IEBA’s 48th Annual Conference Sees Growth And Change In Industry

IEBA Conference via Facebook – IEBA 2018
Pam Matthews leads the discussion

#IEBA opened Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, at the JW Marriott in Nashville with its Power Panel exploring a variety of subjects that would come up again and again throughout the three-day convention. Among the subjects discussed were growth in box office sales, ticketing, consolidation and diversity in the workplace.

Panelists Ed Warm of Joe’s Live in Rosemont, Ill., joined Jim Cressman of Invictus Entertainment Group in Penticton, Canada, Lucy Lawler-Freas from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta) and Adam Kornfeld of AGI in New York to discuss the issues.

Warm talked about the Windy City Smokeout Music Festival and how its sixth year had the best numbers of the festival’s history.

“We have found that we have to concentrate on customer experience in order to keep our fans coming back,” Warm said. “Customers want ease of access. You can’t jam people in one spot and expect them to enjoy the event.”

Kornfeld agreed that the box office numbers continue to grow, citing

Kornfeld believes that there will be a growth in shows in various venues, including Major League Baseball stadiums.

He also sees growth in urban areas where theatres that are 30-40 miles apart could host shows even if there is a show in another theatre on the other end of the Metro area. “People like going to the theater in their back yard,” he noted.

Lawler-Freas pointed out that people enjoy a unique experience and need options when attending concerts. Ideas mentioned across the panel were VIP seating, meet-and-greets and event the ticketing experience. All agreed people will continue to want to see live music.

While consolidation is a part of the business, panelists pointed out that everyone should be able to work together to give the live music arena a positive spin. By working with both indie and major promoters, current touring acts can be booked into appropriate venues and festivals across the country.

Lawler-Freas suggested coming up with unique events to pitch to the promoter as well as following through once an act is booked in order to develop a reputation of someone who can get the job done. She also said independents can learn from AEG and Live Nation because they are good at what they do.

Cressman added that you need to know the artist and your audience, so you can do the best job possible for the artist and their team.

When it comes to diversity in the entertainment business, Kornfeld expressed that it is “pathetic and absurd that we are behind the eight ball in this area.” He added, “I hope we can continue to evolve and change.”

He went on to say that his staff is 50 percent female because those are the best people he found for the job. “Competent women in this business crush it,” he observed.

Lawler-Freas admitted some trepidation when she decided to start a family. “I was convinced that when I took maternity leave that the men would call someone else because they knew I wasn’t going to be available 24/7,” she explained. “I was amazed at the support I received from male agents, many of whom would open our conversation by asking about my kids. It was not like I thought it would be at all.”

While the year was good overall, panel members admitted it did come with its surprises and disappointments. Warm said when they raised ticket prices to the Smokeout Music Festival they didn’t sell as many tickets as they hoped for. “Still we didn’t dial back when we realized it was happening because we did not think that would be fair to the people who had already purchased tickets.”

Kornfeld said one of his disappointments is that Ticketmaster continues to lack the ability to control their ticket sales.

“Tickets go on sale, lines get clogged up and people think tickets are sold out. They haven’t figured out yet how to make this better for the fans.” Lawler-Freas mentioned that she saw a decline in the number of comedy tickets purchased in the last year, adding she hopes it is not a trend.

Safety and security is another issue on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Most of the panelists said they have people go through metal detectors and in many cases pat them down or use a wand. Festivals require extra security, from bringing in experts before the event to check out the area and advise of possible needs for more security.

Lawler-Freas said they have 24-hour security at any show or festival, with security going through the building to check it for safety. Security at stadiums and festivals include spotters and helicopters flying over the grounds. It was also suggested that it is good to get to know the local police and the FBI before an event.

Panelists saw a number of trends, including the fact the fans will pay money for privileges at an event. Kornfeld suggested charging one price for as many levels as possible to give people the advantage of buying premium seats. He said fans like to be pampered and anything that can be done to make the experience better makes them happy with the event and facility.

Lawler-Freas said that people hate long lines, so the Fox has an app where fans can pre-order drinks and they will be delivered to their seats after they have arrived.

Pam Matthews, executive director of IEBA, moderated “Ticketing 2018: A Progress Report.”

IEBA conference via Facebook – IEBA 2018
Pam Matthews

Joining her were Jim Bilus of Ticketmaster, Mike DuCharme of AEG Presents, Michael Marion of the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., and Kristina “Red” Tanner of Activist Artists Management.

The group sought answers to whether there had been improvement in ticketing problems since last year, especially the fight to remove scalpers from the equation when tickets go on sale. There was also concern over ticket pricing and how to make sure that tickets are being priced at fair market value.

Bilus said the biggest problem he has is giving guys like DuCharme the tools to get the price right in the individual markets. The other side of it, according to Tanner, is that artists want to get prices right for their fans while also making enough money to keep their show on the road.

