About Eventbrite and its unique industry position
Like all brilliant inventions, Eventbrite began as an ambitious solution to a real world problem. The company’s founding vision centred on democratising the events ticketing process to ensure that anyone could easily organise, promote, and track attendees for their dream occasion.
‘We wanted our process to be as easy as setting up a Gmail account, for any kind of event that had a ticketing component,’ says Julia Hartz, founder and CEO of Eventbrite.
Led by a team of three in a tiny room in 2006, the company’s early days were defined by a process of trial and error. Hartz explained that the decision to allow free ticketing was entirely accidental, after realising the platform’s payment widget would allow a zero-sum value.
‘Our team tried putting a zero in there and we were like, oh cool!’ she laughs. ‘Charging nothing for free events will really set us apart from our competitors!’
The decision to make the platform free to use for free events proved to be a key driver of major traffic to Eventbrite during the 2008 financial crisis.
‘We had a hunch that people would turn to lower price tickets and free events… and that’s exactly what happened,’ Hartz explains. ‘People started to teach classes about what they knew how to do, they started building small businesses on the side and going to more networking events. Business and professional events blew up, and people started looking for community in any way that they could.’
Despite (or, better yet, in spite of) the financial crash, Eventbrite joined the list of major tech companies revolutionising traditional services. In the same way PayPal forever changed the way people send money, Eventbrite transformed how event organisers, budding creatives, and live performers attracted attendees and sold their tickets – making it the go-to platform for some of today’s household names.
‘Lizzo actually started out self-ticketing her shows on Eventbrite,’ Hartz tells us. ‘We could track the growth of her career over five years, well before she started doing arena tours only. She had tiny shows all over that started to become more popular, and eventually she performed at bigger and bigger venues.’
Hartz points out that this novel way of cultivating fanbases and shooting to global stardom is primarily a result of streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotify, which offer artists a chance to build upon their existing relevance among micro-audiences.
‘Emerging artists now have the opportunity to build community with their fans in an easily accessible way,’ Hartz says. ‘People are no longer limited to what’s on the radio and television, so they actively seek out events and concerts by up-and-coming artists they like.’
These kinds of intimate events are Eventbrite’s bread and butter. Instead of serving as a host for ticket sales to gigantic arenas and extortionately priced concerts, the platform levels the playing field for creatives starting out, as well as for fans looking to delve deeper into their unique tastes and interests.
As Hartz explains, ‘We’re trying to drive more people towards these smaller shows, towards the things that are in non-traditional venues, such as pop-ups or living room-style spaces – places where you can get up close and personal with the artist and tangibly support them on their journey.’
‘For us, keeping that cycle of connectivity between fans and artists, especially as they’re growing and changing and cultivating their ultimate style, is what’s important to us. That’s really where our passion lies.’
Understanding and mitigating the high cost of event tickets
Despite the numerous extraordinary free events appearing on Eventbrite, it’s hard to ignore the barriers that stand in the way of attending events in a post-pandemic world.
With consumer demands exceeding the average venue’s total capacity, tickets to shows and festivals often sell out within minutes. Young people won’t always get the chance to see their favourite artist even if they can afford it.
‘My theory is that the pandemic caused a financial depression in the industry, and now it’s almost spring-loaded,’ Hartz explains. ‘Large-scale shows had been scheduled, and they are massively expensive to put together and, after so many cancellations, labels needed to get artists out into the world to make that money back.’
Still, she remains optimistic that this rubber band effect is only temporary, one that will see both prices and demand level off eventually.
Given that Eventbrite survived both the financial crash and the pandemic, we asked Hartz whether her team had tracked any price fluctuations on their platform during these periods.
‘Two-thirds of the events on Eventbrite are free, so we haven’t noticed tickets on our platform getting more expensive. But we’re certainly keeping an eye on the trends around us, especially primary and secondary sales – also known as ticket touting.’
Hartz says this resale activity goes hand in hand with industry losses during the pandemic. ‘I do think there’s more scrutiny around [ticket touting] and hopefully that will bring transparency. Oftentimes, it’s not humans buying the tickets and reselling them. It’s bots.’
Echoing the heart and soul of Eventbrite’s longstanding mission – which is to ultimately streamline the organisation, discovery, and attendance of events – Hartz sums up how many young people feel when considering whether to go to a live event.
‘At the end of the day, especially with Gen Z, what’s most important is transparency about what you’re buying and why it’s priced the way it is. Young people should be able to go see the music they love without it being such a financial burden,’ says Hartz. ‘That’s not an unreasonable ask.’
Thankfully, governments in the US and UK are also paying attention to the rise in ticket touting. The Department of Country Media and Bonds (DCMS) is building an initiative that’s in its final stages. It includes price transparency, a capped markup if you resell tickets, and requires the seller to show the original cost of the ticket alongside the resale price.
Socialising in the age of a widespread mental health crisis
Though – like most of us – Eventbrite’s head honcho doesn’t want to keep focusing on the fallout of COVID, she admits it had an undeniable and profound effect on how we socialise and interact with one another.
‘I don’t think you can go through a once in a hundred year event and not have a multi-year impact and shift,’ Hartz says. ‘We’re still living through the aftermath and trying to get through it. We haven’t looked back– haven’t had enough time to look back yet,’ she rephrases.
And how did changes in our social behaviour during the pandemic impact the events space? Well, firstly, it sparked significant uncertainty for creators who were planning for the future. On the attendee side, it raised new concerns about the potential health risks associated with attending large events.
‘Not too long ago, it didn’t feel safe to be hanging around other people. So it’s still not really second nature to go into huge spaces all the time,’ Hartz says, starting to paint a familiar picture.
