Ticketmaster Testing Out NFT Ticket Presales

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• Ticketmaster is testing out NFT ticket presales to further boost its exposure to the Web 3.0 sector
• The company has been involved in the space for two years
• The pilot starts with Avenged Sevenfold’s upcoming tour

Ticketmaster, the world’s most hatred ticketing company, has announced further integration of the Web 3.0 world after rolling out crypto wallet integration for Avenged Sevenfold’s upcoming tour. The move allows NFT holders from the heavy metal band’s fan club — Death Bats Club — to get priority access to tickets and reserved seating with no queues. Ticketmaster joined the web-olution in November 2021 when it tested integrating NFTs with Polygon, but switched the Flow last September. The company has been handing out NFTs as part of its deals with certain artists ever since, but this is the biggest move it has yet made into making them more mainstream.

Five Million NFTs Already Issued

Ticketmaster has issued over five million NFTs as commemorative tokens for major events like the Super Bowl, but this is the first time the company is using token-gated integration for direct ticket purchases. While it is currently in the pilot stage, it may roll out to more artists based on demand. According to Ticketmaster’s executive VP of global music, David Marcus, token-gated ticket sales can be used in various ways by artists, from unlocking premier seats to offering special experiences like sitting in on soundcheck.

The token-gated sales are currently compatible with tokens minted on Ethereum and stored in dapp wallets such as MetaMask or Coinbase. Marcus said that any artist who is minting their own NFTs or partnering with another independent community can now explore token-gated ticketing.

New Use Cases for NFTs

Web 3.0 fan club models, like the Death Bats Club, have emerged as a resilient use-case for blockchain technology, even as the hype around NFT trading has died away. Artists like The Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, and Portugal. The Man have found token-gated communities to be a way to engage more closely with their biggest fans and deliver exclusive perks and content. For instance, The Chainsmokers have a Discord community that is only open to NFT holders, where they regularly talk directly with their fans and offer meet-and-greet exclusives.