Fergie fans will phone it in for tickets

DENVER? - Aching to see Fergie in concert? Don't expect to buy a paper ticket.

Verizon Wireless is sponsoring the Black Eyed Peas vocalist's 20-city U.S. solo tour -- which kicked off May 8 in Seattle -- and in an unprecedented move is controlling the entire ticket distribution process.

By doing so, Verizon is conducting what is perhaps the biggest mobile ticketing experiment in the United States to date. Still, certain hurdles will need to be overcome before mobile ticketing becomes widespread.

Verizon Wireless subscribers can get a ticket to Fergie's show via any of the following mobile tie-ins: by downloading any of Fergie's songs from the V Cast Music full-song download service or any of the new Fergie TV content on V Cast; by buying any Verizon-enabled Motorola phone; or by attending any of several planned in-store events at either Verizon Wireless or Kohl's stores. Local radio stations will make tickets available via various promotional activities. Those not subscribing to Verizon will be able to acquire tickets only through the in-store events and radio promotions.

Verizon will then send each fan a unique barcode that will be scanned by a special reader at each venue for entry. Fans without phones who receive the "ticket," as well as non-Verizon subscribers, will have to pick up a ticket at the venue.

This isn't Verizon's first mobile ticketing move. It sponsored a one-time show by the Fugees last year and has experimented with it on a few Justin Timberlake concerts, among others.

"This is a scaled-up version of what we've done in the past," Verizon associate director of music content Ed Ruth said. "We've been perfecting the technology over time."

One problem in the past, in evidence at the Fugees concert, was that the barcode readers equipped by the venue could not scan the barcode displayed on the phone. Verizon has worked closely with Live Nation venues to properly outfit them with the right type of scanner.

Still, those involved in making mobile ticketing a reality say that many steps need to be taken for it to gain more traction. Other venues would need to invest in scanning equipment, ticket brokers like Ticketmaster would need to work more closely with wireless operators on billing and delivery standards, and wireless operators would need to work together to ensure cross-carrier interoperability.

Verizon is keen to do the heavy lifting on the mobile-ticketing front because it is trying to revamp its image as more of a media and entertainment company instead of a provider of simple phone calls, Ruth said.

"Phones historically have been used for voice and text messaging," he said. "As we get into the content era, we want to help people get access to the things they want and need."

The Fergie tour features a number of other mobile-related activities as well. At each stop, a number of "green screens" similar to those used in motion picture special effects will allow fans to dance to Fergie songs and have their image inserted into the show footage. The resulting video will be sent to fans' mobile phones, and fans creating the best videos will have the chance to join Fergie onstage during each show's finale.

Reuters/Billboard