Non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs, have been used for several purposes. One of them is to gain access to digital events like concerts. Meaning, the concept has been open for now; however, that is about to change with Ticketmaster attempting to reach a larger audience with the new feature, NFT Token-Gating.
Per the announcement, NFT token-gating allows artists to give special priority to NFT holders who meet all the eligibility criteria. The special priority could be early access to an event or tickets with VIP features like watching the backstage action.
NFT Token-Gating has been developed in collaboration with Avenged Sevenfold, a metal band that tested the feature on its own NFT collection, the Deathbats Club.
The community is now split into two parts, with one part appreciating the move and the other part arguing that it counters the decentralized ethos of the NFT sphere. The first side has argued that artists don’t pick ticket vendors, so they will have more power now. The other side has countered that artists deserve a platform that prioritizes the form of monetization that the creator owns.
One of the members has come out in support, saying that Ticketmaster should rather underwrite the cost of the event to lower the risk for the artists. True, considering the cost of producing an event is indeed on the higher side.
The Ethereum NFT token-gating feature is now live for artists to try their hands. It has so far worked effectively for Avenged Sevenfold, a scenario where the owners of 10,000 non-fungible tokens were allowed early access to buy tickets for their future shows that are slated to appear in June in Los Angeles and New York City.
Frontman Sanders said almost 1,000 tickets were purchased with the NFT token-gating feature. Sanders has described the process as incredible. He has further shed some light on how Ticketmaster works.
It first prompts the user to connect their wallet and verify the ownership of the eligible token. Following this, the process moves on as usual except for less competition fighting for a smaller pool of tickets.
Sanders has also said that the process eliminates long queues—1,000 people in this case—and gives bots the power to get the work done straight away.
The band’s Web3 team, which is well-known for developing NFT projects that focus on the artists, and Ticketmaster specifically developed the feature.
Sanders and David Marcus, who was the EVP of Global Music at Ticketmaster, met the year before at an NFT LA conference. The meeting planted the seed of a token-gating feature, and both ventures went on to work together.
Marcus has said that while the band used the feature to offer early access to tickets, there are many more ways in which NFT token-gating can be used to offer a special experience to the fans.
