Australia gets Ticketmaster’s new Livestream ticketing service

Australian music fans and artists have access to Ticketmaster’s new Livestream ticketing service, a local spokesperson confirmed to TMN.

It was launched globally in 180 countries after huge numbers that the Live Nation-owned company got for livestreams by Dua Lipa and Niall Horan, as well as by RBD, Megan Thee Stallion, Mika, Glass Animals, Biffy Clyro and Dermot Kennedy.

The livestreaming service expands on the streaming platform that Ticketmaster set up in 2020, and which operates in over 10 languages and 135 currencies and has already sold tickets for virtual events to fans in 180 countries.

The company will provide a “global and cohesive offering to artists for their virtual events, maximising Ticketmaster’s expertise, marketing and reach on a worldwide scale”, it said.

David Marcus, EVP of global music, heads up the livestreaming global music team working with Sam Isles, SVP of artist services.

Marcus said: “Our technology quickly pivoted to selling streaming tickets at scale, and the acceleration in artists going virtual to engage has been remarkable, so too is the readiness of fans to pay to access their favourite artists in this way.

“The beauty of virtual shows is that we’re seeing global viewing – performances in London or LA are selling tickets to fans in New Zealand, Spain or Singapore, it’s revolutionising the way artists can connect.”

He added: “Nothing will replace the live experience, but this represents a new form of entertainment with its own rewards, and it’s definitely something that will remain for years to come.”

It was great timing for the new arrival. Both the Dua Lipa and Niall Horan virtual shows solidified a new exciting era in livestreaming.

Lipa’s Studio 2054, seen in Australia on the evening of November 28 for US$18.50 a ticket, drew 5 million viewers. 2 million were from China alone.

It justified the five months and US$1.5 million that went into producing the warehouse event.

It included musicians, dancers, skaters, aerialists and acrobats and guests including the likes of Kylie Minogue, Miley Cyrus, FKA Twigs and Elton John.

Her management company TaP Music told Rolling Stone she would do another livestream even when she begins in-person concerts again, as the event had been profitable and had pushed tickets for her upcoming Future Nostalgia tour by 70%.

Niall Horan’s livestream, shot in an empty Royal Albert Hall in London, shifted 125,000 tickets at £16 (A$28.50) each across 151 countries last November, with an estimated total viewing audience of nearly 400,000.

Right from the start, the singer’s management company ATC wanted a show with high production values that went beyond “digital busking”, according to ATC’s Ric Salmon.

They worked with live events company Driift, a movie production house Pulse Films (Gangs of London) with a proper director, and without an audience, meaning they could go beyond the boundaries of the stage and also use the stately venue’s rooms.

All the proceeds went to charity. It’s also likely Horan will do another livestream extravaganza: reaching 151 countries is something he could never do on a physical tour, and Salmon observed of the near 400,000, it’s “a phenomenal figure. That’s six Wembley Stadiums in one”.