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T-Mobile tackles lousy customer service with 'Team of Experts'
It's no secret that a lot of carrier tech support is lousy. It's not just that you have to wade through menus -- it's that you're often pushed between support agents who only have the foggiest idea of your service history and are encouraged to get you off the phone quickly. T-Mobile thinks it can do better. It's launching a "Team of Experts" initiative that's meant to get you in touch with people who can actually deal with your problems instead of passing the buck.
Nine Inch Nails skips online ticket sales to fight scalper bots
Nine Inch Nails will not sell tickets online for its just-announced "Cold and Black and Infinite" theater tour this fall. Instead, NIN mastermind Trent Reznor is going old-school in an effort to beat the ticket bots: You'll have to wait in line at the venue. Each person can buy up to four tickets. Why? Let Reznor explain it to you himself:
Ticketmaster hopes to speed up event access by scanning your face
Ticketmaster envisions a future wherein you no longer need either a physical or a digital ticket to get into a venue. Its parent company Live Nation, has announced that the ticket sales giant has teamed up with and invested in a face recognition company called Blink Identity. In its first quarter financial report (PDF), Live Nation has explained that Blink has "cutting-edge facial recognition technology, enabling you to associate your digital ticket with your image, then just walk into the show."
Twitter's new shows include Formula 1 and SportsCenter Live
Twitter wasn't kidding when it promised a flurry of video. The social network has announced more than 30 video deals, including a slew of live shows. To begin with, Twitter has landed a Formula 1 deal: The @f1 account will stream a live post-race show (sorry, no live races) with both key interviews and panel discussions with luminaries like Nico Rosberg. The first of ten shows will premiere after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 13th, and you'll also find on-demand race highlight clips.
Recommended Reading: Does Facebook need to be regulated?
How the government could fix Facebook Julia Angwin, The Atlantic There are a number of issues surrounding the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica saga. Perhaps the most prominent one is the question of whether or not the social network needs to be regulated by the government. The Atlantic discusses four ways regulators could "fix" Facebook if there is a move to enact reforms.
Facebook is working on VR 'Venues' for live concerts
Mark Zuckerberg wants virtual reality to be less isolating, so Facebook is working on "Venues." Think of them like VR social spaces where you can meet up with friends to watch concerts like the ones Live Nation is pumping out. Venues make a lot of sense when you consider Facebook's push for live video, sports and putting things like VR streams and 360-degree photos and video into the News Feed. Zuckerberg said that Venues will also play host to movie and TV premieres as well.
Live Nation’s Messenger bot finds concerts you won’t want to miss
Entertainment company Live Nation is making it easier to find concerts you'll actually be interested in with a tailor-made gig-finding experience that learns your location and musical preferences. Open the Concert Finder bot through Messenger, search your favorite artists or musical genre and over time it'll learn your preferences, so you can consult the bot about upcoming shows that you might actually want to go to, rather than sifting through thousands of maybes. The more you use it, the smarter it gets. And once you've found a show you're interested in you can pull friends into the interface to chat about logistics and tickets, which you can then purchase directly through Messenger (if you've already got a Live Nation account you can link it up for faster check out). There are dozens of Facebook Messenger bots out there that claim to make your life easier, but if you're a live-music fan, this one could prove genuinely useful.
'Hamilton' battles ticket bots with a hand from Ticketmaster
The people behind Hamilton aren't just counting on laws to combat ticket bots -- they're enlisting the help of the ticket providers as well. Ticketmaster has revealed that it will use its recent Verified Fan feature to give you a better chance of seeing Hamilton, the Schuyler sisters and Burr strut on a Broadway stage between March and August 2018. As with other Verified Fan plays, like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the process has fans registering on a website to signal their interest -- Ticketmaster then combs over registrations based on data and sends codes via text message to those who pass scrutiny.
Coldplay's Chicago concert will stream live in VR on August 17th
If you weren't already convinced that live VR concerts are hitting the mainstream, you might be now. Samsung is partnering with Live Nation (which is no stranger to the concept) to offer a Coldplay concert in VR on August 17th at 9:30PM Eastern. If you have a Gear VR headset, you can watch Chris Martin and crew take to the stage in Chicago with an extra level of immersion. There will also be a replay available "for a limited time" afterward if it clashes with your schedule.
Samsung adds UFC fights and more live events to Gear VR
Soccer. Basketball. Golf. While plenty of sports are being shot in 360-degree video, the format is still the exception, rather than the rule. For Samsung, which wants to sell as many Gear VR headsets as possible, that just won't do. To solve the problem it's teamed up with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the X Games and concert organiser Live Nation for a slew of VR programming called "VR Live Pass." The first events will be available from June through the Samsung VR app, with near-global access provided you have a headset handy and a stable internet connection.
