Ticketmaster announces tentative plans for concerts in 2021

Image courtesy of Wix.com.

Yes, you read that right

Earlier this week, Ticketmaster announced their intentions to resume in-person concerts in 2021. This announcement has fans both excited and perplexed. 

How can Ticketmaster provide fans with an authentic concert experience while ensuring the safety of attendees and reducing the spread of COVID-19?

When I got news of Ticketmaster’s announcement on Billboard.com, I was innately excited. Being able to attend shows again would be the closest thing to normalcy I’d have experienced in months. 

However, my excitement quickly halted when rationale sank in. How is Ticketmaster going to be able to pull this off? What would a socially-distant and masked concert look like? How would venues implement proper sanitation guidelines and reduce crowd sizes?

Image courtesy of Wix.com.

Ticketmaster's plan

In order to protect concert-goers, Ticketmaster intends to implement its own app in combination with third-party health firms and vaccine providers to prove fans are negative for COVID-19.

Ticketmaster has denied mandatory vaccinations to attend sponsored events, but here’s how the company intends to do this:

• After purchasing a ticket, fans would have to prove they tested negative for the virus 24-72 hours before the event OR have an approved vaccine (protected for a year)

• Test results would be delivered to Ticketmaster by approved health companies

• If fans are cleared to attend, their ticket would be digitally downloaded to their mobile device and those with positive test results would not get a ticket

• Ticketmaster would not have access to fans medical records 

My thoughts

Although this is just one of Ticketmaster’s potential plans, it is the most concrete that I’ve come across. 

However, the plan fails to answer one question: Do fans who tested positive get refunds for the tickets they won’t ultimately receive? 

Image courtesy of Wix.com.

Despite these preventative measures, I would be interested to see a few trial runs of this plan, especially considering the fact that it doesn’t address limited capacity or distancing guidelines. 

Even will all this information available, I cannot definitively say I would feel comfortable attending a concert under these conditions--this in part because I worry that a concert during a pandemic will detract from the authenticity of the experience.

What do you think of Ticketmaster’s plans? Would you feel safe attending a concert under these guidelines?