NFTs can solve the concert ticket problem IF the music industry allows it

Ticket robots and scalpers and often the ticket companies themselves create uneven playing fields and provide fuel for a secondary marketplace that drives up ticket prices for fans and does not provide more income to the artists.

Ticket companies, promoters and venues all benefit from this system which generally underpins the needs of artists and fans

Existing NFT ticket technology can solve these problems far if – and it is a big if – the live music industry embraces the solution.

This is how NFT tickets work

It is already possible for NFT tickets to be programmed to be sold only through specifically authorized channels, and that each ticket includes an identifier specific to the ticket holder. NFT tickets can also be programmed to send a portion of any resale to the original artist, venue or promoter.

So out of the box, NFT tickets can offer transparency, control and fairer revenue sharing.

But while most of the major ticketing companies operate NFTs, no one seems eager to embrace the responsibility and change in the power dynamics that NFT tickets would provide.

Yellowheart, AmplifyLive and AfterParty take the lead

So we track Yellowheart, AmplifyLive, AfterParty and a handful of other independent startups that focus on using NFTs and the blockchain to solve the huge problems baked into the current concert ticket system.

Recently AmplifyLive hosted an NFT ticket hybrid IRL / livestream concert using Defi web3 technology designed so that the artist could potentially receive more recurring revenue from their performance months after the concert was over. finished.

Aftermath raised $ 7 million to develop NFT tickets that include tokens to unlock real-world experiences. AfterParty recently hosted its first NFT-gated music and art festival in Las Vegas with The Chainsmokers and The Kid LAROI playing for over 6,000 attendees.

This fall, AfterParty will host a festival in LA with access only through the second-generation Guardian NFT collection. 10,000 unique NFTs will be eligible to serve as VIP access and a “lifetime festival membership”, including priority access to purchase a VIP ticket for each subsequent year.

YellowHeart, which has built an NFT marketplace for ticketing and music that has worked with Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, Julian Lennon, and others, has already begun rolling out dynamic NFTs in venues such as the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

These tickets respond to ongoing use by changing shape (for example, changing color when redeemed), and automatically delivering unique benefits to their owners, such as food and drink, and even special promotions, even after the event is over.

What’s next?

It is unclear how far some of these startups will go against the ticket giants that have long-term contractual relationships with arenas that also benefit from the current system.

But even without NFT tickets, these major players may be forced to use transparency.

A new law forcing ticket sellers to use “all-in” prices, including pre-disclosure of all fees, has just been signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Similar laws are being considered in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and other states.

To begin with, these laws do not address issues such as the secondary marketplace that drives up ticket prices for fans and does not provide more revenue to artists.

Bruce Houghton is the founder and editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a senior advisor to Bandsintown, which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the founder and president of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor at Berklee College Of Music.