SARAH SLATER
Vice President, Music and Festivals |Ticketmaster UK
While summer is mostly over — an incredibly successful one for Ticketmaster UK, which scanned in more than 4 million fans on various festival sites — it’s another season in the ticketing industry.
And an important one.
“Summer is amazing — being out in the fields and getting to see some incredible live music,” says Sarah Slater, vice president of music and festivals for Ticketmaster UK, “but now I’m ready for a big few months of onsales and catching up with our teams around the world on upcoming technology and product launches that will make the experience for our clients and fans even better.”
It’s not just tour onsales either, she notes.
“Kicking off ticket sales for Co-Op Live has been so exciting and the culmination of a lot of hard work from the team; we all can’t wait to take our seats at a show there soon,” she says of the new, 20,000-capacity-plus arena being built in Manchester, UK. “The launch of SafeTix in the UK and how it completely eliminated ticket fraud at our festivals this summer was also a standout.”
Slater says the role of the ticket agent has evolved, especially considering the tech-heavy, rapidly evolving nature of the ticketing industry, but the core mission and duties remain.
“The main role of the ticket agent is always going to be the shop, but with new insight and products, our roles have expanded over the years,” she says. “We have a much more collaborative relationship with our clients now, sharing insight and listening to the needs and wants of both the promoter and fan means we’re really well equipped to take on that consultative approach across the board.”
Deciding on how to price tickets has never seemed a more important — and difficult — task for artists and their teams than in today’s challenging economy.
“It’s our role to provide the tools and insight for artist teams to make those decisions,” she adds. “Being able to surface demand data at various points of the announcement and onsale schedule is becoming even more vital for stakeholders to make these informed decisions.
“It’s those relationships with clients, colleagues, and fellow industry professionals, Slater has built over her 15-plus year career in ticketing, that she’s most proud of.
She says, “To work in this industry as long as I have and still hold positive relationships across the board is a huge achievement.”
