone comprises over $50bn and that is excluding secondary ticket resale. While the industry is prominent and growing fast, ticketing is quite saturated, locally and globally. In addition, a handful of companies monopolize the promotion, organization, and ticketing for the world’s largest events, festivals, sporting matches, and concerts. In essence, the ticketing industry is crowded, aggressive, and extremely complex.
NFT Ticketing transforms everything that’s wrong with traditional tickets and creates immense value. Although, at the end of the day it is another form of ticketing, meaning yet another new ticketing platform saturating the space. The entry barriers for event ticketing are overwhelming, meaning any new ticketing platform must work hard to acquire customers, especially from existing platforms. Similar to how big corporations are usually hesitant to switch ERP systems due to contracts, pricing, or the complexity of switching, the same challenge exists with event organizers — they can be hesitant to switch the ticketing platform they’ve been using for years or even if they still use paper tickets.
What is Tixy?
Tixy is an NFT ticketing platform that utilizes blockchain and is pioneering NFT ticketing on a broad scale, for event organizers and fans of ALL sizes. Tixy leverages blockchains like Solana and Polygon due to their key competitive advantages: nearly nonexistent gas fees, processing speeds, sustainability, and global adaption. This is a great sign for crypto users, as it allows for lower facilitation costs, resulting in lower fees and increased profitability!
Another highlight of Tixy is that it does not matter if you don’t have crypto, crypto wallets, or are familiar with the industry! Tixy allows customers to purchase NFT tickets with both fiat (normal) money and crypto, significantly broadening the customer base that they can serve and making transactions easier on their users. This removes a major hurdle of NFT adoption and allows even people brand new to NFTs and crypto to take advantage of their benefits without dealing with the complexity. And if users do not care about the NFT aspects, that is completely fine since Tixy is designed for any type of user.
Tixy prides itself on being accessible to both small house show bands and big household names. They aim to utilize NFT technology to solve some of the largest problems of the ticketing industry, allowing for a simple and smooth user experience on both sides of the equation. No matter the size of the event, it stands to benefit from leveraging NFT tickets.
Key Takeaways…
The ticketing industry is on the edge of a revolution. It hasn’t changed or adapted in decades and has some real problems that NFT technology is solving. Time will tell whether the old giants like Eventbrite and Ticketmaster can get with the program, or if the new-age consumer-centric NFT ticketing platforms like Tixy will win out. NFT tickets are clearly the better option for ticketing to all-sized events, providing impenetrable security backed by blockchain, adaptability, and simplicity. NFT ticketing platforms must prove themselves and fight for a spot in the ticketing and global events industries! It is 2022 and time for innovation…
