5 | Hello, Mobile Entry

Well, I guess my ticket collection is slowly but surely coming to an end. The days of having tickets mailed to your house, or picking up tickets at will-call (unless they're from something particular, like VIP) are over.

If you've been to a concert, a sporting event, or any other ticketed event in the past year, you've most likely entered the show with either a print-at-home ticket, mobile ticket, or mobile entry.

According to chief product officer for Ticketmaster, Justin Burleigh: “the life of the paper ticket is coming to an end. We live in a world where, no matter your age, everyone is living on their mobile devices. And we fully expect that to continue.”

Mobile tickets and mobile entry are the future of the entertainment industry — and it's not just because they're convenient and save paper. It's a way to create a safer, more efficient, and personalized experience for fans, while providing information to artists about their audience. Tickets are now being viewed as a license that can be transferred, providing venues with information about the end user in the building, similar to airlines. It's a pretty interesting concept. Learn more here.

In addition to mobile entry, Ticketmaster is now enhancing fan experience through Ticketmaster Verified Fan. Ticketmaster Verified Fan is a giant robot that was designed to separate actual, human fans from bots and scalpers. This is greatly increasing the opportunity for true fans to purchase awesome seats, without having to pay insane prices at resale. I've had a great experience with this new addition. Personally, I've purchased better seats than I ever have in the past — all for a decent price.

Some of the biggest concerns around mobile tickets are hackers and customer privacy, with privacy being a huge priority. But, here's the thing. Nothing is private anymore. Marketers already have endless amounts of information about you. Unless you're living off the grid, only pay in cash, and don't use the Internet or have a smartphone, there's information about you somewhere. And I'll admit, it's scary and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it isn't going anywhere.

At the end of the day, companies and artists are doing what they can to keep fans happy, engaged, and most importantly, safe. My ticket collection is pretty great, but I'd take a step toward increased safety and security over it any day.