Linkin Park are to use Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform as part of a comprehensive campaign aimed at making sure fans beat scalpers in the race for tickets to their forthcoming tour.
Tickets for the One More Light tour go on sale May 12, although Linkin Park fans will have access to a pre-sale starting May 9 via Verified Fan. Fans can already sign up to claim a spot in a digital line for pre-sale tickets.
Organisers added that members of Linkin Park’s fan club will have priority access, while anyone can register and potentially end up at the front of the sale queue. Other ways to move up the queue include pre-ordering the new One More Light album, inviting friends to sign up, and by sharing news about the tour on social media and email.
“The more you participate, the higher your spot in line and the better your access to tickets,” said Live Nation, which is promoting the tour and owns Ticketmaster. “Linkin Park Fan Club (LPU) members will get priority, but anyone can work their way to the top.”
As part of a promotion, all ticket purchases will include either a digital or CD copy of the One More Light album.
The One More Light tour begins on July 27 in Boston, and finishes in Los Angeles on October 22.
Verified Fan, which was launched earlier this year, has already been used in sales for major tours featuring acts such as Ed Sheeran and Twenty One Pilots.
The platform asks those hoping to buy tickets to provide personal information including their phone number, email and social handles. Verified Fan then assesses whether they are human, looking for clues like past ticket-buying history and social posts, and lets ticket-buyers know if they’ve made the cut.
David Marcus, Ticketmaster’s head of music in North America, recently announced that, in testing, less than 1 per cent of tickets sold through the Verified Fan programme ended up in secondary ticket markets, compared to what is usually a double-digit percentage.
“Bots are about speed, and if you make distribution about speed, you’re fighting a very hard battle,” said. “If you make it about identity, it’s much different.”
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