Australian YouTube users to get concert tickets through Ticketmaster partnership

Australian users of YouTube will be offered concert tickets on official music artist videos in the foreseeable future.

A new global deal struck with Ticketmaster has rolled out overnight initially for tickets to shows in North America.

That will eventually be introduced to the rest of the world to its total of monthly 15 billion users, YouTube parent Google said.

An extension of its music discovery, tickets will only be sold through Ticketmaster. In the first phase, the service covers a handful of major acts as Halsey and The Killers and then covers “hundreds of artists”.

YouTube said, “YouTube’s massive fan base paired with Ticketmaster’s global roster of concerts and security of verified tickets means we can easily connect a fan’s discovery of music on YouTube to their ability to purchase concert tickets.”

It added: At YouTube, we understand the importance of helping artists find ways to build deeper connections with their fans – the ones who not only watch and listen to videos, but are also willing to pay to see live performances.

“And, with live concerts becoming a bigger driver of revenue for artists, we want to help artists reach those fans, keep them updated about upcoming shows, and sell more tickets.

“We’ve been experimenting with ways we can offer a ticketing experience to fans and we’re excited to announce our first ticketing partnership with Ticketmaster.”

When the service is eventually available in Australia, this is how it will work.

A view of “upcoming shows” will appear in the YouTube app below each connected video.

Customers tapping the link will see which dates are the closest and gets information on city, venue and time.

Another tap sends them to Ticketmaster’s webpage to finalise the purchase.

In other words, YouTube gets more data about you by using your smartphone’s GPS.

It is not clear how the profit cut will be shared between YouTube and Ticketmaster, and if the artist will also get a look-in.