With on-sales for hot shows regularly making headlines, sometimes for the wrong reasons, a debate has ignited among experts as to whether the live business should switch from online queues to ballots for the most in-demand concerts.

Glastonbury unveiled a revamped online queuing system for yesterday’s (17 November) general sale, whereby fans were “randomly” assigned a place in the queue at the start of the sale, rather than having to refresh the page like in previous years. While the system was a novelty for Glastonbury, it has been the standard path for most high-demand shows for a number of years.

Speaking to presenter and DJ Annie Mac ahead of this summer’s festival, Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis explained why the event had decided against distributing tickets via a ballot.

“I think if we did a ballot, we’d end up with some people who weren’t necessarily as bothered about coming,” she claimed.

Elsewhere, however, Oasis held a special invitation-only ballot for their two additional shows at Wembley Stadium next September, limited to fans who had been unsuccessful in the initial on sale for their 2025 reunion tour despite queuing for hours.

And Sam Fender made tickets for his upcoming hometown show at Newcastle’s 11,000-cap Utilita Arena available by ballot to customers with North-East postcodes only.

“I use the analogy that if you entered the lottery and you didn’t win, you wouldn’t complain to the National Lottery that you didn’t win”

Steve Tilley of Kilimanjaro Live, promoter of the 20 December concert, explains the thinking behind the method.

‘’It’s an attempt to try and manage the demand and introduce some kind of element of randomness/luck into the equation when you’re very very confident that there’s no way the supply is going to be able to meet expected demand,” he tells IQ. “I use the analogy that if you entered the lottery and you didn’t win, you wouldn’t complain to the National Lottery that you didn’t win. And we don’t even charge you for entering our lottery unless you get the chance to buy a ticket.”

Sam Ricketts, head of business development & artist services at AXS, says that ballots have become an “increasingly popular solution for measuring demand and getting tickets into the hands of real fans”, while Gigantic Tickets co-CEO Simon Carpenter deems them “the fairest way to go” when demand for a show is sky-high.

“The Sam Fender show in Newcastle at the arena is a perfect example, where you’ve got hundreds of thousands of people wanting to go to a show with a 10,000 capacity,” notes Carpenter.

Ed Sheeran agent Jon Ollier of One Fiinix Live points out that ballots are commonplace in certain parts of the world, such as Japan.

“Anything that we can do to try and reimagine and make the ticket purchasing process more fair [is for] the better,” he adds.

“They are probably not the right solution for most on sales. But for the ones that are going to see high demand, they are absolutely the way to go”

Ticketing executive and former STAR Council member Richard Howle advises that ballots aren’t right for every on sale, however.

“In fact, they are probably not the right solution for most on sales,” he asserts. “But for the big ones – the ones that are going to see high demand – they are absolutely the way to go.”

Howle believes there are numerous benefits from an industry perspective, particularly around data and pricing, in addition to gauging demand.

“During a typical on sale we only manage to collect data from those who successfully book a ticket,” he suggests. “By running a ballot we have the opportunity to collect data from everyone who is interested in buying a ticket. And I don’t just mean marketing data which relies on people opting in – huge amounts of insight can be gleaned about potential audiences.

“Balloting also provides an idea of demand in advance: London has the demand for four dates, Birmingham three, Manchester two, etc. This certainty of demand will make scheduling routing and deal-making so much clearer.”

He adds: “By running a ballot, by receiving information in advance about what audiences are prepared to pay, promoters can optimise their manifests to deliver the maximum returns as well as preserving any wishes that an artist may have about preserving a percentage of tickets at accessible prices.

“Whilst prices can be set in advance, the number of tickets available at each price band does not have to be decided until the balloting process is complete and customers have indicated which price they wish to pay. Tickets can be truly priced based on demand, without upsetting customers.”

“Ticketing systems are built to cope with high demand, but sometimes technology breaks and on sales can go horribly wrong”

Furthermore, Howle notes there are technological advantages, both in terms of handling demand and battling ticket touting.

“Yes, ticketing systems are built to cope with high demand, but sometimes technology breaks and on sales can go horribly wrong – disrupting both pricing and scheduling strategies,” he says. “The gentler pace of a ballot makes the whole process much smoother – for everyone. It is an unnecessary stress which everyone could do without.

“Perhaps one of the biggest pros of balloting is that it makes it very hard for touts and their bots. Multiple applications and known touts can be screened out during the balloting process. The touts will always find a way, but we can make it much harder for them.”

Telecoms giant O2 gives away tickets for its intimate, one-off Priority gig series for free to O2 and Virgin Media customers via a ballot. Acts have included Kylie Minogue, D-Block Europe, Raye and Sam Fender, while more than 100,000 ballot entries were submitted for Girls Aloud at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in July.

“We see huge demand for our Priority Gigs, which does mean disappointment for some customers who don’t win tickets, but the ballot process creates fair opportunity to win and allows us to open up these one-of-a-kind music experiences to as many people as possible,” says Gareth Griffiths, director, partnerships and sponsorship at Virgin Media O2.

According to Griffiths, one of the biggest pluses of ballots is the “greater ability” they provide to tailor the ticketing process to suit a particular show or artist.

“With D-Block Europe and Raye’s Priority Gigs, for example, giving their biggest fans the first chance to grab tickets was a really important element of the show,” he says. “O2 was able to do this by using our Priority Tickets data, to give those who had engaged with the artists’ shows before the first chance to enter. This allows us to ensure the room is filled with those who most want to be there, and to connect artists with their biggest fans.”

