Ticketmaster and The Resurrection Of Physical Ticket Sales
Ticketmaster and The Resurrection Of Physical Ticket Sales
By Oli Gonzalez
“I remember when tickets were physical only and had to be bought in person”.
There’s been many a comment circulating around social media surrounding the announcement of the ‘Back to the Beginning’ show. The one that’s got the world of music talking. The final concert for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne (yes, reportedly, the very last final seriously honestly we really mean it this time we promise, FINAL show) and a seriously stacked undercard featuring Metallica, Slayer (didn’t they also do a farewell tour?!), Alice In Chains, Gojira, Mastadon, and a host of other artists in a who’s who of metal history.
The comment above got me thinking the most, however.
This one-off performance will feel like a major nostalgia trip for many with the ‘Back to the Beginning’ tagline seeming very apt indeed, especially given that all this will take place in the home city of Ozzy Osbourne himself, at Villa Park, Birmingham, with the original lineup for the fathers of Heavy Metal. Billed as a once-in-a-lifetime lineup and the greatest Metal show in history, this is one that people should be excited about. Instead, it seems that the sentiment towards the show has been overwhelmingly negative. Not least due to questions surrounding Ozzy’s health and ability to perform, but also the ugly elephant in the room. Ticketmaster.
We’re in 2025 now and the use of technology should be making the ticket-buying process more convenient and easier for everybody. Instead, we’ve seen reports of devices failing to load correctly after being in the queue for hours at a time, a seemingly random allocation of queue numbers, and an inability of the system to cope with the ultra-high volume of users. Understandably, there is frustration. It’s safe to say that the process is causing unnecessary and undue stress. Let’s not even get into the crazy complex price tiering system whereby you could end up paying significantly more or less than someone who’s stood an arm’s length away from you. Or an even dirtier phrase; dynamic pricing! It feels like Oasis all over again. Let’s just agree that the ethics surrounding Ticketmaster suck!
So, what is the solution?
Why not go back to the beginning and the good old days of buying physical tickets? Not just buying them online and getting them via the post. No, physically leaving your home to go somewhere to buy them?
Sounds bizarre, doesn’t it? But this is so crazy, it may just work! Asking fans to invest significant amounts of time and resources just to travel to Birmingham from the USA, Japan, China, Australia, or even just from another part of the UK to physically queue for a ticket that they may not be able to buy is simply not realistic. Instead, different retailers across the globe would be used in this hypothetical idea. Supermarkets, record stores, whatever. This would help to reduce this geographic problem. We’ve seen a sad decline of the high street, especially in my hometown which is now a seemingly barren wasteland of bakeries, charity shops, and boarded-up empty units. Granting selected stores with an allocation for tickets would give people a reason to visit the high street again, with the increased footfall potentially translating into additional sales for other local businesses, whether they’re small, independent, or larger. Not to mention the community aspect, something we seem to be losing day by day. Some of my best memories of concerts have been chatting to strangers in the queue and bonding with them over our shared love of the obscure and heavy side of music. The opportunity to do this whilst queueing to buy tickets seems a lot more personable than doing it all from behind a screen in your home, right?
It may be a utopian idea for the social butterflies, but an ordeal and waking nightmare for those with physical limitations and disabilities, as well as those unfortunate enough to live with anxiety disorders. Also those with children, caring obligations, or simply those with strange working hours would struggle too. Not exactly creating a level playing field, is it?
The issue of scalping – buying tickets with the sole intention of reselling them for disgustingly inflated prices – has always been an issue in the music industry, too. Sufficient measures would be needed to safeguard against such practices in this proposal (i.e. 2 tickets maximum per single person). Though the problem of bots (automated scripting tools that can potentially ‘buy’ a ticket within seconds of them going on sale) would in theory be eliminated if you can only buy a ticket physically and in person. And how does it feel holding a physically crafted ticket with a unique graphic, and getting to keep the stub as a memento after? Some may purr over this idea, others may not give a damn.
Should we do away with online ticket sales completely? Is going back to physical only the way forward? Maybe there’s merit to this suggestion. Maybe there isn’t. But here’s a counter argument. For all the hatred towards buying tickets online, this method can remove some of these highlighted barriers surrounding physical opportunity and ability, anxiety, and geographic equality.
What’s the best solution? Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Why not embrace the advantages of both digital and physical purchases, and ensure an allocation of both is available?
Whilst we don’t need to solely go back to the beginning, we can take the best of tradition whilst embracing the advantages of modern technology with a view to removing the negatives and highlighting the advantages of both methods. In either case, Ticketmaster and online ticket sales is a problem that still needs addressing.
Disclaimer: This article is solely the property of Oli Gonzalez and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this article unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
