I read in The Wall Street Journal this morning how Disney is about to market a new technology for on-demand. This new technology is called “Keychest”. With this, you will be able to pay a one time price for a movie and play it anytime you want on all your digital devices such as DVD, PC, iPod, and mobile. You will actually own the movie without physically having it. This article made me think about the discussion and test trials of live event season passes.
The idea of season passes (beyond sports teams) for live events such as concerts is not new and has been discussed frequently over the past year. This was a major discussion at last year’s Aspen Live Conference. It has also been discussed in the LiveWorks Newsletter and The Lefsetz Letter. Live Nation has been experimenting with season passes at some of its smaller venues such as House of Blues.
What if the artist or show was to offer lifetime passes? Most major music acts have large fan bases with fan clubs. What if the artist was to offer a lifetime pass to these fans? Would they buy them? Is it feasible?
This might work well for family shows. What if Feld Entertainment offered a lifetime pass for all their shows? They play at least two different shows (Ringling Bros. and Disney on Ice) in most markets every year. How much money could Feld charge? Would a young family buy into this program if it were a good deal for the years to come?
What if the larger arena venues offered season passes for all their non-sporting events? Is it really that far fetched? They already sell suits and club seats, why not a season seat pass to see every event in a year?