“The casual fan who might ordinarily try their luck for a ticket on a single screen has equal footing with a die-hard fan”

Matt Kaplan, head of UK/EU at price-capped resale marketplace Tixel also sees far more positives than negatives.

“What we like about ticket ballots is that they typically bring a more fan-centric approach to the challenges of selling tickets to high-demand events,” he tells IQ. “By collecting all prospective buyers into the same ‘pot’ you level the playing field and remove the intense pressure of having to have five laptops, two phones, an iPad, a hope and a prayer, competing for that coveted moment of being redirected to the purchase page.

“I guess one thing that could be seen as controversial is that the casual fan who might ordinarily try their luck for a ticket on a single screen has equal footing with a die-hard fan who might have assembled an army of friends and dozens of screens for more “chances” at a ticket. And is this a bad thing? Probably not.”

Although Howle considers the benefits of ballots to outweigh the negatives, he acknowledges the downside.

“It takes time to organise and manage, which is why it is not appropriate to do every on sale as a ballot,” he stresses. “Some promoters and artists like the fuss of an onsale, some like to say that they ‘broke the internet’ that they ‘sold out in xx minutes’. But what is a better indication of popularity: ‘20,000 ticket sold out in 10 minutes’ or ‘a million people have entered a ballot’?”

He continues: “One con, which is particularly relevant to the UK is that allocations are split across a number of different ticketing companies. This is an added complication which needs co-ordinating – but it shouldn’t be a barrier to balloting.

“The final con is that an on sale generates its own excitement, its own buzz which encourages others to join, to make that impulse buy. Perhaps if fans had more time to make a considered decision about whether they were going to attend or how much they wished to spend they wouldn’t pay as much? But counter to this, is that there will be much larger pool of people to access and with a ballot there is the opportunity to optimise the manifest to generate greater revenues.”

“As a promoter, 99 times out of 100 you’re more worried about selling out as quickly and easily as possible”

Nevertheless, if push came to shove, Kilimanjaro’s Tilley admits he would choose a normal on sale process over a ballot.

“As a promoter, 99 times out of 100 you’re more worried about selling out as quickly and easily as possible,” he says. “Promoting artists that require people to enter a ballot is a privilege indeed but that level of demand comes with a whole different set of problems for promoters and venues to try and solve.’’

He concludes: “When demand is so great that most people are going to be disappointed inevitably some fans take to social media to complain direct to artists and managers about something not being fair or potentially blaming a ticket agent tech issue – whether fair or not – and so on. If you introduce a ballot then luck becomes a factor and most people accept the rules at that point. Of course, there are still people on socials making their feelings known but I guess that’s the way of the world.”

Indeed, as the industry has learned time and time again – ballots or not – you’ll never be able to please everyone.

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Gigantic Tickets’ Simon Carpenter has shared his hopes of taking the UK agency to the “next level” after being elevated to co-CEO, kicking off a new era for the DEAG-backed business.

Carpenter, who has led the commercial team for the last nine years, will serve as co-CEO alongside company founder Mark Gasson, and also joins the board as part of a series of senior promotions at the Nottingham-based firm.

In addition, Joe Lilley becomes co-CTO alongside existing CTO James Woodward after 13 years on the core technical team, while Kelly McKinney is upped to head of operations following eight years working in event management & client services at Gigantic.

“I want to take it to the next level,” Carpenter tells IQ. “I want to build on the foundations laid by Mark and James and continue to grow the company – and for us to be the ticket agent for new music as well as established artists.

“I’ve been working within Gigantic for close to 10 years now and have learned a lot from Mark, which means there’s a lot of continuity there, but Mark and James are still heavily involved and will shape what the company looks like. I’ll just take more of a steer on commercial matters.”

One of the UK’s leading ticket agencies, Gigantic was launched in 2007 and is part of the KMJ Entertainment group. Carpenter describes the last 12 months as “very strong” for the firm.

“In terms of the ticketing market, I think it’s very open. There is still a lot of opportunity in the rock and pop world”

“We’ve broken some records and had our biggest selling stadium shows ever on the system with Stereophonics at Principality Stadium in Cardiff,” he notes. “We’ve got more onsales in the pipeline for the next six months that we’re really positive about, we’ve got new clients that have come on board that will start to grow and sell more tickets for us, so we’re very excited about what the next six months brings.”

He continues: “In terms of the ticketing market, I think it’s very open. There is still a lot of opportunity in the rock and pop world. There has been a massive upsurge in interest and as long as that stays the same, the market will always be strong.

“I want us to be on the front foot, future-proofed and deliver products and innovations for our clients and for our customers to make ticket buying very much hassle-free.”

German live entertainment group DEAG acquired a 75% stake in Gigantic back in 2009, but Carpenter suggests little has changed from an operational point of view.

“DEAG has always treated us as our own standalone company and allowed us to make our own independent decisions,” he reflects. “We’re still able to compete in the market and work with whoever we choose to work with, so we’ve maintained the independent spirit we’ve always had.”

Gasson adds: “I’m proud to see such a positive promotion of our internal team, which is testament to the ongoing hard work and commitment of the talent here at Gigantic. We look forward to a future of continued growth and strength.”

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