Amazon shuts U.K. ticketing venture

Amazon is closing its short-lived UK ticketing venture.

After shelving its plans for a rollout in North America, Amazon Tickets is now winding-up its ticketing business in the U.K. with immediate effect. A spokesperson confirmed the closure of Amazon Tickets to IQ, noting the company informed clients it would no longer sell new tickets and would honour those already purchased for shows in 2018 and 2019.

Amazon didn’t discuss in any great detail the reasons for its decision to shut a ticketing operation which, to any outsider looking in, had enjoyed a decent run of successes. Amazon Tickets had partnered with AEG and launched its own concert series, exclusively for subscribers of its Amazon Prime service. The live entertainment feature was promoted last year with the promise of “major artists” and “intimate venues,” and was driven by Geraldine Wilson, general manager of Amazon Tickets, who, along with Amazon Prime live events director Jason Carter, left the company in recent months.

According to Billboard, however, Amazon may rekindle its U.K. ticketing ambitions through a relaunch next year with new tech and tie-ins with Amazon Echo and Firestick. An Amazon spokesperson would not confirm.

The end of Amazon Tickets comes after the online retail behemoth reached a stalemate in its talks to partner with Live Nation’s Ticketmaster for shifting concert tickets in the United States.

Amazon launched proper in Australia last December, and on Feb. 1 pressed the button on its Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service, boasting a licensed catalogue of more than 45 million songs, a 90-day free trial, and various price points. The company’s music ambitions don’t yet involve plans to disrupt Australia’s ticketing space, which is dominated by the “big two,” Ticketmaster and TickeTek.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.