This collaboration is part of Facebook’s online model for discovering new bands, watching the latest viral videos, finding local concerts, and organizing friends for a night out on the town, which is also marked by a connectivity with Spotify, recommends events to fans based on their listening habits and those of their Facebook friends.
Moreover, that extension, from online socializing to real-world collaborations, is what live entertainment companies such as Ticketmaster and ScoreBig want to capitalize on.
The goal is to produce more ticket sales by allowing site users to search through Ticketmaster’s events, see which ones their friends are attending or interested in, read gig reviews, create concert “wish-lists,” RSVP to events, and purchase tickets, all easily through Facebook’s new Timeline interface.
“Today’s launch symbolizes a new frontier for fans of live events,” said Adam Kanner, chief executive of ScoreBig, an online name-your-bid ticketing company based in Hollywood. “Our members and their Facebook friends will now have a much more robust experience discovering live events.”
In fact, Ticketmaster also has high expectations for its Facebook storefront. Already, the company is regarded as the world’s largest e-commerce sites, selling billions of dollars worth of tickets via its online platform each year. But the Beverly Hills ticketing giant thinks it can do even better by leveraging social media to get people to go out more.
Besides, the Facebook application, for instance, analyzes each user’s list of favorite bands or genre of music, as well as their nearest location, to recommend upcoming concerts in their area.
“We can use that information to make accurate suggestions about what people want to go see,” said Kip Levin, Ticketmaster’s executive vice president of e-commerce. Levin and other ticketing industry executives estimate that about half of concert seats go empty simply because fans were not aware that their favorite bands were in town.
“It is really about concentrating on the online fan experience and making it easier for them to learn when their favorite band is coming to town, organize with their friends and paying for it,” Levin said.
Ticketmaster’s program empowers fans to scan events, view events their friends are attending, read reviews, and create their own forthcoming show lists using the “I want to go” feature. The platform boasts the unique feature of being integrated with Spotify. The app delivers recommended events based upon a user’s listening habits.
“Spotify’s social integration with Facebook already empowers music fans the ability to discover, enjoy and share more music than ever before,” Spotify’s Marc Hazan said. “The integration of Spotify into Ticketmaster’s ‘Recommended Events’ takes this to the next level, creating a seamless experience for music fans, from discovery and sharing to the fun and excitement of the live event.”
Meanwhile, Ticketfly’s Facebook Timeline App now entitle users to publicly RSVP and share events they are attending.
“For promoters, this means that fans will not only help you sell tickets, but they will increase awareness for your brand, venue and booked artists online,” Ticketfly said. “Event links on your fans’ Timelines means more traffic to your Facebook Purchase process and more fans as the event spreads throughout Sludge’s social circles. Can anyone say … free promotion?”
Media experts say the move to social networks is a no-brainer for companies such as Ticketmaster.
‘For any business, when you can take your business straight to where 800 million people are already assembling, it is an excellent move,’ said James McQuivey, a senior analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.