Taylor Swift reportedly considered FTX NFT ticketing before collapse

Taylor Swift was set to partner with FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that has now filed for bankruptcy, which would have included an arrangement to have concert tickets minted as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), it has been reported.  According to the Financial Times, founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried was negotiating with Swift over a deal worth more …

AEG Presents and K-Pop promoter Powerhouse announce strategic partnership

AEG Presents and K-Pop touring and marketing company Powerhouse have announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on all aspects of live K-Pop business including touring, production, marketing and media.  The concert promotion and artist development company started its relationship with Powerhouse in 2010, and worked to produce the SM Town Concert at Staples Center, as …

PickleJar expands ticketing services and fan experiences

Live entertainment and payments platform PickleJar has launched its ticketing service to include expanded fan experiences inside its app, and on its private live streaming FAST channel, PickleJar+. The platform offers a way for venues, event organisers, promoters and individual artists selling tickets to their live content offerings to be more streamlined. Event organisers will …

Sir Elton John to headline Glastonbury Festival in 2023

Sir Elton John will headline UK flagship festival Glastonbury next summer, which will be his last UK performance on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. Sir Elton will be playing on Sunday June 25 on the Pyramid Stage. In a statement, Sir Elton said: “There is no more fitting way to say goodbye to my …

Senators question FTC over bot tactics

US Senators have turned to the country’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to discuss the agency’s plans to fight the use of bots in ticketing, following the issues which plagued the recent Taylor Swift pre-sale.  Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee announced recently they would be holding a hearing to examine the ticketing industry, while Senators …

New event ticketing standard introduced in Australia

A new event ticketing standard has been introduced by the Australian Government to help ticket buyers make informed decisions when purchasing tickets from online resellers. Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), online ticket resellers will have to clearly disclose that they are a reseller and not a primary ticket provider, as well as the ticket’s …

Kägelbanan set to reopen under Stockholm Live

Live entertainment, venue management and event strategy company ASM Global has announced that Kägelbanan, Stockholm is set to reopen under a new operator, Stockholm Live.  The music venue at Södra Teatern has been closed for three years but will now be opening its doors once more for concerts and events. In previous years, Kägelbanan has …

Seat Unique scores first major music partnership, signs deals with Essex Cricket and St. Helens

Seat Unique has been named as the exclusive premium ticketing and hospitality partner of Rock N Roll Circus.  The event sees musical talent entwined with the circus, with artists performing in the Big Top alongside resident aerialists, stilt walkers, fortune tellers and more. Fans will now be able to purchase tickets at any time online …

Italian Supreme Administrative Court affirms TicketOne fine annulment

Bird & Bird partner and associate Federico Marini Balestra and Lucia Antonazzi have analysed the annulment of the €10.9m (£9.4m/$11.3m) fine given to CTS Eventim-owned TicketOne by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in 2021.  In October, the Italian Supreme Administrative Court ( ‘Consiglio di Stato’ in Italian or CDS) affirmed the Lazio Regional Administrative Tribunal/Court …

Italy’s live sector shows positive signs of bouncing back

The recent Milan Music Week provided the perfect backdrop for Italy’s copyright agency SIAE to present a preview of its figures relating to concerts, for the first nine months of 2022. During a panel discussion at the event, guests talked about the data and how the pandemic significantly impacted the live sector in Italy. Despite …