One of the (many) criticisms of the forced transition to digital-only ticketing systems that consumers have leveled is that you lose the physical ticket stub souvenir from the performance or game. Live Nation has come up with its solution to this digital-only issue – a digital-only ticket stub issued as an NFT, piloted with the upcoming Swedish House Mafia tour.
The digital collectable NFTs have been rolled out under the name “Live Stubs,” which it touts as “allowing fans to collect ticket stubs once again – this time with more capabilities.” Instead of an actual, tangible item that you can take back from the show and put on your bulletin board shrine or frame or anything else of that nature, these digital tokens will mean “Fans will be able to view, share, gift, grade, and resell their live stubs on LiveNation.com.” Naturally, the ticket stub NFTs will not actually be tickets, or valid for entry. Those will still be the paperless tickets that can only be accessed via your mobile device, which requires opt-in for enormous amounts of consumer data to be shared with the ticketing company and its marketing partners, as well as subject to restriction on resale or transferring to anyone at the discretion of the event organizers.
“Our Live Stubs product brings back the nostalgia of collecting ticket stubs while also giving artists a new tool to deepen that relationship with their fans and we can’t wait to see what the creativity of this community dreams up as it grows,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment. “Special thanks to SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA for kicking it off for their upcoming tour.”
As part of the launch, all consumers who purchased tickets to the Swedish House Mafia tour – at least at tour stops promoted by Live Nation and ticketed by its Ticketmaster subsidiary – will receive the Live Stub NFT corresponding with their seat location, allowing them to “share links to view their Live Stubs on social media to let their friends know they will be attending the show.” Live Nation promises that additional features and offerings will be announced closer to the shows.
The full press release announcing the Live Stubs program is available at Live Nation’s website.
