Technology is changing the face of ticketing, and some of the possibilities are almost unrecognisable…

Like all aspects of life, the ticketing industry is being gradually but radically altered by new technology. A ticket is now as likely to take the form of a print at home sheet or SMS barcode as the traditional paper coupons of old, but according to certain future-minded folk, it still has a long way to go.

The sharp rise in Internet sales over recent years has slackened the need for large call centres, but in many ways, also complicated distribution. Until broadband penetration plateaus across Europe, the physical ticket will remain while ticketing companies offer a range of other delivery methods, such as email, local collection and more recently, mobile.

The costs involved in each new distribution channel can be exorbitant, not least the access control systems often needed at venues to validate entry, but the long-term benefits are clear: faster, cheaper, easier distribution and a far closer relationship with consumers.

“The primary market thing you have to watch all the time is emerging technology,” says Nick Blackburn at See Tickets. “The key is to be alive to new technology.”

Phone Home

In its current form, mobile or mTicketing exists in a barcode format – ticket buyers are sent a short code SMS which is scanned at the point of entry. Don Cameron, sales and marketing director for Mobiqa, says that the market has grown drastically in the last two years.

“We’ve moved from an environment in 2005-2006 where a bunch of early adopters were doing it because it was cool, into an environment in 2007 where some of the big players in the ticketing space think they should be doing it for solid business reasons,” he says. “Last year we integrated with Tickets.com and we’re live with them with ten baseball teams in the US and other venues, we’re live with Ticketmaster in four countries, and we’re integrated with Live Nation and AEG.”

The benefits of mTicketing – particularly once consumers can easily make purchases via their mobile– is clear: whoever owns the mobile data also owns a direct channel into the hand of a potential ticket buyer, and a host of other activities can be linked to that purchase.

In Germany, Matrix Solutions’ patented PicTicket is being widely used, and Matrix has developed partners in Spain, Scandinavia and in the Netherlands. Last June it delivered 12,500 tickets for the Red Bull Flugtag at Veerhaven harbour in Rotterdam and successfully managed multiple access points at the event.

“Our platform connects directly to the ticket sellers,” says Matrix’s Jacques Kruse Brandao. “We deliver the ticket and then the entrance control equipment including the service and personnel. We just need a plug for the PC and we take care of the rest.”

A recent report by Juniper Research predicts that mTicket purchases will approach 1 billion transactions a year in Western Europe by 2011, and that figure is even higher in Eastern Europe.

“[Mobile] is the main platform for the digital purchasing of music in some of the emerging markets, so therefore it may well be the preferred platform for ticketing going forward,” says Tim Chambers, director of sales and music services for Ticketmaster Europe.

Nearfield and RFID

While barcodes require scanning, contactless smart card communications open up a wealth of opportunities. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips, similar to those used with London Transport’s Oyster Card system will shortly be heading into phones, allowing additional marketing possibilities, as well as cash-free payment for items such as merchandise and concessions.

RFID is already well developed in the Asian market, and the leading Japanese mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, sold 50 million RFID-enabled phones last year. In Tokyo alone, 120,000 stores accept RFID phones for payment.

Next generation NFC (Near Field Communication) phones will open up even more possibilities, such as peer-to-peer networking and smart readers. Imagine a music fan downloading content, details and ticketing information directly from a street poster, then making an instant purchase, and the contact with a ticket buyer moves far beyond the phone and Internet.

In the Netherlands, WheretoCard is a subsidiary of VolkerWessels Telecom, offering specialised electronic ticketing services. Its current project, the OVchipkaart, will be used exclusively for all public transport by January 2009. Half of the Dutch population (8 million people) will be carrying the cards in their pockets by the end of the year.

“We’re looking at the possibility of putting the ticket on the public transport card,” says MD Coen Kniknie. “You don’t need to print anything and nothing needs to be mailed. It could well be on mobiles in the future.”

However, for every opportunity that mobile ticketing provides, it throws up an equal and opposite problem. “Who’s going to own the NFC chip?” asks Matrix’s Brandao. “Is it the Nokias, or network operators, service providers, banks, or customer loyalty card programmes? Everybody wants to get on that chip. How much will they want to put a ticket on it?”

Far, Far, Away…

The cost of RFID chips is currently prohibitive and NFC phones are several years from mass production in Europe, but looking even further into a crystal ball, the printed ticket itself could be radically upgraded.

The technology to print electronics onto common media such as paper or plastic, using standard printing processes is currently being researched by 1,500 companies. Raghu Das of research and analysis company IDTechEx believes that it’s more a question of ‘when’ than ‘if’.

“For example, Samsung invested $500m [€318m] in twelve months on printed displays, with the end game being that your wallpaper becomes your TV set,” he says. “We’re talking about Hewlett Packard working on inkjet printers that will one day print a moving colour display, or an RFID tag, or whatever you’ve just designed.”

“You could have a ticket which has an RFID tag and a printed display, and in due course the cost will be no higher than the cost of printing a paper ticket currently.”

A Current Reality

The concept of a secure, wirelessly communicating paper ticket with an onboard screen displaying videos or adverts might seem closer to Star Trek than reality, but even in its current format, the paper ticket is advancing.

Orion Security Print delivers 20 million tickets annually, and as the value of tickets has risen, so have the incidents of counterfeiting. “There was a large [UK] festival last year that had one in five of its tickets counterfeited,” says Orion’s Brian Kenworthy. “On 60,000 tickets, that’s a huge amount, and Reading has been hit several times, but people won’t talk about it.”

In a constant game of cat and mouse with fraudsters, Orion uses security features such as barcodes, holograms with hidden elements, threads in the paper, embossing and watermarks to try and keep events secure. “We’re looking at using lasers in barcode scanners at the moment which turn the paper behind the barcode a different colour if it’s a fake,” he says.

UK printer Golden Ticket is following a similar route with UV and thermal paper, thermochromic ink, anti-scanner patterns, thread paper and more. Whenever we bring something out, the fraudsters out there will have a go at it,” says MD Matt Lucas. “You have to keep mixing things up.”

Neither is the world of wristbands sitting still and security specialists ID&C Bands now produce a silk, self-locking, multicoloured band that can be barcoded and incorporates space for an RFID chip. “Not only is it secure, but you can now find out whether your clients are turning left or right at a festival and where to place all of your drinks and trade stands,” says MD Chris Wilkey.

So it’s a brave new world, not just for the music fan and his increasing interaction with the artist, but for the companies, who’re using technology to make ticketing more ubiquitous and easier than ever.


GREG PARMLEY

To read other articles relating to Ticketing, click below: 

Ticketing 2008: A Second Hand Price
Ticketing 2008: The European Industry