'Audio tickets' to end long lines at music festivals and gigs

Festival goers queue at the gates to Glastonbury festival 
Festival goers queue at the gates to Glastonbury festival  Credit: Getty

Ticket sellers have created an app that understands who is entering a gig by listening for silent sounds emitted by mobile phones in a development that could spell the end of entry queues and stop touts from selling tickets on at a marked up price.

The system, created by Ticketmaster, uses signals sent and received by smartphones, which are practically inaudible to humans, to track who is passing through entry gates. 

The company has started using digital passes, which also draw on radio frequencies and contactless technology, at 32 venues in the US. It will start expanding the technology globally this year and into next.

For the method to work, users must download an app and open it as they approach the venue’s entrance. Microphones installed at the event listen for audio signals emitted from the devices at between 18.75 kHz and 19.2 kHz, frequencies that are inaudible to 90 per cent of people.

Each phone emits a unique signal reflecting that person’s identity, which is checked against the venue’s database. Tying each ticket to a specific person and device could help crackdown on ticketing fraud.

When their identity is confirmed, users’ phones light up green and guests are admitted without a ticket having to be scanned or checked.

The system could also help cut down queues at venues as attendees will be able to walk through gates without having to show a ticket. At some venues fans will also be able to tap their phones on sensors for access.  

How the app works
How the app works Credit: Ticketmaster/Venture Beat

Tory MP Nigel Adams, who has campaigned for a clampdown on touts since he was a victim of the practice last year, welcomed the move. “The touts and the ticketing industry are locked in a technological arms race and it’s encouraging that Ticketmaster is deploying innovative technology to try and prevent those people who are intent on ripping off the consumer,” said Adams.

He added: “I fear a single piece of tech is unlikely to be the complete answer but it’s a step in the right direction.”

A spokesman for Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “It is unacceptable for touts to use technology to sweep up vast numbers of tickets and sell them on at inflated prices, at the expense of genuine fans. 

"The Digital Economy Act 2017 made it a criminal offence for people to misuse technology in this way and it's encouraging to see the industry explore new technologies to tackle ticket touting and make it easier for people to see their favourite acts." 

Ticketmaster has used technology from Lisnr, a company that uses the ultrasonic sounds emitted by devices to communicate with them without requiring action from the owner, to create the system. The ultrasonic sounds emitted by devices have previously been used to monitor footfall in stores and for security.

Jaguar Land Rover recently used the technology in a test that replaced keys with a mobile phone that could alert the car of a particular drivers' presence. When the car detected the personalised signal it would unlock and adjust the seat settings.  

In the long term, Ticketmaster could develop a method for paying for items in venues using the signals, perhaps spelling the end of long queues at bars in the breaks between acts.

Glastonbury attendees wait outside the festival gates amid heightened security 
Glastonbury attendees wait outside the festival gates amid heightened security  Credit: Getty

Professor Michael Waterson, of the University of Warwick whose independent review of ticket touting was published by the Government last year, said the technology had the potential to stop the problem but that venues and events normally work with numerous ticket sellers and this system is currently a Ticketmaster project.

“It’s very common for major sellers to have more than one primary vendor,” said Waterson. “If only one of a range of sellers is using this technology then that won’t work.”

Waterson added  that Ticketmaster is owned by the same company that runs resale sites Get Me In and Seatwave.

“It has secondary sites itself which raises the question of whether they are going to involve them or exclude them,” he said. “I think there are signs within the industry that people do want to change the system but obviously there are powerful interests on the other side making money from the system.”

Ticketmaster said the digital passes can view, transfer and sell tickets within the app and through text messages and email. 

Justin Burleigh, vice president of product for Ticketmaster North America, said: "Presence uses a variety of proximity-based digital technology like NFC, RFID, and even sound through our partnership with LISNR, to enhance the fan experience and provide a new tool for venues to decrease fraud and understand who is attending events."

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