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Chat with Bixby to buy tickets from Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster has partnered with Samsung's Bixby, allowing users in North America to find and purchase event tickets through the virtual assistant. The feature is powered by Ticketmaster's API and Galaxy Note 9 users can now ask Bixby to find events by artist, team, location or date. Just say something like, "Hi Bixby, find concert tickets in Los Angeles," or, "Hi Bixby, what sporting events are happening in New York this weekend?" The assistant will provide results fitting the request and users can then purchase tickets to events available through Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster shuts down its UK ticket resale sites
After a UK watchdog threatened legal action, Ticketmaster has announced that it's shutting down its second-hand ticket reselling sites, Get Me In and Seatwave. Instead, the site is launching a fan-to-fan ticket exchange that lets you buy or sell tickets at the original price or less. The new site will roll out in October in the UK and Ireland (and in Europe in early 2019), but as of today, you'll no longer be able to buy tickets for new events on Get Me In and Seatwave.
Coinbase users can convert crypto into gift cards
Coinbase announced today that it has teamed up with WeGift and customers in Europe and Australia will now be able to convert their cryptocurrency into e-gift cards. Gift cards are available for companies like Nike, Uber, Google Play, Ticketmaster and Tesco and Coinbase won't collect any withdrawal fees when users buy the gift cards with their cryptocurrency balances. Customers will also get bonus credit on some of their e-gift card purchases. Gift cards for Nike, Ticketmaster and Uber offer six percent, three percent and two percent bonuses, respectively, for example.
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."
YouTube adds concert listings to music videos
Google announced a new YouTube feature today that will make it super easy to find and purchase concert tickets. Starting today, official music videos posted on YouTube will show upcoming concert dates for that artist and each show will have a link to where you can purchase tickets. The feature is in partnership with Ticketmaster though, so tickets sold by other companies won't be linked.
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.
Fandango pulls a Ticketmaster with plans to buy MovieTickets.com
Who doesn't love grabbing movie tickets from their mobile device before heading to the theater, skipping the long lines at the box office? No one, that's who. Now there's one less outlet to do so with, as Fandango continues to consolidate advance movie ticket sales with plans to acquire MovieTickets.com. According to Deadline, this leaves Atom Tickets as one of the only other competitors in the space, bringing Fandango closer to a Ticketmaster-style monopoly. The deal itself is set to close in the latter part of this year.
Feed the Taylor Swift hype machine for a better chance at tickets
Buying tickets to a play or concert online is an absolutely terrible experience these days. Between fighting bots and ridiculous handling fees, fans get the short end of the stick when they can't make it to the venue to buy direct. Taylor Swift is partnering with Ticketmaster and its Verified Fan program to sidestep some of that frustration with Taylor Swift Tix.
'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.
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.
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.
New York criminalizes the use of ticket-buying bots
If you failed to get tickets for your favorite band, even though your finger was poised on the "buy" link the instant they went on sale, don't worry -- you never stood a chance. They were probably snapped up by bots that, in one case, bought 1,012 Madison Square Garden U2 tickets in less than a minute. The state of New York has declared that scalpers who use them could get fines and even jail time. "New Yorkers have been dealing with this frustrating ticket buying experience for too long," says state assembly member Marcos Crespie.
Ticketmaster will start selling tickets on Facebook this month
You can already buy things on Facebook, and later this month, you'll be able to snag concert tickets without leaving the site, too. Ticketmaster VP Dan Armstrong told BuzzFeed in an interview that the ticket retailer would begin selling admission to live music and other events through the social network's site and mobile app before April's end. While Ticketmaster isn't the first to coordinate purchases from Facebook, making tickets to events available on the social channel seems like a good move for both companies.
Google search starts linking directly to event tickets
Just can't wait to snag some tickets for a big concert, but don't want to wade through the band's site (or the ticket shop's page) to make sure you get a good seat? You won't have to after today. Google has forged deals with AXS, Ticketfly and Ticketmaster that link you directly to tickets when you search for a specific venue on the web or in Google Maps. If you search for a band, you'll also get tour schedules.
Ticketmaster joins Apple Pay party with updated iOS app
Not one to be left out of a big event, Ticketmaster decided it was time to join in on the Apple Pay movement and has updated its app accordingly. The new feature allows for one-touch ordering and confirmation via Touch ID, and can automatically toss your digital tickets into your iOS Passbook in one seamless transaction. In a press release, Ticketmaster's North America president Jared Smith spoke about the addition. "We work hard to deliver simple and secure ways for fans to purchase tickets to the events they love, and offering Apple Pay makes our industry-leading app the most convenient, flexible and secure way to buy," he said.
Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses returns to LA in June
Get your finest green tuxedo ready, Los Angelenos, because the Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses concert is coming back in June. The touring show features a full orchestra performing classic tunes from the series, and this event promises "newly approved" music straight from the land of Hyrule.The show starts at the Greek Theatre on Wednesday, June 12, which puts it right on the second day of E3 2013. If you want tickets, they'll be available this Saturday at 10AM through Ticketmaster.This is a newly scheduled stop on the Zelda tour, but it's not the only one: The full schedule has dates around the rest of California, in Texas, and up in Seattle and Toronto as well.
PSA: Passbook supported apps now listed in iOS 6 App Store
Now that iOS 6 has officially landed, Apple has pulled back the veil revealing the first wave of apps to support its new Passbook feature. The initial group of companies to jump on the bandwagon include: Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Lufthansa, MLB.com At Bat, Sephora to Go, Walgreens and Fandango Movies. While this list is a tad bit shorter than we hoped for, it's safe to say that more apps will follow in the not-so-distant future. Want to be the first to know when they arrive? Be sure to keep an eye on the Passbook section of the App Store for the latest updates.
Facebook launches Timeline Apps platform, socialites rejoice
Facebook, along with its launch partners, has finally let loose its Timeline Apps platform, setting Open Graph apps free to roam the web. Announced at the company's f8 conference in September, Timeline Apps allow third-parties to build Facebook applications that facilitate information sharing amongst users and their social network. While FB initially focused on the music and movie genre, Zuckerberg & Co. seem to have keyed-in on a variety of markets for today's launch, from travel (TripAdvisor) to cuisine (Foodspotting), and even ticketing companies like ScoreBig, Eventbrite, StubHub, TicketFly and Ticketmaster. So now everyone will know immediately when you scored those backstage passes to Ricky Martin because you're living la vida loca with Timeline. Get the full story from Facebook at the source and PR from ScoreBig awaits after the break.
