Original article published on Billboard (02/21/18) by Dave Brooks
Amazon has decided to close its U.K. ticketing business, but might be planning a 2019 relaunch with new technology and tie-ins with Amazon Echo and Firestick. Amazon's James Moore informed the retailer's show partners that Amazon "has taken the decision to close Amazon Tickets, and today (Feb. 21) will commence the process of marking back to you any tickets currently on our website and of ceasing the sale of new tickets." The closure is the latest setback for Amazon in the ticketing sector after it shelved efforts to launch a U.S. ticket service because it could not reach a deal with Ticketmaster parent Live Nation for access to tickets for popular events. Amazon promoted a plan to sell top-tier inventory to its customer base, but Live Nation did not need help moving tickets for major artists, and instead wanted assistance selling tickets to shows that were not in high demand. Amazon was able to make deals with several major U.K. promoters due to a dearth of exclusive venue contracts in Britain, thus offering its services as a third-party distributor of tickets marketed to its launch customer base. Amazon had been using technology by Ingresso to drive some of its online sales in the U.K., but in late 2017 company officials began meeting with show producers with a presentation detailing plans to phase out and replace the U.K. program with a new ticketing platform tied into Amazon devices.
Read the full story on the Billboard website.