For those interested in the business of ticketing in the music industry we’re surprised it’s taken this long for this positive step to occur…but it has and it’s arguably good news but maybe not the last news in this area of the music industry…

So what are we on about?

Well Crowd Surge an independent ticketing company has agreed a deal with Warner to facilitate their artists in selling gig tickets directly from their site to their own fan base - that’s got to be a positive step. True fans getting the first option and the band and their management companies having the ability to be more creative in how they incentivise the fan to buy gig tickets.

Only artists and fans REALLY matter in the live scene, yeah of course some promoters do an excellent job and ticketing providers like Crowd Surge are emerging that don’t seem intent on ripping every last penny from those that make the live music industry happen in the UK and beyond - the fans.

As the technical barriers to entry reduce so it gets easier and easier to deliver that D2C (direct to consumer) business model that should see more money get to the artist and deliver better terms or more value if you like to the fans and their relationship with their chosen bands/artists.

Bands Take More Control

With the rise of digital distribution it’s pretty easy to get your music distributed globally to hundreds of digital music stores and so in time arguably the live ticketing side of things can also swing in favour of the artist and fans. With robust software development still relentless in it’s output it is only a matter of time before a productised market of ticketing solutions that plug straight into the artists site emerges and becomes the norm too.

If a band can distribute it’s own music and sell it’s own tickets then it all comes back to marketing and the ability to find gigs. Bands that are smart enough or lucky enough to be able to fund and then deliver their own plans will retain far more revenue of course. Many will continue to look for a great record label (in what ever shape that may be these days!) and a great promoter as both these relationships are still completely needed but maybe, just maybe in the not too distant future, a little more humble in the respective roles they play.

GYEO