Ticketmaster has integrated its Facebook application with music streaming service Spotify to make event recommendations based on its users’ listening habits. The integrated app could advance the ticket industry’s social media marketing to the next level.
While many ticket companies offer similar applications, Ticketmaster’s app combines a user’s Spotify history with their geographic location in order to recommend relevant concerts nearby.
Facebook’s data permissions give Ticketmaster access to the user’s music app activity on Spotify. The ticketing giant’s app then is able to make event recommendations without the user having to set any preferences.
In August, Ticketmaster made the first of several Facebook-centric upgrades, allowing ticket buyers to tag their seat location through their Facebook profiles. The users’ friends then have the option to purchase tickets for adjacent or close-by seats.
The integration of Spotify into Ticketmaster’s collection of apps has created an all-in-one live event and ticket destination. It allows users to browse upcoming events, read reviews, see what shows their friends are attending, create lists of shows they want to attend, and RSVP to live events.
The app also functions as an extension of Ticketmaster.com, allowing fans to purchase tickets without ever leaving Facebook.
“It’s really about focusing on the online fan experience and making it easier for them to learn when their favorite band is coming to town, organize with their friends and paying for it,” said Kip Levin, Ticketmaster’s executive vice president of e-commerce, in a press statement.
The Ticketmaster Facebook app will also raise consumers’ awareness of local events in which its users may be interested. Ticketing industry executives have estimated that roughly 40 percent of tickets go unsold because fans were unaware of the event.
In a recent interview with TicketNews, SeatGeek.com director of communications Will Flaherty said, “Any app — whether from a primary seller, such as Ticketmaster, or a secondary market search engine, such as SeatGeek — that makes what is currently a painful process easier will likely be viewed positively by the consumer.”
But, Flaherty added, “Ticketmaster, to some degree, is fighting an uphill battle in terms of winning over consumers and their loyalty.”
Flaherty does not believe the app will dramatically impact the secondary ticketing marketplace. He noted that the root of the problem — ineffective ticket pricing by the primary market.