Written evidence submitted by the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry into the Impact of Covid-19 on DCMS Sectors 1. ABOUT STAR 1.1. STAR, the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, is the self-regulatory body for the ticket industry formed in 1997 by companies and organisations within the ticketing industry. Its membership encompasses ticket agents, ticketing system suppliers, arenas, sports bodies, promoters, producers, music venues, most West End theatres and many other theatres and venues in London and across the UK. STAR members subscribe to a Code of Practice covering standards of service and information and we estimate that our ticket agent members represent over 90% of that sector. STAR works to help resolve disputes between its members and ticket buyers and is approved by Government under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. (See list of members below) 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2.1. Ticketing is a key element of the delicate eco-system that supports the tremendous UK live entertainment and events industries as well as other significant sectors in the remit of the DCMS which have been devastated as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. 2.2. Ticket agents represent a significant proportion of ticket sales for UK events and are an important factor in the success of marketing shows and achieving successful ticket sales. They also play a significant role in helping build new audiences, creating innovation, developing technical resources, finding new distribution channels, marketing and advertising events to both domestic and overseas markets. 2.3. Ticketing systems suppliers provide important tools that are crucial to the operation of all companies selling tickets. 2.4. Ticketing businesses are seriously impacted by the closure of events and the loss of ticket sales. They are dependent on events being able to re-open fully to be able to build back up their businesses. Given that mass gatherings will be the last to leave lockdown, the ending of the Job Retention Scheme in October may therefore lead to necessary redundancies. An extension of the furlough scheme or other support for businesses affected by lack of ticket sales that reflects the extended lockdown for events is crucial to helping save jobs. 2.5. We support venues, promoters, producers, festivals and other event organisers (including the Concert Promoters Association, Society of London Theatre, UK Theatre, National Arenas Association, Association of Independent Festivals etc.) in the calls they have made for practical and economic assistance in their own submissions to the Committee and the Government. Some of those organisations are also STAR members. They are each best placed to identify the right support needed for their sector. The restoration of the UK’s world-leading live entertainment and events industries is vital to the wellbeing and success of the UK, as well as the myriad of individuals and businesses that make and service it. 2.6. The return of live entertainment and events is not possible without ticket agents and ticketing systems. As well as providing the mechanism to sell tickets and the marketing data to reach potential customers, it is key to addressing new challenges around reducing contact in sales and admissions, for example timed entry for museums and attractions, timed arrival at venues and managing Safe Distancing. Both ticket agents and systems therefore are crucial in helping restore consumer confidence and reaching new and existing audiences, both in the immediate term and as we see the eventual return of overseas visitors. 2.7. The ticketing industry will play an integral role in the solutions that allow live events to reopen and operate safely again. 3. SCOPE OF THIS EVIDENCE 3.1. Ticketing is an essential part of the wider eco-system of the huge range of the sectors covered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As such, many organisations, particularly those responsible for creating and housing content, will have already provided their own evidence on the scale of their work and the impact of Covid- 19. Rather than repeat that, we are instead here focusing on two specific areas of the ticketing industry, ticket agents and ticketing system suppliers. 3.2. However, it cannot be repeated enough that the impact of the consequences of Covid- 19 and the closing of all events is devastating on the live events industry. Any business related to the number of tickets sold for events is affected – promoters, producers, venues, festivals – as well as the content creators – the actors, writers, musicians, designers, technicians – and those that service the industry – production staff, agents, managements, marketeers, publicists and many, many others. 3.3. The effects of the lockdown are also true for other sectors selling tickets including attractions, sports and other leisure and cultural activities. 4. TICKETING 4.1. The sale of a ticket is the principle means of contracting with a customer booking to attend an event. This may be a booking made directly with a venue or event organiser or through a ticket agent. The industry extends across all ticketed events - major rock and pop concerts, sports, theatre, festivals, attractions, museums and galleries. 4.2. In addition to facilitating the administrative process of ticket selling, ticketing is a key tool that feeds into and supports many other areas of work including finance, marketing and audience development. Ticketing systems help organisations manage their customer data, pricing, financial management and reporting. 5. TICKET AGENTS 5.1. While a number of different commercial arrangements exist, we estimate that for live entertainment events an average of 68% of tickets are sold through ticket agents, although there are wide-ranging differences in this percentage depending on the type of event. The highest proportion sold through agents is for live music events including festivals. In the West End it is a lower proportion and considerably lower for most regional theatre. 5.2. Primary ticket agents are those that work alongside venues and events and sports and are authorised to sell their tickets to help achieve a greater audience reach. Agents earn their income from booking fees that are usually levied on the top of the usual ticket price, though on occasion this fee may be on the inside of that price. In addition to an element of profit, these fees cover payment processing fees, customer services, fraud prevention and other administrative costs and overheads. Ticket agents also work to help build new audiences, create innovation, develop technical resources to improve the customer experience and ensure that the ticketing process is more secure and more accessible to a wider audience, find new distribution channels, market and advertise events. In the case of marketing and advertising, these are things that would otherwise be charged by the marketing companies or theatres to the producers if not covered by booking fees. 5.3. Ticket agents also provide on-site ticketing services and entry systems for many outdoor events and festivals and are able to cope with complex, high-demand ticketing for major shows and sporting events. 5.4. We estimate that the total ticketing revenue for the UK Live entertainment industry is £2.62bn, with ticket agents selling approximately £1.8bn of those tickets. With per ticket booking fee income averaged across all markets at 9.85%, that equates to income to ticket agents of around £179m a year. However, there may be some additional income streams where agents provide venue ticketing systems and different revenue arrangements are in place. (See Table 1 below.) 5.5. It should be noted that, while we have here focused on live entertainment, many ticket agents and other STAR members also sell for other DCMS sectors such as sports, attractions, museums, galleries and other leisure activities. 6. TICKETING SYSTEM SUPPLIERS 6.1. There are many different ticketing systems supporting all ticketed events. These range from ‘self-service’ ticketing where organisers can list their own tickets for sale to systems principally focusing on the arts or attractions sectors, to systems provided to venue by ticket agents. Some systems contract with clients on a licence basis and some are wholly or partly tied to per-ticket revenues. 6.2. Ticketing systems are much more than a means of issuing a ticket and are essential in supporting many other areas of work, including finance, marketing and audience development. They provide the main customer database for businesses and enable the analysis of sales and customer data through reporting functions, producing information that helps decision-making on programming, pricing and other forward-planning. WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE SECTOR? 7. Ticket Agents 7.1. With ticket sales being at the heart of the business, with all events being suspended for an indefinite period of time and with uncertainty about how and when business will resume, ticket agents have seen little or no sales income since 16 March. In the meantime, they have worked to help book customers into future or rescheduled performances and processed refunds for cancelled events or where customers cannot attend on a new date. Businesses have therefore been busy working to reverse transactions at a time where there is no income. 7.2. It is common for advance ticket receipts to be transferred to venues or event organisers ahead of the event date. Ticket agents therefore have to wait until receiving those monies back before being able to process refunds to their customers. 7.3. Given the concerns and uncertainties for consumers, there has been an increased demand on customer service provisions which have had to be managed at a time where there is no income, a need for remote working and the need to furlough staff to reduce overheads.