Tikly, the first low-fee, flat-rate ticketing platform of its kind to give artists, venues, and events full control over their marketing and promotion, has announced integration with Facebook. This development will put artists in direct contact with their fans via their Facebook page and allow fans to purchase tickets without ever leaving Facebook.
According to a recent press release, prior to the integration, artists and venues were often forced to deal with large corporations that charge fans up to 50 percent of the ticket price in fees — in 2011, Ticketmaster earned $1 billion in revenue from fees alone. With the full Facebook integration, Tikly allow artists, venues, and events to sell tickets to their fans directly through Facebook.
Tikly was launched in May 2011. It was created to enable artists to sell directly to fans without having to answer to a corporation charging costly fees to the artist and the ticket buyer. “The most exciting part about integrating Tikly with Facebook is that we are allowing our clients the ability to interact with their fans, selling tickets directly to them, on a platform that they are very comfortable with,” Emma Peterson, Tickly founder and CEO, told TicketNews® via email.
Tikly has also included online and mobile cash payment option Dwolla in the Facebook integration. Dwolla, which like Tikly was created to fight against unfair fees, works with a user’s bank account to allow them to send money from their computer or mobile device. Dwolla charges a flat rate of 25 cents for any payment over $10 and charges nothing for payments under $10.
The Facebook integration and inclusion of Dwolla means that artists, venues, and events can now promote, interact with fans, and sell tickets from their Facebook page; eliminating the need to build and maintain a separate website. According to Tikly, giving their clients the ability to operate completely via Facebook will help even the playing field, because even the smallest of artists and venues have the manpower to build their own page on the social network.
“Like most good ideas, Tikly was inspired by a young, passionate, and quite frankly, pissed-off promoter who was tired of seeing the toll the current systems were having on something she loves — music,” said Jordan Lampe, director of communications at Dwolla. “This integration with Dwolla isn’t about our low-cost network, it’s about Emma (Peterson) keeping her promise to the community she’s trying to help. That’s inspiring.”
Fans who use Tikly to purchase tickets from their favorite artist via Facebook can expect to pay standardized, flat-rate fees. Tickets under $10 incur a $1 per ticket fee; tickets with a face value of $10 to $75 incur a 10 percent per ticket fee; and for tickets over $75, Tikly charges a flat $7.50 per ticket fee. On tickets listed at less than $100, Tikly covers the credit card or Dwolla transaction fee.
According to Peterson, Tikly’s diverse payment options and simple pricing model are the main reasons why the ticketing platform is different than its competitors. “When you purchase a ticket with Tikly via Facebook, you are never pushed away from Facebook — you make your purchase directly within the band/venue/event’s page,” Peterson told TicketNews®, “because after all, it’s their show and their tickets. We just want to help them get those tickets sold to happy fans.”
