VenuesNow (10/05/20) Muret, Don

Ticketmaster Chairman Jared Smith on Oct. 5 announced his departure in December, and he tells VenuesNow that "I've got a whole other chapter to be written." He says he will be succeeded by Mark Yovich, adding that his exit was on the horizon, with the COVID-19 pandemic simply accelerating it. In looking back on his tenure, Smith considers his most valuable accomplishment at Ticketmaster to be team-building, with the addition of outsider perspectives particularly beneficial. "The wonderful thing about my experience at Ticketmaster is it's pretty broad," Smith reflects. "It's technology in general, it's consumer tech in a big marketplace, B2B tech in the software that we developed. There's a bunch of different applications for that across different industries." Smith remains optimistic about the live entertainment industry's long-term prospects despite the pandemic, noting that "out of these great moments of disruption come great moments of innovation." He cites Ticketmaster's investments in digital ticketing, identity-based ticketing, better pricing and better distribution as assets that have helped the industry adapt to such disruptions and ensure its future.

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