Ticketmaster Clarifies Covid-19 Vaccine/Test Policy at 2021 Live Events
A Billboard report surfaced yesterday indicating that Ticketmaster, the live events ticketing behemoth, would in 2021 begin using its mobile app to screen entrants for records of a Covid-19 vaccine or recent negative test before allowing entry. The program would allegedly use third party health information companies like CLEAR Health Pass or IBM’s Digital Health Pass to connect an individual’s doctor or testing facility with Ticketmaster’s app in a secure, encrypted, HIPAA-compliant manner.
Ticketmaster has now issued a statement clarifying that report in which they’ve indicated that 1) as a ticketing agency they do not have the authority to gate entry to events in such a manner (those decisions are up to the individual event organizers), 2) the program is still very much in the testing/planning phase and is not a sure thing to be utilized en masse in the real world.
Ticketmaster’s clarification statement reads as follows:
“It was widely misreported yesterday that Ticketmaster will be requiring vaccine status/test results for future events. This is not true. Ticketmaster does not have the power to set policies around safety/entry requirements, which would include vaccines and/or testing protocols. That is up to the discretion of the event organizer. We are indeed exploring these options, but it is still only a potential concept. And Ticketmaster will not be able to require such parameters — it would always be up to the event organizer.”
It’s worth noting that Live Nation, one of the biggest concert promotion companies in North America, owns Ticketmaster. That relationship means that if this experimental program indeed comes to market, Ticketmaster would likely look to utilize it at many (if not all) of its Live Nation-operated rooms, although presumably those venues would have some autonomy, as well as being subject to varying regional/local ordinances. Many of the tours whose dates we post on MetalSucks have a handful of dates (or more) in Live Nation venues.
Still, these clarifications are important, so let’s hold the phone on freaking out about a dystopian technostate where medical records are leveraged for concert entry. For now.
Ticketmaster president Mark Yovich previously said he wants to make it as easy as possible for concertgoers to verify themselves in a number of different ways using the program:
“Ticketmaster’s goal is to provide enough flexibility and options that venues and fans have multiple paths to return to events, and is working to create integrations to our API and leading digital ticketing technology as we will look to tap into the top solutions based on what’s green-lit by officials and desired by clients.”
The whole music industry is anxiously eyeing a return to concerts, with experts speculating it could be until fall 2021 at the earliest.
[via Blabbermouth]
