www.musicweek.com NEWS EUROSONIC 2014 INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT MARK YOVICH’S PLAN TO MAKE PRACTICE ILLEGAL THIS YEAR


Ticketmaster to lobby No.10 for ‘bot’-banning legislation


DIGITAL n BY RHIAN JONES


T


icketmaster is turning up the heat in the fight against ‘bots’ – the


automated programmes that snap up tickets faster than consumers – with international president Mark Yovich revealing plans to work with the Government to create legislation that makes the practice illegal in the UK. Yovich hopes to introduce


“some really large penalties” for those using or creating the so-called ‘bots’. The plans were unveiled at last


week’s Eurosonic Noorderslag conference, during which Yovich gave a keynote speech detailing the Live Nation-owned ticketing company’s customer buying trends in 2013 and plans for the future. “We don’t know what the


Government’s response is going to be, how long it’s going to take, or what the appetite is going to be but, despite what they say, we’ll continue to push for it because we believe in it so much,” said Yovich. “The industry really isn’t


taking action - we are. We’d like to see more and more people join us to help advocate this legislation so we’re not just out there alone trying to fight it.” In the US, bots are thought to


account for 90% of traffic to the Ticketmaster website, and 60% of ticket sales to some of the most desirable events. While there are no equivalent figures for the UK market, investigations into big-selling tours like Westlife’s Farewell Tour last year and Beyonce’s 13 Mrs. Carter


dates found a number of frustrated fans who lost out after the events sold out in minutes – only for tickets to then appear on secondary sites for hugely inflated prices. Moves have already been


made Stateside to punish those that practice the art of ‘scalping’, with legislation already existing. Ticketmaster has taken a number of cases to court - in May last year, it sued 21 people in the US, accusing them of fraud and copyright infringement for using


“The industry isn’t really taking action - we are. We’d like to see more and more people join us to help advocate this legislation so we’re not just out there alone trying to fight it” MARK YOVICH


bots to search for millions of tickets over the past two years. “Technology is our business.


Yet the e-commerce nature of ticketing means that we’re in a constant battle against those that want to exploit the lawful ticket market,” said Yovich. “Nowhere is this problem


more acutely represented than by the use of automated computer programmes – or bots – to syphon tickets. “Let’s be clear – the use of


bots is a criminal activity and in no way should it be viewed as part and parcel of ticket resale. Fans want the option to buy and resell tickets, and through our safe and transparent Get Me In! platform, we support this. “However, it is our


responsibility as an industry to help protect fans from the criminals who syphon tickets. The use of advanced technologies to tackle bots is


having an impact, but this is an arms race that needs industry, Government, consumer and retail groups to come together and tackle the issue head on. We want 2014 to be that year.” Detailed plans will be


announced in due course. Back in July 2013, Live


Nation revealed a $100m investment in Ticketmaster technology. The event giant’s COO Joe Berchtold said at the time that he hoped it would drive forward a wider ‘fan- friendly’ strategy. “Part of this $100m we’re spending is about figuring out how to do a better job stopping bots,” he said. “We’ve got people that are


doing all sorts of algorithms to make an assessment on whether you’re a human or a bot well beyond just the CAPTCHA [the gate which asks users to type in a random code to prove that they’re human]. It’s ongoing investment.”


‘Traditional A&R doesn’t exist anymore’ say live agents


Record companies are increasingly relying on the live sector to build the foundations of an artist’s career, according to a panel of leading live agents. Discussing the biggest


changes within the industry during the last ten years at last week’s Eurosonic conference were Ryan Farlow of The Windish Agency, CAA’s Emma Banks, Primary Talent’s Crispin Hearn and Nick Matthews of Coda Agency. “The traditional sense of


A&R in the record industry doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Matthews. “[Record labels] don’t sign very much talent from scratch and then build up to the release, so the way that happens


is by live shows. It’s agents that are out there trying to find the quality music.” Matthews looks after acts at Coda including Emeli Sande, Bondax, Rainy Milo and Sister Bliss. Hearn, now a director at


Primary Talent and working with Baauer, Breach, Cyril Hahn, Amon Tobin’s ISAM and Hot Natured, agreed, saying his role has become much more diverse in the last five years. “Agents once upon a time


would source their acts from a major record company and now you act more in an A&R role. I take on bands, DJs or producers long before their record or publishing deals,” he explained. General promotion “takes a


interview, who often gives advice to label bosses when positioning release dates for records. “Live for the record companies


now is hugely important. It’s changed so much because people don’t sell records, the way of promoting things is through live,” she said. Dickins looks after the live careers of Mumford & Sons, Adele, Hot Chip, Laura Marling and Jamie T. Live music created £662m for


[L:R] Crispin Hearn (Primary Talent), Emma Banks (CAA), Allan McGowan and Nick Matthews (Coda Agency)


mammoth amount of time,” said Banks, whose role has diversified to include managing brand partnerships and sponsorships and booking private gigs and TV appearances


to try and offset a reduction in tour support from labels. The importance of the live


industry is recognised by record label execs, said ITB’s Lucy Dickins during her keynote


the British economy in 2012, according to figures released by UK Music late last year. That number beat the total generated from recorded music, which reached £634m. The UK music industry, across all sectors, was worth a total of £3.5bn.


24.01.14 MusicWeek 9


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