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Live event discovery platform Dice has secured its biggest UK venue partnership to date after being named the primary ticketing partner for London’s Alexandra Palace.
The independent venue, which delivers events for capacities ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 across its Theatre, West Hall, Great Hall and Park, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. It has upcoming gigs from Jessie Ware, The National, McFly and Fatboy Slim, as well as a summer series of outdoor events featuring Kaleidoscope Festival, headlined by Hot Chip.
Dice will also be the main ticketing provider for Ally Pally’s community events, such as November’s annual Fireworks Festival and Creative Learning programme, which deliver hundreds of activities each year. In addition, it will support ticketing of exhibitions and sports events at the Palace.
“We’re honoured to be working with such a historic venue, giving fans access to their incredible events, securely through Dice, without having to worry about crashing websites or ticket touts,” says Dice president Russ Tannen.
Dice says that more than 40% of its sales come via its Discovery tool, which recommends personalised events and suggested shows for friends to enjoy together.
“It’s a partnership we can’t wait to get started”
“Our events programme at the Palace has grown significantly in recent times, now attracting a million visitors a year, with every £1 we make going back into supporting our community projects and charitable objectives,” says Lucy Fenner, commercial director at Alexandra Palace. “We are looking forward to working with the Dice team to build on this huge progress and deliver fans more amazing live music, festivals and more. It’s a partnership we can’t wait to get started.”
Dice operates in markets including the UK, US, France, India, Italy, Spain and Germany. Launched in 2014, the company reported the biggest year in its history last year, with more than 55,000 artists and 10,000 venues and promoters using the firm to sell tickets to their shows.
Emma Dagnes, CEO at Alexandra Palace, adds: “As a charity and an independent venue, we want to provide truly amazing experiences to millions of people every year, whether that’s through hosting household names on our biggest stages, or via our extensive range of community events. Dice’s ethos and fan-first approach feels a great fit for this, and we are looking forward to working together as we continue to grow our cultural and entertainment programmes here at the Palace.”
Dice recently launched in Scotland as the new primary ticketing partner to Edinburgh-based promoter Watchtower Group, and also hired Katie Soo as chief business officer in March.
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Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice has officially launched in Miami as it continues its expansion in major cities across the US.
Coinciding with the launch, the company has announced an exclusive ticketing deal with renowned Miami venue Club Space.
The 2,000-cap nightclub will utilise Dice’s mobile platform for upcoming shows by acts such as Wade, Pawsa, Loco Dice, Green Velvet, Bonobo and Hocus Pocus.
“Miami’s wonderfully diverse music scene, from Latin to House, has always been on our mind as we bring our connected event discovery and ticketing experience to more fans across the US,” says Dice president Russ Tannen. “Our launch partners at Club Space have cultivated an institution in the Miami scene for over two decades that is now globally recognised as one of the world’s best clubs.”
“Their platform offers phenomenal technology and programming in line with our vision of the future”
Dice’s mobile technology includes features such as upfront pricing with the intention of bringing fairness to fans attending live events, while its Waiting List is designed protects fans from the excesses of the resale market. Concert-goers can also utilise the platform’s ‘Discovery’ tool, which enables fans to connect with one another and find live shows directly through the app.
“I am delighted to be partnering with Dice,” adds Club Space co-owner Coloma Kaboomsky. “They are a safe and fun way for the members of our community to get tickets to our events. Their platform offers phenomenal technology and programming in line with our vision of the future and for the present what is most important, 24/7 customer service.”
Launching in the United States in 2019, Dice also operates in key markets including New York and Los Angeles, with Dice founder Phil Hutcheon revealing to IQ that the US was now its biggest market.
The company, which raised up to US$122 million in Series C funding last autumn, which it said would enable it to expand into every market, recently grew its operations across Europe, landing in Germany after previous successful launches in the UK, France, Italy and Spain.
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Russ Tannen, formerly chief revenue officer of ticketing firm Dice, has been promoted to president of the company, having relocated to New York to take up his new role.
Tannen, a founder member of the Dice team, now oversees the UK-based company’s second headquarters in New York, having played a key role in its expansion across Europe in recent years.
