These tokens (NFTs) can protect us from more Ticketmaster disasters – here’s how
Editor’s Note: WRAL TechWire’s newest contributor is Dr. Sarah Glova, a globally recognized speaker, successful entrepreneur, university instructor and business consultant. An experienced teacher and entrepreneur, Sarah is the CEO of award-winning digital media company Reify Media, with a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and a Master of Science in Technical Communication, she is dedicated to cultivating forward-thinking work environments.
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RALEIGH – Ticketmaster was criticized by Eurovision fans yesterday as would-be buyers struggled with technical issues while trying to buy tickets for the popular song contest. Tickets sold out in record time, but many fans reported experiencing technical issues such as being kicked off the page or receiving error messages.
As someone who has recently undergone one nine hours virtual queue on Ticketmaster to secure Taylor Swift concert tickets, I can sympathize with their frustration.
What if—instead of Ticketmaster brokering concert tickets (and keeping at least 15 percent of my $300 ticket for themselves)—I could have bought an NFT directly from Taylor?
NFT is short for “non-fungible token.” Each NFT has its own distinct code or metadata that distinguishes it from other tokens. These digital assets often rely on blockchain technology to verify their uniqueness and ownership.
Dr. Campbell Harvey, professor of finance at Duke University, asked this question about NFTs like concert tickets at a Hyperledger meetup in Raleigh last month. (To be clear, he didn’t mention Taylor Swift Specifically— But I think that situation definitely applies.)
By the way, here’s how Wikipedia defines Hyperledger: “Hyperledger (or the Hyperledger Project) is an umbrella project of open source blockchains and related tools, started in December 2015 by the Linux Foundation,[1] and has received contributions from IBM, Intel and SAP Ariba, to support the collaborative development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers. It was renamed the Hyperledger Foundation in October 2021.”
“There is an obvious use for non-fungible tokens or NFTs,” Harvey said during the lightning talk. “NFT’s unique token is the event, the venue, the date, the seat and the user experience is quite similar to actually having a digital ticket on your smartphone.”
Harvey argued that this technology could not only reduce the middleman’s cut—for example, Ticketmaster’s share of my Eras Tour ticket—it would also enable other features.
“If the ticket is resold, you can build a royalty into the NFT,” Harvey said. “So upon resale of the ticket, the artist and the venue get, let’s say, 10 percent.”
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The built-in resale revenue of the NFT-style ticket can be incredible, considering that Taylor Swift tickets like mine have resold for thousands.
Harvey also pointed out that the NFT could enable one society—one that doesn’t have the barrier of a third party like Ticketmaster.
“When we get this NFT community, the artists can interact directly with the fans and you create this community that wasn’t possible before,” Harvey said.
He suggested that artists could release secrets about future concerts or air new songs.
“And this is just a direct application of blockchain technology,” Harvey said.
More to come on this topic: Web3 Innovation in the Triangle. Look for Glova’s next column.
