This page is about selecting an online event booking engine/ticketing system for your musical events. If you already have one, and want to explore ways to increase ticket sales see How to Grow Your Bookings/Ticket Sales.
As a musical event organiser you will want clients to be able to buy tickets when they find the event/concert/gig on your website or on the websites of other parties who are assisting you to promote your event. If you are also one of the musicians who will play at the event, your primary focus will be on practicing the pieces. You want to have to spend minimal time on getting an event booking engine/ticketing system configured.
Here are some things to look for when choosing an event booking engine/ticketing system:
- It should be easy and reasonably quick to configure an event.
- You don’t want to have to install software packages onto your computer or server to configure your event.
- You will want the ability to copy and paste an event booking widget from the event booking engine’s control panel onto your webpage. This should display detailed information about the event including:
- the lineup – who will be playing
- the featured/popular musical pieces/songs which will be played
- images which you upload to the control panel
- The location where the event is to take place
- The start date & time of the event and also the end time or duration
The booking widget must also enable customers to book their tickets and pay for them.
- Customers should be able to book and pay for their tickets 24×7. They should also receive a confirmation e-mail within a few minutes of purchase.
- The system should support e-tickets: That is, tickets are generated by the system and e-mailed to the customer who can print them or keep them on their mobile phones/tablets
- From the point of view of customers buying tickets, the process should be straightforward with the minimum number of steps and requesting the minimum amount of information to be entered. It should be easy to use from mobile (smartphone, tablet), laptop and desktop devices.
- It should prevent overbooking: If your venue has capacity for 200, then it should not allow more than that number of tickets to be sold.
- It should enable you to place an upper limit on the number of tickets which can be purchased at one time (for fairness).
- If you plan on holding the musical event multiple times, on a regular basis, the booking engine should enable you to make the event recurring so that you only have to enter the event details once. You should be able to specify the regularity of the recurrence, for example, “every two weeks on Friday”, or “the first Saturday of each month from September through December”.
- Consider entry to the event and the checking/validating of tickets. You don’t want to frustrate your guests with long admission delays. Does the ticketing system provide some fast and automated way to scan and validate tickets? Does this require special equipment which you will have to purchase or rent or can you use a mobile phone with an app?