UTIX Overview
Platform
UTIX is an online e-ticketing platform designed to address the core problems of today's event ticketing reality. Unlike many industries, the online ticketing industry has devolved into a monopolistic system that is largely hated by customers, by artists, and even by event organizers (EOs). The only winner in the current landscape is Ticketmaster, which controls so much of the market that it can demand exclusive contracts with EOs, which force artists to work with them; it controls the added fees for primary sales tickets and controls parts of the secondary market as well. In an industry where nearly no one is happy, there is a great deal of opportunity for improvement.
UTIX uses the power of the blockchain to create an efficient and seamless experience for both EO and customer. Blockchain offers some unique attributes for the online ticketing market. First, by using a smart contract the EO can select exactly how it wants to organize its tickets available for sale. It can customize ticket attributes such as the type of ticket, how many are available, the price for each individual ticket, when the ticket sale starts and stops, when the actual ticket is released to the purchaser, and whether or not the ticket is refundable. What is more, UTIX uses the smart contract to specify whether a specific ticket can be resold on the secondary market, and if so, what the minimum and maximum prices can be.
Based on this customization alone, UTIX's blockchain backbone can help to solve the worst of event ticketing problems: price gouging, and the selling of fake tickets. However, the platform was designed so that both EOs and customers are unaware of the blockchain elements behind the scenes, vastly simplifying the experience. UTIX offers their platform to EOs in a SaaS (software-as-a-service) format, with native IOS/Android applications that make the process easy while creating an efficient workflow that results in low transaction fees.
UTIX Loyalty Token
Working alongside the platform, the UTIX Loyalty Token is used to actually purchase the event tickets, but can also be used to purchase things like merchandise. Because it is a loyalty token, it is also used to reward items not available to non-UTIX Loyalty Token holders. These perks could include special events, early access to ticket sales, and more depending on what artists and EOs want to offer in partnership with UTIX.
What is unique about the Loyalty Token is that it is more than just a loyalty program incentive; it is actually a fully regulated Token, certified as a Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) approved IVFAO. This ERC-20 standard, virtual financial asset will soon be listed on the Bitmart Exchange, giving holders full access to trading activities.
How Does UTIX Work?
From the customer's point of view, the process is simple. When signing up on the UTIX platform an account with a UTIX Ticket NFT Wallet and a UTIX Loyalty Token Wallet are automatically generated. The user will be verified by a phone number and email, as well as an ID document that acts as a KYC (Know Your Customer) in order to prevent users from creating dummy accounts. This is a common practice currently that allows brokers to purchase many more tickets than is allowed. Once verified, the customer can search for event tickets, purchase/earn UTIX Loyalty Tokens, and find rewards. If a ticket is eligible for resale, a customer can also directly sell the ticket to another user via a secondary marketplace, according to the rules that are built into that individual ticket.
The EO creates an account in the same way a customer does, which results in a UTIX NFT Ticket Wallet and a UTIX Loyalty Token Wallet. Once verification is complete, the EO can then use the platform to create an event as well as the tickets to be sold. As mentioned above, the EO has full control over each ticket for many different variables, including price, distribution release, whether it is refundable, and whether it is re-sellable (w/ min/max pricing).
Competition (Web2 and Web3)
The biggest competitor for UTIX is Ticketmaster, along with other major Web2 ticket event platforms like Eventbright, etc. This will be a difficult market to capture as it is heavily monopolistic, but UTIX's strategy has been to focus on smaller, underserved events in order to gain a following as EO's see the value in what UTIX can offer.
Web3 competitors do exist, and include platforms such as Blocktix, Get Protocol, Aventus, etc. Each has their unique value, but none seem to focus on the EO's perspective like UTIX does. In order to continue growing its list of EO's, UTIX is focused on derisking events for each EO by offering an SaaS event ticket platform that requires very little effort and zero upfront costs for the EO. Some Web3 competitors require the EO to purchase the platform's tokens in order to list an event, with the tokens representing the tickets that can be sold. As this can represent a major upfront cost (and therefore a significant risk) for EOs, working with this type of ticket platform is undesirable for EOs working to make a profit without undue risk.
Advantages of UTIX
The biggest advantages stem from UTIX's ability to solve the three systemic issues that plague the ticketing industry today. Using a seamless interface with EO's, along with customizable tickets on the blockchain, UTIX can eliminate:
Bloated primary ticket fees stemming from an inefficient system
Out of control price gouging in the secondary market
The ability to sell fake tickets
UTIX has a number of other advantages for EOs/artists and customers alike. The business model is designed for high growth, as UTIX makes its service completely free for EOs and its customer UI seamless and crypto-transparent. More advanced EO's also have the ability to use the platform's API functionality so they can host the ticket sales directly on their website. This creates an even more seamless experience for users, as they can look for and buy tickets directly from an event's website without realizing anyone else is involved.
Finally the UTIX model has a loyalty system built on a fully regulated token that is a digital financial asset, meaning that users can both earn a number of rewards by holding tokens on the platform, and that the tokens can be traded on exchanges such as Bitmart.
Disadvantages of UTIX
UTIX does have a key disadvantage that it will need to overcome through hard earned partnerships with EOs. Even with a superior platform and clear incentives for EOs, artists, and the customers, UTIX (along with its Web3 competitors) will be facing off against a monopolistic giant that has ruled the industry with an iron fist for decades, and that has broken any industry or even legal attempts to reign in the detrimental practices it uses to stay on top. Toppling Ticketmaster would make for an amazing David/Goliath story, but even taking a chunk of the market share will be a major win. UTIX has a strong strategy for gaining a growing EO following, and it doesn't hurt that few if any players seem to actually enjoy working with Ticketmaster.
What Does UTIX Have Planned for the Future?
UTIX has a solid model and strategy in motion, and its key efforts that are planned involve continuing to grow the platform, gain new EO partnerships, make event goers happy by showing what a ticket event could be, and becoming a household name as a result.
Wrapping Up: UTIX, The Web3 Event Ticketing Platform
UTIX is yet another innovative look at what is possible with Web3, utilizing the very best of blockchain technology to target very real problems in a troubled industry. By creating a customer (both EO and ticket purchaser) perspective and making that journey easier, they have shown themselves to be a formidable player in the event ticketing market. Time will tell whether they can win over EOs and take on the current monopoly, but growing through customer satisfaction has always been a reliable path to success.
