CEO Michael Rapino spent a significant portion of the time allotted for questions during Live Nation’s quarterly results announcements yesterday talking about blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

Many of the advantages of blockchain for ticketing, he believes, can be done with digital tickets that don’t use blockchain. He was more interested in commemorating an event with a ticket NFT and selling video clips from concerts as NFT collectibles.

Blockchain will be used for Non Fungible Tokens.

When asked how Live Nation would approach blockchain and collectibles, Rapino was upbeat. When a customer buys a ticket, Live Nation currently tries to sell them a T-shirt or a piece of original artwork on the PDF ticket.

An NFT, according to Rapino, is another way to “cement the magical moment known as the concert.” As a result, he plans to use the Ticketmaster platform to layer an NFT on a ticket. A concertgoer will have an NFT of the ticket, just like they might keep a concert ticket as a keepsake.

“We think it’s a perfect way for us to connect with our fans using the NFT and that direct relationship now to incorporate prizes, perks, and souvenir moments,” Rapino said of Live Nation, which manages events.

“Moments,” which are video clips of iconic basketball shots, are available on NBA Top Shot, the NFT marketplace that has now crossed $570 million in revenue.

“We’ve all benefited from Top Shot at the NBA,” Rapino added. So, with the marketplace, we see Live Nation minting and attaching some of the concert moments to our ongoing ticket festivals and unique moments.”

He said that intellectual property owners are living in exciting times.

Blockchain for Tickets

Rapino talked a little less positively about blockchain for tickets before talking about NFTs. Among the frequently touted benefits of blockchain for tickets are the potential to combat counterfeits, monitor ticket touts and resales, and allow traceability.

Rapino explained how switching from PDF tickets to digital tickets in a mobile app provides a significant advantage in terms of knowing the customer’s information.

So, according to Rapino, digital tickets without blockchain “unlocked a lot of what you keep hearing about what the blockchain is going to do in the future.”

“Identity is important to us as fans, artists, teams, and venues. Knowing who sits in that seat, who is going to the venue, communicating directly with them, getting a checked ticket, being able to exchange that ticket, and imposing rules on that ticket are all things that can be done with a verified ticket. That is what we are doing. You can move it with a certain limit if you want,” he said.

Despite this, the organisation plans to continue using blockchain to enhance its network. A European subsidiary recently announced the use of a blockchain wallet for ticketing.

A blockchain sports ticketing software was purchased by Ticketmaster a few years ago.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Ticketmaster isn’t a big fan of blockchain. Ticketmaster could be disintermediated in certain cases if blockchain-enabled tickets are used.

Ticketmaster, according to Rapino, has already centrally deployed much of the functionality that smart contracts will allow, citing the company’s API and vast centralised marketplace.

Where there are multiple outlets, such as Ticketmaster, blockchain is most useful because it eliminates the need to incorporate multiple APIs.

For example, a venue or event organiser might choose to allow various third-party vendors – not just Ticketmaster – to distribute tickets while also maintaining some control. Many events and ticket providers would use the same network, similar to a distributed version of Ticketmaster, to fully realise those advantages.