Our weekly tech round-up from the world of ticketing and associated industries…
Apple’s new concert discovery services
Apple has launched new concert discovery facilities for its Apple Music and Maps services.
On Maps, more than 40 new Guides, each curated by Apple Music editors, highlight the best venues to experience live music in some of the world’s leading culture hubs.
Apple said: “From landmark Viennese symphony halls to cutting-edge techno clubs in Brooklyn and Tokyo, these hand-picked selections — currently spanning over 10 cities — are all music fans need for an unforgettable night out.”
Apple Music Guides also allow fans to browse venues’ upcoming shows directly from Maps through Shazam’s concert discovery module — part of a suite of features that Shazam introduced last spring, leveraging concert information from the world-renowned event recommendation and artist discovery platform Bandsintown.
Apple added: “Music offers the ultimate listening experience for music fans around the world, distinguished in part by its global team of expert curators and lifelong music obsessives who make a point to surface the songs and albums users have to hear.”
Apple Music Guides has launched with featured cities including New York City and Los Angeles, London and Paris, and Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.
Yankees’ chat launch
The New York Yankees has announced a new relationship with GameOn, the intelligent chat platform. GameOn will enhance ticketing and guest experience support via AI-enabled chat, improving the overall fan experience on the Yankees’ website for tourists and other fans seeking specific information about visiting Yankee Stadium.
As GameOn builds out their fully managed chat experience, fans will find smarter and faster support for ticketing, premium experiences, Yankee Stadium tours, concessions, transportation and more.
GameOn’s platform will support fan inquiries by providing direct answers to fans’ most frequently asked questions. Future capabilities are expected to include the ability to answer questions in multiple languages and integration with Ticketmaster to provide fans a seamless capability to search for and purchase tickets.
GameOn will work with the Yankees to implement Generative AI and GPT technology in a way that maximises efficiencies for fans and the team.
“In our continuing effort to enhance the overall Yankee Stadium experience, we were looking for ways to impact the very first part of a visit, which is the planning stage,” said Marty Greenspun, SVP of strategic ventures for the Yankees. “For those unfamiliar with visiting Yankee Stadium, including tourists from around the world making a once-in-a-lifetime trip, GameOn’s chat platform enables us to provide exceptional and instantaneous customer service from the get-go.”
NFT ticket system coming soon
MetaWorks Platforms has announced that it will launch version 1.0 of its Blockchain based NFT event ticketing system and decentralized wallet product, WalletFX, in September.
The MetaWorks private EVM blockchain will play a key role in addressing the challenges posed by bot scalping as any NFT tickets sold on the platform will only be allowed to be resold on the MetaWorks blockchain under a set of rules created by the artists or producer of the event. This model allows artists to capture secondary market revenue opportunities while limiting the maximum per ticket price and can be customized for each event.
MetaWorks Platforms president Scott Gallagher said: “Ticketing is one of those rare areas where the core problems can be solved by properly applied technology. Blockchain, NFTs and Smart Contracts done right will be able to completely eradicate the unnecessary scalping and pricing problems caused by the current system. Our platform will bring both the power and the revenue back where it belongs, to the fans and the artists.”
He added: “Removing the purchasing friction typically associated with Web3 and improving the speed of transactions will be the key to the success of the platform. Our goal is to launch a platform on the MetaWorks blockchain that eliminates scalping, allows the artist to control pricing, and monetize the secondary market while creating a positive experience for the fans.”