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Live industry needs to improve booking processes for ‘accessible tickets’
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 27 January 2014
Live music accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything reckons that the live sector is missing out on 2.5 million ticket sales a year – equal to about £66 million in annual revenue – because while promoters make events accessible to deaf and disabled customers, they are not making it easy for said music fans to buy tickets.
In the group’s latest State Of Access report, Attitude Is Everything says that 83% of the disabled gig-goers it surveyed were put off buying tickets because of inaccessible booking systems. So called ‘accessible tickets’ are often sold via telephone booking lines, rather than online, which make it harder for customers who require such tickets to make a purchase.
AIE is now working with the Society Of Ticket Agents & Retailers to facilitate a working party involving the likes of Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Ticketline and Eventim to tackle this problem.
AIE’s CEO Suzanne Bull told CMU: “The State Of Access Report demonstrates the value of our dedicated team of mystery shoppers, who have identified barriers to overcome in terms of accessible ticketing policies. But our ethos is about working in partnership with the music industry to find solutions, so we’re confident that our findings will lead to an improved live music experience for deaf and disabled music fans in the UK”.
Meanwhile, giving his association’s support for the new working party initiative, STAR’s Jonathan Brown added: “STAR is very pleased to be working with Attitude Is Everything as we look together at how the experience of buying tickets online can be improved for deaf and disabled concert goers. STAR and its members are committed to the highest possible standards of service and information for the ticket buying public and we consider the possibility of these improvements to be a high priority in our work in 2014”.
