My inbox received what I think is pretty awesome news this morning – two big promoters – Collective Concerts (who happen to throw the majority of shows I attend) and Union Events (for those of you who are into EDM), have done away with the evil monster that is Ticketmaster and teamed up with Ticketfly, finally bringing another option to Canada. Inertia Events (for the heavy metal fans) and University of Calgary Students’ Union are also on board for the launch.
Ticketfly claims to offer much more reasonable fees than Ticketmaster’s complete bullshit, but I won’t comment on just how much cheaper the fees are until I actually attempt to buy a ticket myself. Your best bet is still to head to your local record store and support them without paying much extra per ticket – but it’s good to know that Canada FINALLY has another option to Ticketmaster for the shows you can’t buy tickets to in stores. Oh and an option that so seamlessly interacts with social media – I can buy my ticket right on Facebook now? AWESOME.
Here’s hoping all the promoters in Canada will pick up on this and give Ticketmaster the boot, once and for all. If you are throwing an event – try using Ticketfly. Looks like it’s open to anyone (not just big promoters) as far as I can tell, and the analytics behind it are pretty incredible.
“Our history and relationships in Canada made it the clear first step in Ticketfly’s international expansion,” said Andrew Dreskin, Ticketfly’s CEO and Co-founder. “We offer Canadian venues and event promoters something they haven’t experienced before – a modern, integrated digital marketing and ticketing platform that provides real, measurable value by streamlining operations and driving incremental ticket sales.”
“We saw a great opportunity to bring our brand of technology-forward ticketing and marketing to an underserved market,” said Gannon Hall, Ticketfly’s CMO and Head of Product. “According to comScore, Canadians have the highest level of Internet usage worldwide and are power users of social networks. Our platform leverages the mobile and social web to turn fans into marketers, increasing event discovery and driving ticket sales. Plus we’re huge fans of Rush and Neil Young.”
“Ticketfly is making a big move into Canada and we are excited to be working with them. They have built an impressive business in the United States and as far as we can tell they provide the most progressive technology available. Ticketfly’s integrated platform and detailed analytics help us to save time, better market our events and sell more tickets,” said Harvey Cohen, Director of Union Events.
Watch the video below (which features two Collective shows I was at last month – Joel Plaskett and Pink Mountaintops) for more info:
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