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Everything MoviePass does just makes things worse
I purchased a MoviePass membership back during a promotion. I paid $90 for a year of one movie a day, and got a MasterCard in the mail that I could use to purchase a ticket at the box office after checking in using the MoviePass app. The first month, I went to about 10 movies. The hassle of using a sometimes-buggy app and heading up to the counter one moviegoer at a time was worth the promise of free movies.
Ticketfly temporarily shuts down to investigate 'cyber incident'
It's not a great time to be a concertgoer. Ticketfly has temporarily shut down after a "cyber incident" (read: hack) compromised its systems. An intruder defaced the company's website around midnight on May 31st with claims that they had compromised the "backstage" database where festivals, promoters and venues manage their events. Billboard sources didn't believe this included credit card data, but the attacker had posted files supposedly linking to info for Ticketfly "members."
Comcast and Fandango try selling movie tickets through X1
The latest wrinkle for Comcast's X1 platform is an ability to kick-start the movie ticket purchasing process from your voice remote. A link with (NBCUniversal-owned) Fandango means that after pulling up the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer on your TV, if you say "get tickets" or hit the info button it can pull up show times at local theaters, although actually buying them requires completing the process on Fandango's mobile app or website. Comcast VP Nancy Spears said in a statement that "Xfinity X1 enables us to continually explore one-of-a-kind experiences that complement the TV viewing experience, allowing viewers to interact with content where and when it is convenient for them. We're launching this experience starting with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in conjunction with the film's trailer and look forward to further enhancing additional movie titles with this functionality throughout the year." Even if it's limited just to corporate partners, the list of eligible movies could grow if Comcast manages to pull off a purchase of Fox's assets, and for Fandango it follows a similar integration with Instagram. Whether or not that happens, the interactive element could be the start of a trend as the cable company tries to find more ways to increase revenue from the customers who still have pay-TV at home. While we're usually heading to YouTube for our trailer viewing, the boxes already have a YouTube app (and Netflix of course) trying to keep viewers in the ecosystem as much as possible. For the new Jurassic Park flick, it's pulling together a curated selection of videos accessible by saying the title into your voice remote that has the previous films plus clips and trailers.
UK watchdog threatens ticket resale sites with court action
The UK's competition watchdog has fired another warning shot against secondary ticketing websites. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is partway through an investigation and says it has "widespread concerns" about the information sites are providing customers before they press purchase. All of them should provide details about their seats, the person they are buying the tickets from, and any restrictions that could deny them access to the event. Some websites are complying, however the regulator has also "gathered evidence which it considers reveal breaches of the law." It's now asking websites to clean up their act or face legal action.
StubHub and Viagogo raided in UK ticket touting probe
Scalpers aren't unique to the UK, but the government has made stamping out ticket touts one of its top priorities. Ministers have already set out legislation as part of the Digital Economy Act that will make the use of ticket-buying bots illegal, but regulators are also putting the squeeze on secondary ticket sellers. The Guardian reports that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raided the offices of secondary ticket marketplaces StubHub and Viagogo as part of a probe into "suspected breaches of consumer law."
NFL's new digital ticket system tries to cut out scalpers
While there has been a fair amount of technical progress in concert and show tickets, sports tickets haven't quite made that leap yet: they're still either partly analog (read: old-school paper) or tend to be limited to a narrow group of sellers. NFL and Ticketmaster are hoping to fix that. They're extending their partnership to create what they say is the first open, all-digital ticketing system for sports. It'll both modernize the ticket process with less chance of fraud or other security woes, but will validate tickets at other sites. You can go through a third party knowing their tickets are the real deal and aren't coming from scalpers.
Oakland Athletics reportedly test NFC-powered MLB tickets
It took Apple long enough to embrace NFC, even though it was originally only enabled for Apple Pay. Luckily, the company has finally opened up the short-range wireless technology in iOS 11, which should lead to a host of innovative uses of NFC by third-parties. Case in point, according to TechCrunch, the Oakland Athletics are piloting a new system that will let you tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on ticket scanners to go see a baseball game.
London venue is first to eradicate touts with digital-only tickets
Touts are something you'll no longer see roaming the pavements outside of London's Islington Assembly Hall. The music venue has become the first in the UK to commit entirely to digital tickets, all of which will be sold through mobile app Dice. Tickets are inextricably linked to the Dice app, so they can't be posted on resale sites or flogged to touts. That works in your favour, of course, because you'll only ever pay list price. Just make sure you don't drain your battery organising pre-drinks with the squad.
'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.
Amazon's US ticket sales talks stall over customer data
Are you hoping that Amazon will sell event tickets in the US and put an end to the dominance of giants who charge endless hidden fees? You might not want to hold your breath. Reuters sources back previous claims that Amazon is in talks with American venues to sell their tickets, but add that negotiations are stalled over access to customer data. Venue owners reportedly want the info to help target their artist bookings and social networking campaigns, but Amazon has "yet to budge." Amazon has even talked to Ticketmaster as a possible partner, but that too has run aground over control of customer info.