Twitter wants to be your home for watching live shows
Twitter's livestreamed content has been mostly sports and politics over the last few years, with fans able to watch and tweet about the latest boxing match or presidential debate right on Twitter itself. The company is set to double down on the strategy with twelve new content deals for news, sports, and live entertainment. The deals were announced today at an event with CEO Jack Dorsey and a host of other Twitter executives who took the stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, various sports stars like NFL's A.J. Green and even Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald.
NY Governor Cuomo signs bill outlawing online scalpers
Getting tickets to Beyoncé and Hamilton is already hard enough but it can be nearly impossible if you're competing against the automated purchasers used by 21st century scalpers. These so-called "ticket bots" are specifically designed to get around the strict per-customer purchase limits on sites like TicketMaster and LiveNation, allowing a small handful of individuals to buy a lion's share of a show and then offer them on the resale market for a massive profit. But that's no longer the case in New York where, governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation banning these robots.
NextVR and Live Nation team up to stream 'hundreds' of concerts
NextVR has already brought many important firsts when it comes to live VR broadcasting, so after golf, NASCAR, political debates and basketball, it's targeting live music. The company is teaming up with concert promoter Live Nation to stream "hundreds" of performances in virtual reality to fans worldwide. To increase the you-are-there feeling that makes VR broadcasts unique, it's planning "optimized" 3D audio to go along with the views from the front row, on-stage and backstage.
Watch Philips and Rudimental meld smart lighting with music
If you were making connected lighting, how would you convey the concept to the public? Philips thinks it has a way. It just launched the Living Light Sessions, a series of performances that has musicians putting on a light show with Hue bulbs while they play. The music is great, as an inaugural video from UK outfit Rudimental shows, although the link between music and smart lights is a bit strained -- while Hue is supposed set a "laid-back mood" for the gig, it mostly amounts to a lot of blue and purple in a studio. If nothing else, though, this could serve as a friendly reminder that Philips' technology is good for more than just impressing your friends.
Uber and Live Nation handle your concert transportation this summer
Summer music festivals are just around the corner, and the warmer temperatures offer a good chance to catch an outdoor show at your local venue. Uber's well aware that many music fans plan on doing one of the two, so it's teaming up with Live Nation to make the drive one less thing you have to worry about. The ride-hailing app will help you plan transportation to festivals like Sasquatch! and EDC Las Vegas so you don't miss the artists you want to see most. When the concert you're attending is put on by Live Nation, not only is hailing a ride is easy, but the driver will automatically receive the venue's address from the ticketing app. As you might expect, not every festival, concert hall and amphitheater is in on the offer, so you'll want to consult the full list via the source link below. [Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images]
Yahoo's airing two comedy web shows in 2015 and daily concerts this summer
Yahoo has big plans to serve up original shows, just like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix, which have already invested serious money in original programming. In fact, the company just announced that it has two new comedies in the works, which are only the first ones in its brand new lineup of long-form shows. if you haven't heard yet, this comes hot on the heels of Microsoft's revelation that it's also working on a dozen original titles for the Xbox. Yahoo's series entitled Other Space (a sci-fi comedy) and Sin City Saints (about a Silicon Valley tycoon who bought a pro-basketball team), were created by folks with big TV shows under their belt. They sadly won't be airing till next year, but when they start, viewers can watch eight thirty-minutes episodes per title on Yahoo's Screen apps for desktop, mobile, Apple TV and Roku.
Live Nation releases free app
Ticket seller Live Nation has released its very own iOS app on the App Store -- you can download it for free there right now. Not only can you browse upcoming events and buy tickets to shows directly from within the app (as well as get news about presales and upcoming deals on tickets), but once you go to a show in person, you can pick up setlist information, see photos and videos and check-in with friends through social networks. Personally, I have kind of an issue with Live Nation, given its rocky past with Clear Channel Communications and Ticketmaster, so I can't really recommend the app just to buy tickets with. The company's never really been generous to customers, to say the least, taking advantage of high ticket fees and the artists that it works with. If there's an alternative way to buy your tickets, either from the venue itself or from the artists involved, it'll probably be cheaper than Live Nation, and better for the industry at large. But they are a huge company with a lot of partnerships going, and quite a few shows nowadays (if not all of the big venue shows) are sold through Live Nation. So if you're planning to buy tickets with them anyway -- and sometimes you don't have a choice -- using the app will give you some nice bonuses.
