Amazon Prime is simply amazing. I’m not telling those of you who have the service anything you don’t already know.
However, the giant online retailer has been spreading its tentacles far and wide within the service industries. Whether it’s audio books, web hosting, food, TV production, or music, you can bet Amazon has its hands in it.
You can now add ticketing services to that mix, according to Recode. Yes, you may soon be able to get your tickets in the same place where you get that last-minute gift for your loved ones, or the week’s groceries.
This isn’t a totally new concept for the company, as they have been offering ticket services to concerts and theater over in the U.K. for about a year now. However, things seem to be going so swimmingly across the pond that it appears Prime Tickets may be coming stateside soon.
Amazon’s very serious about this move, reportedly making ticketing hires here in the United States:
The hiring efforts are part of a new initiative to “position Amazon Tickets as the world’s premier destination for purchasing tickets,” according to one posting. The job listings also hint at plans to integrate ticket sales into the Prime membership program with something Amazon is calling Prime Tickets, the details of which were not laid out.
The U.S. isn’t the only place Amazon is looking to expand its ticketing services. The same report indicates that Europe and Asia are huge points of emphasis:
In one of the recent job postings, Amazon said it is looking to hire new employees “to develop our international expansion strategy for Europe and Asia.” The company has also been hiring Amazon Tickets employees at its headquarters in Seattle, potentially signaling plans for a U.S. ticketing business.
However, if you know one thing about Amazon, it’s that they’re a company that thinks big. That likely means a whole new way of looking at the ticketing business as we know it here in America and abroad.
It appears that tickets are just the beginning, as Amazon has stated it hopes to disrupt the entire live entertainment business in one job posting:
“[O]ur vision goes beyond just selling tickets as we aim to disrupt the entire live entertainment experience, including what happens before, during and after the show,” one posting reads. “The ticketing business is ripe for innovation and improvement, as much of the industry has not fundamentally changed since the 1970s.”
Given the declining sales of physical music in today’s online-driven music industry, money from concerts and live events are the main drivers of artist income. It will be very interesting to see how Amazon plans on changing how the industry looks at delivering live entertainment in the coming years.
[Recode]