“We’re building our second HQ in New York and investing heavily in North America to bring fans the most amazing events at the best venues with zero hassle,” said Phil Hutcheon, founder and CEO of Dice. “The world is about to experience the biggest growth in live entertainment in history and Dice is backing the best partners to do so.”
As part of its expansion in North America, Dice has signed exclusive deals with independent New York venues and promoters including Avant Gardner, Brooklyn Made, Elsewhere, United Palace and Saint Vitus. It is also recruiting for more than 20 roles across marketing, operations, brand and artist partnerships in its new US team.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to build Dice’s position in the US and around the world”
“New York is a city that knows how to go out and we have always had our sights set on expanding our presence here. It’s awesome to be tasked to lead the effort,” says Russ Tannen. “There is a tangible energy and excitement for everyone to be out again.
“We’re building an epic team who will make sure that, as it comes back, live music is better for fans, venues, promoters and artists. I’m looking forward to continuing to build Dice’s position in the US and around the world.”
Other new hires for Dice include Jordan Gremli and Jo McNally, both of whom join the company after spells at Spotify.
Gremli, who has been appointed head of artist development, will work with artist and creator partners to manage all aspects of Dice’s livestreaming business, while McNally, the new new global head of music licensing, will oversee licensing in all existing and future Dice territories.
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UK ticketing/concert discovery app Dice has hired a music fan who attended a huge 122 shows in 12 months as its new fan support agent.
Dave Brooks – a 26-year-old from Enfield, not the executive editor of Amplify – previously worked as a freelance writer, before attracting the attention of Dice earlier this year with his dedicated gig-going. In his new role, Brooks “answers gig-related questions and ensures his fellow Dice fans are having the best possible experience”, according to the company.
Russ Tannen, Dice managing director, comments: “Dave is an absolute legend at Dice, and it’s great to bring in another member of the team so passionate about live music. It was the easiest decision of all time to ask him to work for us.”
“Dave is an absolute legend at Dice”
“I didn’t think I’d land a job with one of my favourite brands by attending so many shows,” adds Brooks (pictured). “It’s cool to be able to chat music with like-minded people, plus it’s a great bonus to be able to see so much live music and actually be encouraged to ramp up my gig-going.”
However, after “refreshing the data,” Tannen says Dice noticed one fan had been to even more gigs last year – 298 – “raising the question, ‘Who will be Dice’s top gig-goer in 2018?’”
Dice recently abandoned its famous no-booking fee business model after admitting it lost money on every show and was struggling to secure ticket allocations for larger events.
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Dice, the famously fee-free mobile ticketing platform whose founder, Phil Hutcheon, once criticised ticket fees as being “like a drug”, has quietly introduced booking fees of its own for some shows, saying its no-fee model meant it lost money on every ticket sold – and increasingly struggled to gain ticket allocations for bigger events.
Following a public Twitter back-and-forth with the band Shame, Russ Tannen, Dice’s UK managing director, has explained the move, saying the company’s growth, coupled with its recent expansion into North America, left a choice between introducing fees and Dice “being a small player forever”.
We’ve backed you from the beginning. From the free shows to the current tour. All without making a single penny. We’ve told tens of thousands of people on DICE about how great you are live.
— DICE (@dicefm) February 10, 2018
“As we grew (thanks to you guys) we discovered that to get a significant allocation of tickets for bigger shows, we had to agree to include a ‘booking fee’,” writes Tannen in a blogpost aimed at Dice’s customers. “This was particularly the case for our expansion in North America.”
“Ultimately,” he continues, “it was a case of either drop ‘best gigs’ or drop ‘no booking fees’. So we decided to start incorporating some fees to a small number of shows and dropped the ‘no booking fees’ line in January 2017. What didn’t change is our commitment to always try and be the lowest price.
“I wish we had written a blog post explaining all of this back then. And I’m sorry for not posting this sooner.
“So what are these fees? It’s essentially a small markup that covers some of our costs, and fulfils contractual obligations to some of our partners. We hate hidden extras and fake price breakdowns so the upfront price is always what you pay at the end. We believe in presenting one simple price to fans and there are lots of shows where we don’t have any mark-up at all.
“I hope this explains where we are right now. We started Dice to completely change how people discover and attend live experiences all around the world, and we’re as committed to this as we have ever been.”
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