GigsWiz makes buying music tickets social

There’s really nothing social about buying a pass for a concert or music festival through a big ticketing agent.

After all the fees and red tape, half of the time it doesn’t even seem worth it. But that’s what GigsWiz hopes to change, by integrating social networking  and ticketing as a way to for musicians to give back to their fans.

Meeting up with TG Daily at the Aalto Venture Garage, co-founder Juuso Vermasheinä talked about the philosophy behind GigsWiz. He says its all about direct-to-fan communication through social media like Twitter and Facebook and rewarding the fans.

Using social engagement and a fan loyalty program launching later this summer, GigsWiz aims to gives fans a voice and communication channel as well as to address the problem of offloading unsold tickets.

Vermasheinä explains that at least 50% of ticket inventories are unsold each year, but through the fan loyalty program, promoters can reach more people and offer special deals.

GigsWiz has already worked with the Magic Loungeabout festival in the UK, where artists get a 5-20% reward on all tickets.

Using the social platform, musicians can give back to their fans via social networks. One band currently using the system is The Human League, about which Vermasheinä says “is a great example of an artist and their management team being open minded and willing to try new ways to reward and engage fans.”

Simon Watson, manager of The Human League, Sidewinder Management  Ltd, said: “When the guys at GigsWiz approached us because they were ticketing a festival we are headlining, they explained how their model worked and that there was an incentive for bands to help sell tickets. We were more interested in a model that would reward the fans who wanted to buy tickets to the festival specifically to see us play live, to give something back to them, so we are pleased with what GigsWiz came back with. I believe it’s always important, particularly for a band like The Human League, to not only reward our long term loyal fans but also to pick up new and younger fans and I think this will help us to meet both those goals.”

GigsWiz is based in Helsinki, Finland and has received the Red Herring Europe 100 award in 2010 as well as a Midem NetLab Finalist in 2011.