Live Nation ticketing investment

BEATING THE BOTS IS JUST THE TICKET: Live Nation says its $100 million investment in updating Ticketmaster technology will not only give it a leg up in its ongoing war against bots (scalper-deployed automated software that grabs large quantities of tickets before fans can buy them) but also provided a much more user-friendly experience. Promising a thorough overhaul of the ticketing company's pre-merger "1980s technology," LN COO Joe Berchtold noted in a London speech today (reported in Music Week) that a new platform, Ticketmaster Plus, would combine primary and secondary ticketing and would launch Stateside next week. Berchtold, who emphasized the role of apps and other mobile tools in the streamlined user experience, described the fight against bots as an "arms race," noting an array of tech solutions designed to spot bot activity. "We get a little better, then [bots] get a little better," he declared, noting Ticketmaster will prevail thanks to the scale of its investment. (7/12p)