Attitude is Everything, a charity aiming to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live music, has revealed the UK music industry’s poor online booking facilities are losing £66m potentially each year.

In its biennial State of Access Report, based on hundreds of mystery shopping questionnaires from disabled music fans, 83 per cent of disabled gig goers were put off buying tickets in the past year due to inaccessible booking systems, resulting in 2.5m lost ticket sales.

The report also reveals that while 75 per cent of disabled people prefer to book their ticket online, only two of 10 venues were offering online ticketing to disabled customers, opting to instead sell accessible tickets via in-house telephone lines.

In addition, the report also highlights that small investments to improve accessibility can result in increases in revenue. Over the last five years, organiser Festival Republic have made strides to make their festivals more accessible for deaf and disabled customers, and have subsequently seen a 243 per cent rise in accessible tickets sold for Reading Festival, contributing £115,000 in 2013, up from £40,000 in 2009.  

“Our commitment to improving the accessibility of our festivals is integral to our ability to create great festival experiences for all of our customers,” said MD of Festival Republic Melvin Benn. “By investing in the facilities and working in partnership with Attitude is Everything, we have been able to grow our disabled audience and are now reaping the rewards.”

Attitude is Everything is working with the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers to facilitate a working party involving all of the key ticketing agencies, including Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Ticketline and Eventim, to raise more awareness of accessibility issues.

“Suzanne Bull MBE, CEO of Attitude is Everything, added: “The State of Access Report demonstrates the value of our dedicated team of mystery shoppers, who have identified barriers to overcome in terms of accessible ticketing policies. But our ethos is about working in partnership with the music industry to find solutions, so we’re confident that our findings will lead to an improved live music experience for deaf and disabled music fans in the UK.”

Got a story for Access All Areas? Email jdavis@mashmedia.net

Posted on: 28/01/14 

Attitude is Everything, a charity aiming to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live music, has revealed the UK music industry’s poor online booking facilities are losing £66m potentially each year.

In its biennial State of Access Report, based on hundreds of mystery shopping questionnaires from disabled music fans, 83 per cent of disabled gig goers were put off buying tickets in the past year due to inaccessible booking systems, resulting in 2.5m lost ticket sales.

The report also reveals that while 75 per cent of disabled people prefer to book their ticket online, only two of 10 venues were offering online ticketing to disabled customers, opting to instead sell accessible tickets via in-house telephone lines.

In addition, the report also highlights that small investments to improve accessibility can result in increases in revenue. Over the last five years, organiser Festival Republic have made strides to make their festivals more accessible for deaf and disabled customers, and have subsequently seen a 243 per cent rise in accessible tickets sold for Reading Festival, contributing £115,000 in 2013, up from £40,000 in 2009.  

“Our commitment to improving the accessibility of our festivals is integral to our ability to create great festival experiences for all of our customers,” said MD of Festival Republic Melvin Benn. “By investing in the facilities and working in partnership with Attitude is Everything, we have been able to grow our disabled audience and are now reaping the rewards.”

Attitude is Everything is working with the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers to facilitate a working party involving all of the key ticketing agencies, including Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Ticketline and Eventim, to raise more awareness of accessibility issues.

“Suzanne Bull MBE, CEO of Attitude is Everything, added: “The State of Access Report demonstrates the value of our dedicated team of mystery shoppers, who have identified barriers to overcome in terms of accessible ticketing policies. But our ethos is about working in partnership with the music industry to find solutions, so we’re confident that our findings will lead to an improved live music experience for deaf and disabled music fans in the UK.”

Got a story for Access All Areas? Email jdavis@mashmedia.net

Posted on: 28/01/14