By Kristy Dorsey
Edinburgh’s Citizen Ticket has developed a “Netflix for events” platform that it believes could secure income for thousands of live performance artists who have been shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.
Originally conceived to see the ticket seller through the initial storm of lockdown, Citizen Ticket’s founders say the platform is now an integral part of their long-term business plan. Developed by chief technology officer Colin Palmer, the technology integrates online ticketing and live streaming, with the option to access recordings of live events on demand at a later date.
Among those currently appearing on Citizen Ticket’s live streaming is Jason Manford, who is in the middle of a seven-week series of gigs. The Manchester-born comedian was previously using a combination of PayPal and YouTube to run his online performances.
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“The beauty of our platform dedicated to live events is that you can do everything in one place, while guaranteeing security of income,” Citizen Ticket co-founder Phil Shaw-Stewart said.
Founded in 2013, the company started selling tickets in 2015. As of 2019, it was shifting 100,000 admissions annually, generating revenues of £1.7 million from a 10% cut of ticket face values.
The firm was on track for a “bumper year” of £3.5m in projected turnover when revenues flatlined, starting with the cancellation of the DataFest science showcase that was due to take place over two weeks in March. Within half an hour of that getting pulled, other event organisers were on the phone making their cancellations.
“It hit us like a sledgehammer,” Mr Shaw-Stewart said. “From March to May we were in crisis management – it was just refunds, dealing with companies in liquidation, and lots of problems to deal with.”
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The breakthrough to live streaming came in May when another comedian, Daniel Kitson, approached Citizen Ticket about using the site for a series of his online shows. Most of the company’s livestreaming to date has been of stand-up acts, but music performances are expected to expand following a deal recently struck with booking agency ATC Live.
In the immediate wake of the pandemic, Citizen Ticket was forced to put its 11 staff on furlough, leaving its founders – Mr Palmer, Mr Shaw-Stewart and Harry Boisseau – handling the fall-out from lockdown. However, half the team are now back at work as livestreaming has revived operations, with ticket volumes and revenues expected to match those of last year.
Mr Boisseau said “hybrid events” held both in real life and online will be a continuing feature as artists and venue owners look to maximise revenues amid social distancing constraints.
“This opportunity has just presented itself now, and we are looking at how best to use this,” he said. “We are now thinking we could get back up there to a place that would allow growth to continue.”
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