Event tickets that require a smart phone

TidBITS Talk
1

Continuing the discussion from "Cleaning" an iPhone for international travel:

But that may not be the case in the future.

Here in the US, LiveNation (a large monopolistic ticket-sales corporation) has begun using a system that requires a smart phone.

When I went to see a concert last summer, the ticket was virtual - accessible only via the LiveNation app. It presents a QR code, which must be scanned for entrance. And the code changes every few minutes (it obviously incorporates something resembling a TOTP code), so you can’t print it at home and bring the paper for admission.

Personally, I find this practice offensive. While most people attending a rock concert have mobile devices, I consider it unreasonable to require use of one for admission. And many events appeal to a much older audience - who may not have a smart phone.

I’m sure they will give excuses like “everybody brings a smart phone anyway” or “this is to prevent use of counterfeit tickets” or “we’re trying to save the planet by avoiding use of paper”, but I think these are all just meaningless statements designed to deflect attention away from the truth - that they want to track you to a level that isn’t possible with paper tickets and they’re willing to lose customers over it because the tracking data is more valuable than their profits from ticket sales.

6 Likes
2

In many cases with LieNation’s digital ticketing, you can also purchase tickets directly from the venue to be held at “will call”, and those do not necessarily require a smartphone (it depends on the venue, of course). Unless the venue has an exclusive contract for ticket sales (meaning that even tickets sold by the venue must go through LiveNation), LiveNation cannot force the venue to use only digital tickets. You can also often avoid LiveNation’s fees and dynamic pricing this way, especially with smaller venues. It often pays to check with the venue if you want to avoid feeding the monopoly.

3

I wouldn’t put it past Live Nation, but there’s also the issue of secondary sales / scalping. I know that there are instances of people selling fraudulent tickets to very popular events and maybe this is a way to control that better.

1 Like
4

This makes me nervous because what happens if you get to the entrance point and find that your device is dead? I can’t expect to bring an external power brick because I’m always afraid that they’re going to decide that I can’t bring it inside the venue (due to concerns over bomb threats or whatever). I don’t want to have to run back to the vehicle to drop something, or decide to throw it away and lose it.

5

I would make sure your device isn’t dead.

(And if the option is there make sure the ticket is downloaded to the phone beforehand because the cellular network maybe overloaded)

2 Likes
7

Dealing with Ticketmaster/Livenation has always been a frustrating, customer-hostile experience.

(In these tumultuous times, it’s comforting to know that some things never change. :roll_eyes: )

I haven’t had to go through TM/LN for years, but I see they have a page on loading your tickets to Apple Wallet.

The discombobulated formatting and non-sequitur-laden instructions confuse me. If I’m reading it right, if you’re in AU, NZ, MX or UK, you have to use the app, but you can then load to Wallet — and then perhaps offload the app; if you’re not in one of those countries, then you can download them straight off the web into Wallet and skip the app entirely.

That would definitely be my preference, a ticket in Wallet is limited in how much information it can leak back to the issuer.

My local community theater does mobile-only ticketing; their tickets are sent as a link in an email which download to Apple (and Google?) Wallet. Buying from the ticket office saves something like $8 in ticketing fees; you still get an email with a Wallet link.