Live Nation says the start of their new ticketing division has been a success so far. The divorce from Ticketmaster which came into effect with the start of the new year sees Live Nation now selling their own tickets. LN Ticketing is powered by German ticketing firm CTS Eventim and initially focuses on club shows and smaller venues as the transition from Ticketmaster is still in progress.
Jason Garner, CEO of global music LN, told Billboard that even though the switch is “pretty complex” the “rollout went as flawlessly as we could have hoped. I think in general you’d have to call it a major success.” No amphitheater shows are integrated into the system yet.
As of now, Ticketmaster still sells tickets to about 47% of the shows Live Nation promotes. Eventually, LN CEO Michael Rapino wants to sell more than 40 percent of all tickets this year in-house, compared to 11% last year. Since the switch on January 1st 177,000 tickets for 52 venues have been sold via the new system, Rapino said.
Garner hopes Live Nation will be able to better serve fans and artists with the new platform. He hopes to achieve optimum pricing and seating for his venues. Additionally, Live Nation wants to regain a little control over the secondary market.
“We realize in this economy the guy that gets creative and thinks outside the box on ways to create new revenue is going to win. It’s about creating new music products for the fan”, Garner said. It remains to be seen what role ticket fees will play in this thinking-outside-the-box.
