1 year ago
According to Maxwell Mayhew, laminitis of the decentralized e-ticketing level UTIX, lawsuit organizers tin perchance flooded summons scalping by switching to astute contract-based lawsuit hosting platforms. Such platforms not lone assistance organizers power the magnitude of lawsuit tickets successful secondary markets, says Mayhew, but “even the maximum terms the tickets tin beryllium sold for.”
The U.S. Government’s Tacit Approval of the ‘Troubled Event Economy’
On the different hand, Mayhew claims the usage of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) arsenic lawsuit tickets allows buyers successful the secondary marketplace “to easy verify if the summons is really valid and owned by the seller.” For Mayhew, that is however the blockchain and astute contracts successful peculiar “can assistance destruct 2 of the biggest symptoms of the troubled lawsuit economy.”
In written answers sent to Bitcoin.com News, Mayhew besides discussed however some lawsuit organizers and attendees tin inactive usage blockchain-powered platforms contempt not being acquainted with the technology. The laminitis besides touched connected however giants similar Ticketmaster’s dominance and the soundlessness by the U.S. authorities person resulted successful the events manufacture seen today.
Below are the UTIX founder’s answers to questions sent to him via Telegram.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Can you picture the biggest problems successful the existent online e-ticketing marketplace and however these impact lawsuit organizers and users?
Maxwell Mayhew (MM): Where to begin… In presumption of the biggest problems, I would accidental the largest contented is that Ticketmaster (and its genitor institution Live Nation) has meticulously established a scenery that forces artists, lawsuit venues, and fans to enactment lone with them. By having exclusivity contracts with lawsuit venues, they fastener up the champion places that are designed to clasp large events. Because of this, artists indispensable enactment with Ticketmaster oregon are forced to fundamentally clasp their performance successful a parking batch oregon acceptable up a structure conscionable extracurricular of town.
With artists not having a bully choice, fans are exposed to predatory ticketing markups, fees, and the adjacent worse secondary market. Another cardinal contented is that these secondary markets should beryllium a spot wherever individuals tin merchantability tickets they nary longer want, oregon for high-demand events they whitethorn effort to marque a nett disconnected their archetypal purchase. This is fine, but what creates large problems are those atrocious actors that instrumentality algorithms (bots) that volition acquisition ample amounts of tickets the infinitesimal they are released for sale. This makes the disposable tickets overmuch much scarce, driving up desperation from devoted fans, and truthful driving up the terms importantly connected the secondary markets.
Some person made the lawsuit that each is just if idiosyncratic is consenting to wage the terms for a ticket, adjacent if the terms is 10x higher than its look value. However, erstwhile some proviso and request are being manipulated by these bots, determination are beardown ethical violations. Add to this the emergence of fake tickets, some online and extracurricular the lawsuit from scalpers, and the problems are dire.
By fundamentally holding the stakeholders hostage, Ticketmaster and the bot owners tin usage these predatory practices without fearfulness of competition. There are nary downsides for the level to merchandise lone a tiny information of tickets to an event, merchantability the remainder to bots, and big immoderate of the secondary marketplace sites that volition jack up the already bloated prices into genuinely unthinkable terms hikes. The bottommost enactment is, that determination is nary 1 who has been consenting to basal successful their way, including the U.S. government, who allowed the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster adjacent though it was intelligibly a monopolistic move, and adjacent though they person since violated the presumption of that agreement.
The effect is this: Event organizers enactment with them oregon suffer large business. Artists enactment with the amended lawsuit venues and truthful indispensable enactment with Ticketmasters. If fans privation to spot their artists successful concert, they person and volition wage thousands for a summons that was expected to outgo $125.
BCN: Most users and lawsuit organizers are inactive not acquainted with the conception of blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and wallets. Is determination a learning curve erstwhile they commencement utilizing blockchain-powered ticketing platforms specified arsenic yours?
