Avenged Sevenfold is offering a new way for fans to get tickets to shows via their new Ticketpass system. Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows explained Ticketpass as essentially a "frequent flyers miles" reward system for fans, allowing them to rack up points for listening to music, going to shows, buying merch, etc.
Certain Ticketpass holders will also gain early access to Ticketmaster to buy show tickets, allowing some folks to bypass Ticketmaster's highly-controversial dynamic pricing system. It's worth noting that all of this is currently in beta, and Avenged Sevenfold wisely states "If we see this isn't working for fans then we may also choose to shut it down."
Read the explanation from the band below. Ultimately this seems like a pretty cool idea if it works, especially if it'll allow superfans to chance to get tickets for shows. Though the root cause of Ticketmaster still screwing over fans needs to be addressed outside one band trying to do the right thing by their fans.
"We will be breaking these passes into 'tiers' over time and rewarding the people who have been participating in merchandise, listening habits, music consumption, live events and other metrics. For instance, if over the course of a year you have purchased a t-shirt, vinyl and been to 4 shows… we will be able to upgrade your 'Ticketpass' and allow you to purchase tickets sooner than others who have not. Many new items will have NFC tags that will allow us to verify ownership, stick with us! The idea being that actual fans are getting tickets first and not resellers looking to make money off of you. A simple way to look at it is through the lens of 'Airline Rewards' systems. If you are flying on our airline a lot then we think you should have first shot at pit tickets. Another benefit to all of this is we have confirmed from Ticketmaster that none of these tickets are subject to dynamic pricing or price changes on day 1.
"This is an early Beta that we begin testing with our upcoming second leg of tour dates announcing on Tuesday and things may change as we see how this plays out. If people are taking advantage of 'Ticketpass' we can turn off their token on our end. If we see this isn't working for fans then we may also choose to shut it down. We are building in public so that we can get feedback from you. If you decide that this is all too confusing and you would rather buy tickets on day 2 with am email and password then that's fine too.
"For people familiar with using Metamask and CoinbaseWallet, we need you to help people that are new to this when you can. When we started this over a year ago many of you needed help and others were happy to give it. Lets make this a good experience. If you are new to this and need any extra help at all please join our Discord and ask in the #ticket-pass channel.
"If you are on mobile then you will need to use the wallets browser. For MetaMask you just open it up and press the three lines in the top left corner. After that just type in www.avengedsevenfold.io Directions below.
- Go to AvengedSevenfold.io
- Click on the Deathbats Club clubhouse
- Click on Ticket Pass in the menu
- Connect your wallet
- Sign in
- Input User Details
- Verify your details via emailed code
- Select 'Opt In to TicketPass'
"You will then be able to see your pass under Tickets instantly in your tablet by clicking on your wallet address. If you run into any issues with it appearing, please see the #ticket-pass channel in Discord for help. These may not auto-populate into your wallet's app. Deathbats Club – We will be opening 'Ticketpass' at the same time as Deathbats Club on Tuesday morning for the ticket reserve program. Have no fear, Ticketmaster has promised that all DBC tickets will be secured first and that all tickets will be granted."
