This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(February 2022) |
A primary ticket outlet is an organization that contracts directly with venues and promoters to sell event tickets on its behalf. [1]
Primary ticket outlets have a direct relationship with the owner of a venue or event. They will often use software to manage the sale of tickets for their clients. [2]
Primary ticket outlets charge a booking fee that is paid by the consumer to help pay for services. [3]
There are a number of primary ticket outlets around the world including:
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Entertainment.
Ticket resale is the act of reselling tickets for admission to events. Tickets are bought from licensed sellers and then sold for a price determined by the individual or company in possession of the tickets. Tickets sold through secondary sources may be sold for less or more than their face value depending on demand, which tends to vary as the event date approaches. When the supply of tickets for a given event available through authorized ticket sellers is depleted, the event is considered "sold out", generally increasing the market value for any tickets on offer through secondary sellers. Ticket resale is common in both sporting and musical events.
Tour promoters are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a live concert tour or special event performance. The tour promoter makes an offer of engagement to a particular artist, usually through the artist’s agent or music manager. The promoter and agent then negotiate the live performance contract. The majority of live performance contracts are drawn up using the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) standard contract format known as the AFM Performance Agreement.
Live Nation is an American events promoter and venue operator based in Beverly Hills, California. Founded in 1996 by Robert F. X. Sillerman as SFX Entertainment, the company's business was built around consolidating concert promoters into a national entity to counter the oversized influence of ticket behemoth Ticketmaster. In 2000, the company was sold to Clear Channel Communications for $4.4 billion and operated as Clear Channel Entertainment until 2005, when it was spun off as Live Nation. In 2010, Live Nation merged with the ticketing firm Ticketmaster to form a larger conglomerate named Live Nation Entertainment.
StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events. By 2015, it was the world's largest ticket marketplace. While the company does not currently disclose its financials, in 2015 it had over 16 million unique visitors and nearly 10 million live events per month.
Mobile ticketing is the process whereby customers order, pay for, obtain, and validate tickets using mobile phones. A mobile ticket contains a verification unique to the holder's phone. Mobile tickets reduce the production and distribution costs associated with paper-based ticketing for operators by transferring the burden to the customer, who is required to contribute the cost of the physical device (smartphone) and internet access to the process. As a result of these prerequisites, and in contrast to paper-based systems, mobile ticketing does not follow the principles of universal design.
See Tickets is the trading name of an international ticketing services company owned by Vivendi SA. See Tickets' head office is on Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham, and operates throughout Europe and North America under the See Tickets brand, with over 15 offices in cities including; London, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Paris, Marseille, Madrid, Berlin, Amsterdam, Groningen, Antwerp, Lisbon and Zurich. See Tickets operates independently and is not owned by any single venue group or promoter.
Live Nation Entertainment is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainment in the United States and internationally. It also owns and operates entertainment venues, and manages the careers of music artists.
BigChampagne was a technology-driven media measurement company acquired by Live Nation Entertainment. The BigChampagne dashboard was used primarily by music industry professionals such as concert promoters, venues, radio programmers, managers, agents, and marketers to access information about the popularity of artists and songs across radio airplay, online streaming, social activity, sales, and live events. BigChampagne provided a number of services related to producing business intelligence (BI) and competitive intelligence (CI) for users of the dashboard via access to proprietary data and data management combined with web applications and other technologies.
SeatGeek is a mobile-focused ticket platform that enables users to buy and sell tickets for live sports, concerts, and theater events. SeatGeek allows both mobile app and desktop users to browse events, view interactive color-coded seatmaps, complete purchases, and receive electronic or print tickets. Originally launched as an aggregator of listings on the secondary ticketing market, the company now operates as both a secondary marketplace and primary ticket outlet for sports teams and live event venues.
ScoreBig is a startup company headquartered in South Windsor, Connecticut, United States, that focuses on the liquidation and sale of “undersold” ticket inventory for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events.
Songkick is a concert discovery service owned by Warner Music Group. The service allows users to search for upcoming concert events in their area, and also track individual artists to receive notifications of upcoming shows in their area. It also provides services for artist teams to manage and promote tour dates globally.
TicketNetwork is an online marketplace that provides an outlet for buyers and sellers of tickets to live entertainment events. The company was founded in 2002 by ticket broker Don Vaccaro and software developer Doug Kruse. It operates several retail sites and partners with large name brand travel and media companies.
TicketIQ is a no-fee event ticket search engine, aggregator and mobile app which provides ticket-buying options from many different secondary market and primary market ticket sellers, including Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, SeatGeek and Telecharge. The company works directly with teams, leagues, festivals and venues to sell tickets direct-to-fan using paid social and other programmatic media platforms.
AXS is an American ticket outlet for sports and entertainment events, founded in 2011 and owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the world's second largest entertainment promoter behind Live Nation Entertainment. AEG operate venues globally, as well as promote events under their AEG Presents banner, meaning these venues and promoted events typically use AXS as their primary ticket outlet.
Vendini, founded in 2001, was a company headquartered in San Francisco that offered tools for ticketing, marketing, fundraising, logistics and more for the performing arts, live music, music festival and live event spaces. The company worked with a wide variety of venues across North America.
Gametime is a mobile ticket marketplace app developed by San Francisco-based Gametime United Inc., which was founded by Brad Griffith in late 2012. The app was released for iOS in May 2013, with an Android version released in March 2014. In multiple funding rounds following the app's initial release, Gametime has raised a total of US$71.5 million from various investors. The app received an award from each SportsBusiness Daily and the Appy Awards in 2017, and Gametime United was named among the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. in various categories by Deloitte, Inc. and Accel Partners.
Starting in November 2022, the American ticket sales platform Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment were met with widespread public criticism and political scrutiny over blunders in selling tickets to the United States leg of the Eras Tour, the 2023 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It has been referred to as the Taylor Swift–Ticketmasterfiasco in the mainstream media.