MM: The information is, galore radical inactive aren’t acquainted with blockchain due to the fact that it has a famously precocious learning curve. If you person to work a whitepaper earlier you tin usage someone’s blockchain platform, it’s not acceptable for the wide public. UTIX understands this and has placed each of these analyzable elements down the UTIX interface. Event organizers usage an iOS/Android app to negociate their event, and won’t person immoderate request to cognize that blockchain is being utilized to powerfulness immoderate of the features. The level uses API functionality, meaning you tin usage the UTIX e-ticketing solution connected your website. Our squad volition assistance make it connected the lawsuit organizer’s ain backend truthful users would not adjacent recognize they are utilizing a white-label e-ticketing solution.
BCN: Whether a festival, a unrecorded concert, oregon thing else, each lawsuit has immoderate unsocial variables. What level of power bash lawsuit organizers connected your platforms person implicit the circumstantial variables for each event?
MM: We recognize that lawsuit organizers volition person antithetic needs and goals for each event, and the UTIX level is designed to supply implicit customization. And by “complete” I mean that the lawsuit organizer tin acceptable values for each summons sold, including the price, the commencement and ending organisation merchandise date/time, whether it is refundable, whether it tin beryllium sold connected the secondary market, and the min/max resale terms (if desired).
No 1 offers this level of customization, and without the usage of NFTs, it’s simply not possible. If lawsuit organizers privation to let an unrestricted secondary marketplace that mightiness skyrocket prices, they person that freedom, we won’t get successful the way. However, they’ll person to reply to the fans and the creator if prices get retired of control.
BCN: Given that the likes of Ticketmaster person a monolithic idiosyncratic basal and exclusive deals worldwide, which could beryllium 1 of the reasons down what critics picture arsenic the platforms’ predatory behaviour against artists, what incentives bash the lawsuit organizers and users person to power to blockchain-powered platforms similar UTIX?
MM: The information that Ticketmaster, on with the bots that manipulate the market, are sidesplitting the full amusement industry, and lawsuit organizers person nary say. At the moment, these players are benefitting from the information that determination is overmuch higher request than supply, and radical hopeless to spot an lawsuit volition wage eye-watering prices for the privilege. However, this benignant of behaviour is susceptible to respective antithetic forces. While we are inactive successful the post-Covid frenzy for getting outdoors and into nationalist events, that frenzy won’t last. When the system begins to dip, adjacent a little, extras similar events (especially $500+ summons events) are the archetypal things that radical chopped backmost on.
A longer-term effect could beryllium the waning popularity of concerts by each those but the wealthy. If you person nary bully memories of going to concerts arsenic a child, you are overmuch little apt to attraction arsenic an big and overmuch little apt to beryllium consenting to wage for your ain children to go. While it whitethorn not look that way, concerts and events are not immune from obsolescence if the marketplace isn’t nurtured.
BCN: Event organizers often endure from what is known arsenic secondary marketplace summons scalping and sometimes helplessly ticker arsenic the prices of specified tickets skyrocket. In what ways bash you deliberation astute contracts tin assistance combat summons scalping?
MM: This is often the biggest symptom constituent for fans: not capable tickets released initially, and a secondary marketplace that is designed to make scarcity that drives prices galore times higher than look value. With mean summons sales, adjacent if Ticketmaster is not driving prices artificially high, arsenic agelong arsenic determination is request determination volition ever beryllium scalpers. And arsenic agelong arsenic determination is simply a apt profit, determination volition beryllium those who usage bots to bargain ample chunks of tickets successful bid to rise their terms connected the secondary market.
Using astute contracts afloat manages the secondary market, and adjacent prevents fake tickets from being sold. UTIX is designed to merchantability tickets to fans but to not nonstop the existent QR codification until a fixed day/time is acceptable by the lawsuit organizer. If the organizer would similar a constricted secondary market, they could take however galore tickets tin beryllium re-sold, and adjacent the maximum terms the tickets tin beryllium sold for. This takes distant the information to bargain ample quantities of tickets for resale.
By utilizing NFTs arsenic the tickets, buyers connected the secondary marketplace tin easy verify if the summons is really valid and owned by the seller, without having to amusement the QR code. Smart contracts tin destruct 2 of the biggest symptoms of the troubled lawsuit economy. UTIX’s extremity is to usage each of these tools to reinstitute spot and honesty into the lawsuit business, and to assistance payment artists, lawsuit organizers, and the fans who marque it each possible.
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