Pandora's Ticketfly Purchase Good For Artists And Shareholders

Streaming music service Pandora reeled off a blockbuster purchase yesterday, coming to an agreement to acquire the online concert ticketing service Ticketfly,

The company announced that it purchased the ticket company with a combination of cash and stock amounting to around $450 million. Ticketfly’s gross revenue was around $500 million last year which resulted in net commissions of around $35 million. The company, which specializes in selling tickets for small to medium size venues, has shown some significant growth in the first half of 2015 with a net of around $55 million. 

The purchase could be classified as a coup for Pandora, as it moves the company into an area ripe for disruption that also puts it in a position to finally turn a profit.

Concert revenue has become the major source of income for many top tier artists, more than making up for the losses incurred when the industry switched to digital music. The problem is that the areas of music discovery (mostly radio) and consumption via streaming music services haven’t integrated very well with the concert industry, which means lost revenue opportunities. Artists below the superstar level have yet to benefit to the same degree from the increased concert revenue as well.

Only about 20% of the US population attended a live music event last year, according to the giant concert promoter LiveNation. The reason that the figure is so low isn’t because fans have an aversion to crowds, but mostly because they’re not aware that their favorite artists are performing near where they live.

Having Ticketfly as an integral piece of Pandora may be an answer to this dilemma. 

While Pandora has yet to turn a profit from its music service, one thing it does boast is close to 80 million active users. Read more on Forbes.

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Smartphones And Concerts Are Tied At The Hip

If you’re like me you’re probably wondering why everyone is looking down at their phones during a concert instead of at the action on stage, but it’s something that’s becoming more the norm and will probably be increasing in the future. And that, it turns out, is going to be a good thing for artists, bands and brands everywhere.

According to an article in Billboard by Donnie Dinch, Ticketfly (the online ticket source where Donnie is General Manager of Consumer) tasked Harris Interactive to conduct a poll asking how people used their phones during a concert or event. What they discovered is beyond interesting.

First of all, 31% of Millennials (18 to 34 year olds) use their phones for half the concert or longer, while only 15% say they never touch it while there. That’s a lot of time to be looking at a small display while the main event is happening in real life, so what are they doing exactly?

It turns out that most of those phones are being used for recording the show, but not so much as a historical document as stoking the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) fires of their friends. This applies to 40% of the females (as compared to 24% of males), who also share their posts on social media 59% of the time.

All interesting, and maybe a little sad, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a large number of attendees glued to their phone, yet hardly anyone is actively taken advantage of it.

This could come soon thanks to the new Bluetooth beacon technology that companies like Apple and Marriott are employing which automatically send push notifications to smartphones in the vicinity, providing the users with product information, flash sales or deals. With a few well-placed beacons around a venue, there could be an opportunity to sell some merch in a fast and easy way. Read more on Forbes.

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