How TicketSwap got the music industry listening

After uncovering shocking stats about hearing damage, TicketSwap rallied partners to lead change in the event industry.

Market analysis

Entertainment

Amsterdam, Netherlands

50-500 employees

Challenge

TicketSwap connects music lovers with tickets to sold-out events at ethical prices. They wanted to explore ways to make the TicketSwap brand synonymous with events by going beyond ticketing to tackle other industry issues.

We want people to have a positive experience at events and festivals and facilitate as much of a safe environment as possible. This got us thinking about sonic safety, and launching an awareness campaign to encourage people to take their hearing health more seriously.
Daniel Glendinning, PR Manager, TicketSwap

Solution

TicketSwap worked with Attest to survey eventgoers in the UK and France. They hypothesized that many music fans weren’t aware of the risk to their hearing at events. To find out if that was true, they asked questions like: do you know what tinnitus is? Have you ever worn earplugs to a gig? Have you ever heard ringing in your ears after being in a nightclub?

The objective was showing the lack of awareness, to show that there really is a problem that needs to be solved. The results completely proved that our thinking was right. We were actually surprised by the level of misunderstanding around hearing health.

The research found that 50% of people in the UK have either experienced problems with their hearing health or know someone who has, but have never done anything about it. Meanwhile, half of respondents said they had heard ringing in their ears after being at an event.

Impact

TicketSwap worked with PR agencies in the UK and France to develop a year-long sonic safety campaign; phase one focused on getting the topic into the headlines and starting the conversation.

It’s become a really hot topic off the back of the research. Every music magazine that you’d want to be talking about this is now talking about it. As a result, we’ve seen an influx of people from across the industry coming to us and telling us they want to be part of this campaign.

The next phase of the Don’t Miss A Beat campaign will see TicketSwap partner with industry figures to produce longer-form interviews and case studies to deepen the conversation. Then, working with hearing specialists, they plan to author a piece of medical research. This will culminate in a pledge for their partners to create a safer sonic environment across the industry.

Showing that TicketSwap is a thought leader in the music industry has a huge amount of value for us. If event organizers, venues and party producers are seeing TicketSwap across the headlines talking about this topic, then they think, ‘maybe this is the resale solution that I want to work with’.

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