Could This Someday Be An Alternative To Ticketmaster?

I'm all for anything that can make concert or gig ticketing more fair and efficient. Just about everyone except Ticketmaster employees hates the current system, with the "convenience charges,"  the extra charge for printing your own tickets, and the general perceived contempt for the customer.

If there was an alternative, I bet it wouldn't take long for venues, promoters and artists to switch. Now maybe there is.

A company called Gigswiz is trying to build an alternative way to ticketing as they try to bring the process to social networks and reward artists for direct contact with their fans. Recently they even implemented a Fan Loyalty program with British band Human League, where the band was able to pass on ticket discounts to the fans.

The way it works is artists sign up to GigsWiz Backstage and connect the service to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. GigsWiz then automatically promotes all upcoming gigs with ticketing links, for which the artist or band gets credit. Event organizers can also create events on the GigsWiz Tickets service so that they can reach a band’s fan base.

In addition to those updates being pushed automatically to social media channels, GigsWiz provides embeddable widgets and Facebook apps for artists, promoters and venues that list upcoming gigs and link directly to a page to purchase tickets. The artist is awarded anywhere from 5 to 20% commission on the sales, which they can either keep or give back to their fans.

I'm sure Ticketmaster isn't shaking in their boots, but here's hope that Gigswiz gets a foot in the door and gives the market an alternative. We really need it.

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