Practice marketing analysis for entertainment company

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A Market Analysis for
(Ticketmaster)
(Patricia Riffe)
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
(02/02/2020)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following analysis will state the company’s current success and focus on a new
revenue stream. It will also address a current issue with the company’s current product and its
possible effects on the company down the line. This report includes reasons for lowering the
price of the company’s product. It also includes recommendations on how to ensure the success
of having music festival tickets as a product for the company as well.

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OBJECTIVE
Ticketmaster is looking for suggestions on product changes such as
ticket prices and to further expand into music festivals in order to
increase revenue and secure the longevity of the company. Music
festivals are a growing trend, especially amongst millennials. Growing
and developing partnerships within this market would open a new stream of revenue for the
company to further increase sales.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information within this analysis was sourced through internet databases. This was
secondary information thoroughly researched within the month of February. The financial
figures used in this analysis were from the mid-year financial reports ending June 30, 2019. The
statistics that were sourced for this analysis are the year-end-figures for 2018. It was challenging
to find recent figures for music festival attendance, as this is a growing trend that is popularizing
amongst millennials. While these figures are pending, there is ample support on how to reach the
target market that make growing music festivals a successful revenue stream for the company.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
Brand positioning statement: “Imagine a locked door, and behind it lies access to tons of
live music, Ticketmaster is the key to that locked door.” This statement is designed to target
millennials. Many may not be able to consistently attend concerts creating a locked door;
however, if the company makes changes to the ticket prices to reflect what the target market can
afford, live shows become frequently accessible.

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Ticketmaster has been the top ticket distributor for a number of years, securing vendors and
event organizers to be the sole ticket distributor for certain events. In 2010 the company
partnered with Live Nation Entertainment, which is currently the largest live event organizer.
This partnership was a smart decision for the company because is secured Ticketmaster’s access
to numerous events over the ones already secured by the company. The company stated in the
past that 80% of its GTV growth has come from music (Statista, 2020). The music industry is
continuing to grow quickly, with over 50 acts per month being signed in 2017 (Ingham, 2019).
This creates a number of new tours for artists that can generate ticket revenue for
Ticketmaster. As of June 30th, 2019, revenue for Ticketmaster was up 10% (Ticketmaster, 2019).
With music events having an annual growth rate of 9.1% until 2024, it is important for the
company to take advantage of the opportunity to increase revenue. These revenue growth
figures are pictured in Figure A.
Figure A.
Ticketmaster has received a lot of backlash over ticket prices within the last few years. This
backlash over ticket prices and the excess fees attached to the final purchase has also turned into
legal suits referencing ticket scalping. This backlash gives leeway to competing companies that

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do not attach excess fees to ticket purchases. Ticketmaster and its’ parent company Live Nation
had a class action law suit dismissed in 2019. The case was originally filled in 2018 by a
consumer Allen Lee who was represented by Hagens Berman (Sanchez,2020). The law suit was
filed for “unlawful and unfair business practices, unjustly enriching the ticket-seller at the
expense of live events fans” (Wang, 2020). It is important for the company to price the product
at a price that is appropriate for the company’s target market. Millennials growing attendance at
music festivals opens the door for increased revenue in that product. However, backlash and
legal suits would affect the success of all sales within Ticketmaster overtime. In 2017 89% of
millennials attended live music events (Miles, 2017). Millennials are most likely to have blue
collar jobs in which this market would be the first to experience unemployment if the economy
were to experience distress.
CONCLUSIONS
Ticketmaster has more than secured its spot in ticket distribution, selling 73 million
tickets mid-year 2019 (Ticketmaster, 2019). However, the company is not pricing the product
(tickets) in an affordable manner for the target market. After working towards making changes
to lower the prices of tickets, physical ticket sales will further increase. With the growing
attendance at music festivals which are filled with millennials, the company should invest time
in creating a plan to further market and create partnerships with music festivals. Music festivals
are a product that would be desired by the target market and create another successful stream
of revenue for the company.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Ticketmaster could do several things to further reach its market. Partnering with
streaming and social media platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, SnapChat and TikTok to
promote concerts and festivals would access the 86% of the world that listened to music
through streaming in 2018 (Statista, 2020). Social media platforms are proven to reach users at
an extreme rate. TikTok alone reached 1 billion users less than 5 years after its launch (Hunter-
Tilney, 2019). Using this as a promotional outlet for music festivals would assure a successful
growth rate for the product.
Adjusting the cost of tickets would increase the number of times consumers went to concerts
and festivals. This would also protect the company if the economy were to fall into any type of

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hardship being depression or recession. Both of these economic issues would directly affect the
target market and most likely significantly decrease the use of the company’s products.
With music events having an annual growth rate of 9.1% until 2024, partnering with outdoor
venues for music festivals would open doors for more revenue growth (Statista, 2020).

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REFERENCES
Cite your sources. Use APA short form in the body of the paper and long form in this section.
For this section, use a hanging indent shown here, with the second and subsequent lines
of each source starting ½ inch from the left margin (Format/Paragraph/Indents/Hanging).
Hunter-Tilney, L. (2019, November 8). Pop in the 2020s: how music - and fandom - is
changing. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/763f4fb6-f667-11e9-9ef3-eca8fc8f2d65
Ingham, T. (2019, July 2). Are the Major Record Companies Signing Too Many Artists?
Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/are-the-major-record-
companies-signing-too-many-artists-847697/
Miles, K. (2019, October 18). Millennials Drive Growth in Live Music Industry.
Retrieved from https://gobranded.com/branded-poll-millennials-driving-growth-in-live-music-
industry/
Music Events - worldwide: Statista Market Forecast. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/outlook/273/100/music-events/worldwide
Sanchez, D. (2019, April 5). Federal Judge Tosses Class Action Lawsuit Against
Ticketmaster. Retrieved from https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/05/ticketmaster-class-
action-lawsuit-tossed/
Ticketmaster. (2019, July 25). Live Nation Entertainment Reports Second Quarter 2019
Financial Results. Retrieved from https://news.ticketmaster.com/181076-live-nation-
entertainment-reports-second-quarter-2019-financial-results
Wang, A. X. (2018, October 1). Ticketmaster Faces Class-Action Lawsuit After Scalping
Report. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/scalping-ticketmaster-
class-action-lawsuit-731689/

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Images
Ticketmaster logo, Retrieved 02/02/2020, from
Ticketmaster. (2019, July 25). Live Nation Entertainment Reports Second Quarter 2019
Financial Results. Retrieved from https://news.ticketmaster.com/181076-live-nation-
entertainment-reports-second-quarter-2019-financial-results
Growth Revenue Chart, Retrieved 02/02/2020, from
Music Events - worldwide: Statista Market Forecast. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/outlook/273/100/music-events/worldwide
TikTok Growth chart, Retrieved 02/02/2020, from
Hunter-Tilney, L. (2019, November 8). Pop in the 2020s: how music - and fandom - is
changing. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/763f4fb6-f667-11e9-9ef3-eca8fc8f2d65
APPENDICES