Friday, October 26, 2012
The price is (really) right: 'Dynamic ticketing' could transform the way we pay to see live events
Features - Music - The Independent: It’s a grating quirk of travel we’ve come to accept — that the guy across the aisle with the cough may have paid tens if not hundreds of pounds less for his ticket (or we’re the smug ones with the crazy deal). But in the theatre, concert hall or sports arena, we rest assured, touts notwithstanding, that we’ve paid the same as our neighbours. Stalls? That’ll be £70, please. Dress circle? £55. Balcony, restricted view? Don’t bother. It’s simple.
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4 comments:
The idea of dynamic pricing is fantastic. They give the example of airline flights. And since I've been flying for years, I know the tricks for cheap tickets. Dynamic pricing will allow for smart and frequent theater goers to have the possiblity to revceive cheap tickets. I just went to New York and was blown away (not for the first time) by the prices of Broadway tickets. For the worst seat in the house of Lion King, almost 100 dollars. No wonder theater is often neglected as a form of family entertainment. No family of four could afford 500 to see a show together. With dynamic pricing, smart families will be able to revceive tickets for a relatively inexpensive amount.
The idea of Dynamic Pricing has been developing slowly and steadily for the last 20 years or so. It is, economically, a much smarter way to sell tickets to just about anything- including theater. But there are, as this article states, a number of issues with it including perception by those in attendance and some extremely complicated math or algorithms/computers that won't work for everything. These new dynamic pricing companies are starting to change that perception, but it's a long battle, mostly because the people they are selling their product to (theaters) will have a hard time understanding how the system works.
Eventually, I would love to see theater ticketing get to a point where they can reliably ask audiences to "pay what you value", which in theory is a terrific model. Radiohead did something similar a few years ago to wild success, and I thin theater could do it too. But they need the math behind it to know what to expect, and that isn't quite there yet.
As a patron I have a big problem with dynamic pricing. When I have to purchase a plane flight I generally know a couple months in advance when I am going to fly, but with concert or sporting tickets I might just want to go on a whim and get nose bleed seats. Dynamic pricing for these things is harder because it is a luxury there is no necessity to see a concert and if prices are too high people who would have seen it for a lower price just won't see it.
Hmm the concept of dynamic ticket pricing is a very interesting and complicated one. While it may be good for theatre revenues, it would often deflate the value a consumer would get for their seat. I know I would be very upset if I paid $200 for a seat and the person beside me paid $100, because they waited until closer to the event. If anything they should pay more! I don't agree with the idea as it is currently being implemented. At its core it is a good concept-- but I don't think it's quite ready for prime time.
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