“Prices are going up in Little Rock,” Marion said. “We evaluate each show and, being in a secondary market, we have to know our pricing will work for our customers.” He also said they have the flexibility with technology that they haven’t had before that helps them find the correct ticket price for the market.

Bilus agreed that instead of just raising prices, everyone concerned should look at all the data available to them and make a decision based on as much information as they can get. Tanner said that pricing should involve everyone from venue to artist, who can agree they are making the right choice for the artist and market.

Pricing was not the only problem with ticketing. Many times, tickets go on sale and fans have a hard time getting online or getting their calls to go through in order to make their purchases, plus they have to compete with scammers with their high-tech bots in order to get the best tickets.

Bilus said that Ticketmaster has been able to block many of the scammers and their bots from getting through when a waiting room situation is used. He also pointed out that although it’s called a waiting room fans are able to get their tickets quickly.

Marion said they used the waiting room concept when Garth Brooks tickets went on sale in Little Rock, and that Brooks enhanced the fans’ wait by messaging into the fans while they were waiting to buy tickets. It was suggested that this might be one way that the ticket buying procedure could be enhanced and be fun for fans at the same time.

Another way to fight the scammers is to get rid of barcodes on tickets.

This will also alleviate the problem of paper tickets being folded or getting wet and making the bar code hard to read when the fans come through the door. One way to eliminate the codes is to have fans show their tickets on their phones, which also is a faster way to get patrons through the doors.

“Everyone is used to using their phone, so it will be an easier experience,” Tanner pointed out. “All ages now are more experienced with it and it’s not a big deal for them to use their phone to have the tickets scanned.”

Venues can also fight scammers by limiting the number of times a ticket can be transferred. For instance, a person buys four tickets for them and their friends, and each of those tickets can be transferred one time. Other things that help are presales, whether through fan clubs, programs like the one American Express offers, or those run by the venue itself.

The bottom line, according to Bilus, is to get pricing in line with what fans are willing to pay.

“As long as prices are under what the demand for tickets are, there will always be a secondary market for tickets.” Tanner agreed, saying she would rather “stay in the comfort zone of where ticket prices are going and get rid of as many bots as possible.”

It is also helpful to buildings to be able to capture as much information as a venue can about the fans who purchase tickets, so they have an idea of how many tickets will sell as soon as they are available. Presales help the venue collect data about the fans.

Tanner also pointed out that Verified Fan helps to get tickets directly to the fans. Bilus said that when fans are given a code to buy tickets, they can predict how many tickets will actually sell out of the number of fans who signed up for the code.

He also said that on sale day, when you send the fan a code and remind people that tickets are going on sale that day, there is a 50-60 percent conversion rate for folks who actually will buy a ticket.

It was also suggested that the 10 a.m. time frame is not the only time to open ticket sales. Some venues have opened sales at 3 p.m. when kids are getting out of school and can come home and purchase their tickets.

The fan experience was also a point of discussion, as it is still believed that fans want to have a positive experience about everything involved in going to a show. That starts with the purchase of the tickets. Tanner said coming up with important to set up something out of the ordinary, so fans will enjoy going through the ticketing process.

Bilus mentioned that one artist provided a pre-sale code with every new album purchased, and fans used that to get their tickets. It was fun for the fans to know they were getting an advantage when they purchased the album that other fans didn’t have.

Gary Gersh of AEG was the keynote Q&A, and interviewed by the Oak View Group’s Ray Waddell, who led the music executive through stories about how he came to be in music and the change in his career recently when he joined AEG.

Gersh went to work in a record store when he was 14 and negotiated that his pay would be vinyl instead of cash. In his early 20’s he became the head buyer for a chain of 30 Licorice Pizza record stores. A career with Capitol and sister label EMI, with a stretch at Geffen that followed. Most recently he decided he needed a change and accepted a position at AEG, where he and a team are working to establish a global touring network.

“The biggest challenge (in his new position) is to help create an atmosphere of artist development. That’s the direction we are heading all over the world.

“There are numerous shows going on at the same time. I think big shows are becoming better for it. It’s similar to the ’70s and ’80s, when groups were trying to outdo each other with their performance and shows. It’s getting that way again now.”

Gersh admitted that it is important to know when to book an artist at certain venues to take the most advantage for building that artist’s career.

“Some managers understand how a festival can help develop an artist. It all depends on what time of day the artist is playing, what day they are playing. It’s important to know things like that in order to help the artist grow.”

The entrepreneur said that when he was working as a manager, the deciding factor as to whether he would sign an artist was simple – the singer had to also be able to play live. “We felt we could teach people to make records but not how to perform live.”

Gersh agreed that ticketing is in a state of flux right now. AEG has set up its own company for secondary market sales, and sees lots of room for change in the future.

As for accepting a job with AEG, Gersh’s reasoning was simple. “I wanted to try another piece of the business. I wanted to be excited again. We are into artist development. The more talent we get early on, the better we can do a great job. If we believe we can grow an artist, and we work hard for them, then we will achieve it. Our investment is for the long term.”