Live music giant AEG Live has gone into business with a tech start up called Outbox Technology to launch its own ticketing service.
The move, which will ultimately enable AEG to become independent from ticketing giant Ticketmaster, isn’t a surprise. The live firm has been expected to find an alternative ticketing solution ever since market leader Ticketmaster merged with AEG rivals Live Nation.
According to the Wall Street Journal, AEG hopes to have the Outbox system operational across its US venues within six months, with a global roll out over the next two years. Meanwhile Outbox Enterprises, a JV between the live and tech firms, will look to sell ticketing services to other US companies, going head to head with Ticketmaster in the ticketing market.
AEG Live CEO Tim Leiweke told the Journal that he hoped his company’s new ticketing venture would win market share not by building a strong consumer-facing brand and an Outbox hub online, but by offering a better service to promoter and customer alike. He said: “This isn’t about trying to go out there and build a whole new brand around the name Outbox. This is about service”.
If you wonder what Canada-based Outbox knows about ticketing, well, it’s CEO is Fredric Rosen, who led Ticketmaster from 1982 to 1998, and oversaw the ticketing giant’s fastest period of growth. When he joined Outbox last year he too stressed that the Canadian firm wasn’t interested in becoming a ticketing hub in its own right, but in better helping event promoters to sell tickets directly to customers. He told the WSJ: “The middle man model is dead, you have to evolve”.
Sections: Music Business - Top Stories | Tags: AEG Live, Fredric Rosen, Live Nation, Outbox Technology, Ticketmaster
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