NFT Ticketing: How NFTs Stop Scalping, Prove Attendance, and Make a Concert Ticket a Permanent Digital Collectible
Introduction
For a long time and a long time ago ticketing has been considered perhaps the least creative aspect of live events. Fans eagerly wait online patiently waiting for their digital tickets only to possibly battle bots to secure their tickets for a premium. Once fans secure tickets, they then purchase tickets for astronomical prices on resale sites, only receiving a barcode sent to their phone, which means absolutely nothing until the ticket is scanned by their usher or gate attendant.
NFT tickets aren't merely a digital ticket; they are a verifiable, programmable, and collectible asset that is going to change the engagement layer for users and fans alike. However, like all new technology, NFT tickets raise some practical dilemmas. If I lose access to my digital wallet, what happens? Can I honestly share or pass this ticket to pass along? Is this just a ticket or is it something or someone?
This post will explore how NFT tickets eradicate scalping, assist with attendance verification, and deliver a long-lasting diegetic digital collectible which alters what it means to just be a fan in the age of Web3.
Scalping Fix
For several years scalping has been a persistent concern for fans and event organizers. Today's ticketing systems are centralized databases, and have no way of distinguishing between a legitimate buyer and a ticket-selling bot. Once a ticket bot purchases the ticket and re-sells it, fans are stuck paying that higher resale price, leaving fans disappointed when their event is empty and they are now angry at paying that high resale price. NFT ticketing eliminates the scalping issue entirely through an on-chain verification process, and programmable ownership protocols. For example, we can link tickets to an authenticated digital identity like a verified KYD wallet, thereby preventing the bot from "buying" an entire allotment of WL tickets in one swap. Prior to tickets going on sale, platforms can whitelist acceptable addresses, therefore distributing mechanisms become more fair.
Nifty also provides programmable smart contracts, relieving the organizer of needing to take any action regarding the resale, such as blocking transfer or setting resale caps, therefore protecting against unfair secondary markets, so you can just fill the venue and worry less. And, when we enable transfers in your NFT ticket meta-data, the transfer process is facilitated back through your trusted facilitator, and in turn appears in the transaction history of the NFT stamp, all stored completely transparently, while enabling organizers to see in real-time known ownership of the NFT ticket meta data.
In some cases, scalpers may try to rent or sell access to certified wallets, but introducing a new verification layer that requires biometric identification or live selfie checks at the door will likely prevent scalpers from establishing this type of fraud. Biometric identification and live selfie checks make it virtually impossible for outside resellers or ticket holders to engage in physical reselling because they would have no ownership of a ticket that attaches the ownership of the ticket back to the individual's identification. All in all, this is a system that puts the true fans first, minimizes fake resales, and protects the value of the ticket for both the fans and the artists.
Checking Attendance
Traditional events only know who bought a ticket and not who actually attended. NFT ticketing can resolve this disconnect through on-chain attendance proofs.
When a fan scans an NFT on-site at the event, either through QR code or NFC tap, it gives a real-time record of their attendance. This is recorded on a blockchain which can be referred to as proof of attendance. This record can have multiple purposes, both for fan rewards and for event analytics.
In hybrid situations (i.e. the network is down and the access allows the fan to BELIEVE they were a verified attendee) you can have QR codes / encrypted bar code forms of back-up verification methods, or staffing that checks-in attendees and syncs the data later.
The blockchain doesn’t have to be the only point of failure. It is one layer of responsibility.
Once a fan’s attendance has been confirmed, you can provide them with digital badges / take-aways, unique content, or even loyalty points they can use for future events. This way, it becomes evident that event organizers can use the data to understand who came back and again, what types of demographics were the most engaged, as well as where loyalty affects sales in the future.
In effect, through NFT tickets, attendance becomes an action that can be measured and rewarded, the act of attendance is no longer a one-time-only purchase.
Digital Collectibles
However, the post-event experience is where things could shift more. Where a ticket stub used to be a token of nostalgia that would progressively fade away over time, now in Web3 it can exist digitally instead.
After the event, your ticket NFT may evolve to show the final setlist, special artwork, even timestamped proof you were there at the moment it happened. Or those artifacts might grant you token-gated experiences such as private fan community activations, early merch drops, or the ability to buy items prior to sale.
It shifts from being a passive memory into an active asset membership. The artist will be able to continuously augment content into that NFT over time, which might consist of behind-the-scenes footage, animation creating hype for the event in conjunction, or rewards for confirming attendance. Ultimately, your ticket event admission becomes a digital passport where fans can keep track of concerts they’ve been to, effectively a social badge of allegiance.
The old saying: there’s a downside to all things; so of course there are issues of ownership and use of all things, meaning digital ownership comes with issues. An NFT can be hacked or stolen just like any other crypto asset if a wallet is hacked or stolen. As a response to this, people have been talking about using custodial wallets to recover assets, using multi-signature wallets, or even using new methodologies such as “soulbound” event badges that stay attached to verified identities, not keys that can be transferred.
While the potential threats are real the possibility of a more intimate and meaningful experience with a project or art can be worth it. This offers artists a way to talk directly with fans, and the audience to keep memories alive many months after the last encore.
What Will Happen in the Future
NFT tickets not only combat fraud and create collectibles; they introduce a new era of interactive, dynamic event experiences. Imagine tickets that allow you to meet people in augmented reality or gravitate and change based on how much you use them. A fan who attends a series of gigs may discover their NFT "leveling up" to give them access to backstage passes or the opportunity to vote on future set lists. These digital layers blur the distinction between being a fan and being engaged.
NFT tickets also have the capacity to rethink the flow of money, from creators to fans, in the music business. NFT tickets allow creators to set their own royalty, and take a percentage every time a ticket is resold (within certain guidelines) rather than allowing marketplaces to dominate resale. This also returns value to the artist and community that gave life to the experience.
However, as we see new solutions and implementations, there are always new questions regarding how the new solutions will work. Scalability, wallet recovery, and a user-friendly onboarding experience are yet to be solved for wide-scale consumption. It is unrealistic to think every fan will be able to effectively create and manage a crypto wallet or understand gas fees; hence, we think as NFT ticketing evolves, hybrid solutions will probably be the most popular, combining verification on-chain with an intuitive Web2-style user experience.
In the future, cross-platform compatibility may allow NFT tickets to seamlessly interface with social media, virtual events, and loyalty programs for example. Additionally, a single on-chain identity could pull your entire concert career as an NFT collector and your memberships all into one unchangeable, verifiable digital reputation as a fan.
Conclusion
NFT ticketing is a real gamechanger, going from a static access card to a digital, full-of-value, participatory experience. NFT ticketing addresses long-standing ticketing issues, all the way from scalping to fake tickets, while offering entirely new ways for someone to prove they were there, connect with a community, and build a collection.
NFT ticketing goes beyond the previous systems that stop at the entrance to the venue; it creates events that exist together as ecosystems long after a show has ended. For fans, that means engaging in an experience that is part of who they are. For the artists, this means establishing relationships that will last beyond having to share with anyone else. And for the venue it's a complete paradigm shift from simple point of sale to experiential portal, one ticket at a time.
This article is contributed by an external writer: Jocelyn Hamoy.
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