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artist development and ticketing

The Relationship between Artist Development and Ticketing for Event Success

Which comes first ticketing or artist development? The truth is ticketing and artist development go hand-in-hand. Together, ticketing and artist development lead to sell-out events, but such a high level of success is rarely achieved overnight. For most, artist development is a process, and in today’s world, that process is driven by data.

When an artist is struggling to go from one level of success to the next, it’s the perfect time to combine a comprehensive ticketing strategy with everything else that’s being done to develop the artist.

How Do You Combine Artist Development and Ticketing?

I’m often asked how a ticketing provider can support artist development, and the reality is that not all ticketing providers can help in this area. You need to work with a ticketing company that offers the features and expertise required to move the needle effectively.

For example, an artist, their manager, or a booking agent could recommend a ticketing company like AttendStar that has a complete understanding the entire artist development process. Few ticketing companies have this expertise on staff. Bottom-line, understanding the various connections in the music industry is important, and you can get it with the right ticketing company as your partner.

Using Ticketing Data for Artist Development

The key to leveraging ticketing for artist development is by using data that the right ticketing company can collect and supply to you in a usable format. Consider the following scenario that explains how a ticketing provider can acquire data for artist development:

  • The artist performs at an event that is ticketed with either free or paid tickets.
  • After the event, a survey is sent to attendees through the ticketing software to collect demographic data and ask questions such as:
    • What songs did you like the most that you heard at the event?
    • Which lyrics do you recall the most from tonight’s concert: “Some time in this sun,” “Down by the river,” or “When it’s time to fly?”
    • Would you like [artist name] to come back to this area for a concert in the future?
  • The artist can also sell merchandise in the post-event survey.
  • The artist can use the emails to build a social media following.
  • The artist can also send email messages to past attendees when their next project is released or event is held.

Now for the fun part. Through this survey, the ticketing company can collect a variety of valuable data for the artist, management, and booking agency. For example, here’s what could happen next:

  • Based on the songs and lyrics identified by attendees as their favorite and most memorable, the record label or record promotion company can determine which single they should push to the radio.
  • The radio promotion team can target specific markets with the songs and lyrics most liked by attendees in those markets according to their survey responses.
  • If attendees want the artist to return to the area for a future performance per the survey results, the booking agency, management, and artist can use that information to develop future tour schedules.
  • The booking agency has the leads to try and book the artist in the future.
  • The ticketing company has the names of people who attended the artist’s last concert and can reach those people through email messages. In addition to email marketing, future performances can be promoted through Facebook ad retargeting using custom audiences.

After each performance, data is collected and analyzed, and adjustments are made. After each tour, everything is repeated and refined for the next time. Keep in mind, the amount of data a ticketing company can collect is significant, particularly as it relates to artist development and event success. If the same ticketing company is used for all of an artist’s events, trend data becomes a valuable tool.

Ticketing Connects Similar Fans for Artist Development

Another important way that ticketing supports artist development is by connecting the artist to similar fans. Again, this is not something that every ticketing company can do. At AttendStar, the process involves comparing the email addresses from the developing artist’s ticket buyers to attendees from other events.

Here’s an example of how it works at AttendStar leading up to a developing artist’s event:

  • The developing artist (Artist A) had 67 people order tickets (identified by their email addresses provided at the time of purchase) and typically, about 200 people are at the artist’s shows in a given market. AttendStar matches those 67 attendees against the attendee list of other shows in the same market.
  • From the matching process, AttendStar identifies how many people bought tickets to multiple events. For example, 45 of the 67 people who purchased tickets to Artist A’s event also purchased tickets to Artist B’s event and Artist C’s event.
  • Next, AttendStar determines how many people attended the shows for Artist B and Artist C. The total was 1,230, which was six times higher than the attendance of Artist A.
  • Finally, AttendStar targets these additional email addresses (in this case, approximately 400 of them) with a message that says, “If you liked Artist B, then you’ll love Artist A,” or “If you liked Artist C, then you’ll love Artist A.”
  • As a result, awareness of Artist A and ticket sales for Artist A’s upcoming show should increase.

Using this system, AttendStar proves that the marriage of artist development and ticketing is very powerful and can make a significant difference in the success of developing artists’ events.

Your Next Steps to Integrate Artist Development and Ticketing

Integrating artist development and ticketing is not a once and done strategy. It takes time to collect and analyze data, but if you’re agile enough to take action when the data presents an opportunity (or warns you of a threat), and you stick with it long enough to benefit from trend data, you’ll see a noticeable boost in ticket sales and artist buzz.

But remember, you need to work with a ticketing company that has the tools and expertise to help you do it or your efforts won’t deliver the results you want and need. Call AttendStar at 615-223-1973 or use the contact form if you need help.

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