Paper trail over for music lovers as tickets go mobile

THE days of the traditional concert ticket fading in an old scrapbook could be numbered.

For music lovers are now able to buy a ticket in the form of a picture of a barcode sent to their mobile phones.

And when they arrive at gigs all they need to do is show the image of the barcode to an electronic scanner and the turnstiles will open for them.

Yesterday the service was launched on the website of airline Ryanair, which promised free plane journeys for the first 20 fans to book a barcode ticket for Take That’s concert in Barcelona on October 20.

The concert ticketing service is being provided by Dublin company Ticket Text, which is also selling seats for gigs by Rod Stewart, New York rockers Interpol and music band Crawdaddy.

Ticket Text chairman Tim Delaney said: “I have seen how technology has disrupted the music industry.

“We have now reached the point where technology will start to impact the business model of the ticketing industry.”

Fans can access the Ticket Text website via ryanair.com or at www.ticket-text.com.

Ryanair said the first 20 customers booking a concert ticket for Take That in Barcelona would get a free return flight from London to the Spanish city.

Ryanair said it had noticed that passengers had been booking flights to get to concerts so decided to offer them the chance to get their flights and music event tickets on one website.

Santina Doherty, from Ryanair, said: “This is a fast-growing part of our business and we look forward to developing it with Ticket Text.

“This service is an ideal match for passengers who want to combine their trip abroad with concerts, festivals and other live events.”

Ryanair said its 52 million customers will be able to get tickets for concerts, sport, theatres, galleries and exhibitions in Ireland, Britain and the rest of Europe.

Security measures are built in so people can get a duplicate ticket sent to them if their mobile is stolen or lost.

The service will also allow music lovers to print out the barcode on their computer printers so they have a paper copy.

www.ryanair.ie

www.ticket-text.com