Ticketmaster shows you the view from any seat in the house
When you buy a ticket to a concert or sports event, you want to make sure your view is a good one. The days of peering at a line drawing of a venue's seating plan to figure that out could soon be a thing of the past. Ticketmaster confirmed to Engadget today that its new Virtual Venue technology is ready to roll out. Created by Io-Media, Virtual Venue uses gyroscopic and panoramic views to show you the view from any seat in the stadium or concert hall. The technology is now integrated into Ticketmaster's desktop and mobile sites. There are currently 110 venues across North America with the capability.
Gig ticket sellers should learn from Dice's new refund option
Now in its third year, UK gig app Dice has made a name for itself by selling tickets for some of the world's biggest music acts without additional overheads. There are no booking fees and tickets are tightly linked to an account, meaning all you need to do is pay the listing price and show your phone at the door. The process all but eliminates scalpers, but getting your money back when you can't make a gig hasn't been especially easy. With Refund Tickets, however, Dice has introduced a new button for sold out gigs that gives you your money back if someone on the waiting list wants to take it off your hands.
How the Digital Economy Act will come between you and porn
As we approach the snap general election on June 8th, the UK government has had to get through as much important business as possible before Parliament shut down earlier today in preparation for the vote. Last week, MPs and Lords working on the Digital Economy Bill opted to forego much of the usual "ping pong" process of debating amendments and wording amongst themselves in order to get the thing passed. That "good enough" approach meant the bill became law last Thursday after receiving immediate Royal Assent. The Digital Economy Act introduces a new requirement for porn sites to verify the age of visitors, rules regarding the capping of mobile phone bills and it should help stop ticket touts from bulk-buying online. But there's a lot more to it, so here's everything you need to know.
Amazon's new Prime perk gets you the best seats in the house
With the weather beginning to brighten up, Amazon's introducing a new perk for Prime members that aims to get you to down your Kindle, drag yourself off your comfy sofa and venture out to see some live gigs and events. Starting this Thursday, Amazon Tickets -- the UK-only service (for now) we'd also kinda forgotten about -- will begin offering Prime members early dibs on gig and theatre tickets at least 24 hours before they go on general sale, starting with the upcoming tours of acts including Art Garfunkel and The Darkness. And if you really want to make a night of it, Prime subscribers can also splash their cash to get on the list for Amazon's premium seating and luxury lounges at various London venues.
UK to make online ticket-buying bots illegal
A new amendment slipped into the Digital Economy Bill, which is now pretty close to becoming UK law, would make the use of online tout bots that hoover up tickets to popular music, sport and other events a criminal offense punishable by unlimited fines (but not imprisonment). Websites typically limit the number of tickets an individual can buy for obvious reasons, but computerized tools that circumvent these caps allow scalpers to buy more than their fair share, if there is such a thing in this context.
President Obama signs nationwide ticket-bot ban into law
New York already passed legislation banning the use of ticket buying bots, but President Obama has just made the ban a nationwide law. Today, the president signed the "Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act of 2016" which makes it illegal to use software to purchase tickets to popular events. Of course, the end goal of doing so is to resell them at a higher price. As you might expect, the law aims to give the general public a fair shot at concerts, sporting events and more that sell out quickly.
Amazon may bring its ticket sales to the US
Amazon introduced online concert and theater ticket sales in the UK back in 2015, and it now looks like you should have that option elsewhere in the world -- possibly including the US. Recode has spotted job listings that point to an "international expansion strategy" for Asia and Europe, while multiple recent openings at Amazon's Seattle headquarters hint at American operations. There's even talk of a Prime Tickets feature, although it's not clear what that would entail beyond some added value for your yearly Prime membership.
'Hamilton' creator Miranda joins the fight against ticket bots
Hate that ticket bots robbed you of a chance to see that big concert or musical? So does Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Hamilton author is teaming up with Senator Charles Schumer to promote a proposed federal bill, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act, geddit?), that would fine bot users $16,000 for every ticket they sell. That's far harsher than in Schumer's own New York state, where a recently passed law tops out at a $1,000 total fine and no more than a year in prison. Miranda is coming aboard as proof that these bots can do real damage -- scalpers made roughly $15.5 million from Hamilton alone, and jacked prices from $189 to as much as $2,000. It'd also start a task force that would detect these bootleggers.
SeatGeek aims at Ticketmaster with a new ticketing platform
Hoping to be more than just an online reseller, SeatGeek is making its biggest move against Ticketmaster yet with its own platform for selling tickets directly to events. SeatGeek Open will let event spaces, teams and other groups offer ticket sales within their own mobile sites and apps, as well as SeatGeek's main app. For the most part, the company is trying to offer a more modern ticket buying experience than what's currently available on Ticketmaster. That means it'll focus on mobile purchases, easy reselling (SeatGeek's bread and butter, after all), and potentially tying in other event purchases (like concession stand items and souvenirs) together with tickets.
Major League Soccer deal lets you buy tickets on other websites
Sports leagues have historically clamped down on online ticket sales, in part to prevent the rampant scalping you see in much of the entertainment industry. Major League Soccer, however, is trying the exact opposite: it's throwing things wide open. The league has forged a partnership with SeatGeek that will create a ticketing platform that works through virtually any website or app. Other sites could sell tickets, for a start. You could buy tickets from Uber before you hail a ride to that Seattle Sounders game, for instance.