‘Even when you do, everyone’s on their phone,’ Hartz says, picking up her iPhone sitting on the table. ‘I call it parallel play, like with toddlers. You’re sitting there together, but engaging independently in whatever you do online.’
While many would see booming digital communities as an impenetrable barrier to in-person events, the Eventbrite team saw a window of opportunity.
‘We thought about the cross-section of the issue. Young people are concerned about the loss of third spaces, but there’s this whole other fourth space opening up,’ Hartz explains. ‘Instead of trying to get people to put their phones down, how about we utilise these online communities? Take whatever you’re doing online, whoever you’re meeting online, and bring those people with shared interests into a common space.’
The new approach involved combining the various things people discuss or watch online and bringing them into the real world to ‘create an IRL connection out of the URL.’ The result? Arcade game nights at coffee shops, comedy bowling events, and cheese-tasting rave nights that completely sold out.
‘A bit of intentionality makes people want to show up because they know the event is centred around an activity that they like. Niche is becoming the new mass in terms of interests, and everybody has their own niche interests that they almost always cultivate online,’ Julia says.
How events can help tackle the mental health crisis
Community building online might be Gen Z’s modus operandi, but it hasn’t come without pitfalls. Surveys have shown that young people of today are the loneliest generation of all, surpassing older adults who have historically been seen as most isolated.
‘Even before the pandemic, there was a tendency to get buried on our phones. For Gen Z, who permanently lives in the online world, it’s not just about work-life balance anymore. It’s screen-life balance at this stage,’ Hartz says. ‘Everyone’s just trying to carve out time away from the screen.’
New reports now suggest that the average person spends about 88 days a year on their phone. This is worrying, when countless studies support the notion that prolonged screen time can lead to a plethora of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and problems with body image and self-worth.
‘People are trying to claw their time back and consciously pick events that foster genuine community and new skills,’ says Hartz. ‘We’re craving sensory experiences that will get us away from our phones.’
Hartz notes that one of the top recommendations for anxiety management is getting out of your head and into your hands. It’s no surprise, then, that crafty workshops and mindfulness events are becoming hugely popular on Eventbrite.
‘Pottery making and knitting clubs are coming back because you can’t use your phone while you do either of those things,’ Hartz says. ‘The whole notion and movement towards doing things with your hands, picking up a new skill to get better at over time rather than being on your phone is, in effect, an antidote to anxiety.’
At Thred, we know that engaging with the 24-hour news cycle and doom scrolling can make it easy to think that the entire world’s on fire, sometimes literally.
Hartz explains how going to events, going out into the world, and connecting with others can help us realise we can’t always trust what we see online. It also reminds us how that we’re entirely normal for ‘craving in-person connections and events where [we] can meet real people who are safe and kind.’
While on that note, we discuss how the dating scene is changing. Instead of traditional drinks and dinner dates, Hartz notes that dating events are being intertwined with everything now – from cold water swimming to organised run clubs and cooking classes.
For those not ready to dive headfirst into in-person events, new options are now available. Eventbrite has seen a massive growth in listings of silent events, including silent book clubs and silent discos.
‘The whole silent disco format is evolving away from just dancing in a room with headphones on. There are now city tours, litter picking at the beach, and new moon dances at the beach with headphones on,’ says Hartz.
These kinds of events aim to remove the barrier caused by young people’s anxiety about meeting new people. For those who are socially anxious, there are events available where attendees aren’t pressured to socialise. Of course, you can if you want to, but you can also simply enjoy being around other people.
The growing popularity of silent events is helping individuals feel part of a community without the awkwardness and pressure of having to interact as if it were a networking or dating event.
How AI is bolstering the events industry
Lastly, we had to discuss Artificial Intelligence, something Hartz was surprised hadn’t come up during our conversation sooner.
Globally, attitudes toward AI are shifting, with an increasing number of companies encouraging its use to enhance efficiency and free up resources. After shaking off the initial hesitancy that we all felt, Hartz expresses that the use of AI at Eventbrite has the potential to be wholly beneficial, as long as it serves to support both event creators and attendees.
‘We should think about AI as an enabler first and foremost for event creators. How can we utilise AI to serve as a co-pilot for them? How can we help people figure out where to host their next event, what kind of topics bring people together, which vendors to use and all in one place, or how they should price their tickets?’ Julia contemplates.
Eventbrite is currently arming itself with AI to help event creators organise their events seamlessly, while also reaching relevant attendees and bringing them together more easily.
For consumers, the incorporation of AI into Eventbrite has the potential to build an increasingly customised experience – from the moment someone decides to look for an event, to how they want to feel when they attend, and later on, when they’re starting to think about attending the next one.
‘With the help of AI, customers could quickly find events that are hyper-relevant to their tastes and where they should be going to connect with others,’ Julia says. ‘That, most importantly, requires building trust with customers.’
There’s a multi-pronged approach to ensuring customers are connected to events they can trust will show them a good time. First, AI should help to better understand a person’s genuine taste in detail. It should also take into account the types of events their friends are attending. Finally, customers should be able to see how other people rate and review these events and experiences.
Hartz believes that AI will be vital in extracting the most important parts of an event and, when used correctly, diminish the barrier to entry. One of the key barriers for Eventbrite is answering logistical questions about events for which they facilitate ticket sales on the platform.
‘If people ask Eventbrite questions about parking availability or what items are permitted at a venue, we often can’t answer them because we’re not producing the event. We only know as much information as the creators offer on their event page,’ Julia explains.
‘With the help of AI, we can get event creators to answer frequently asked questions into a chatbot, so it can basically learn off that data and become their front door,’ Hartz says. ‘In that case, hosts don’t have to answer questions manually or field phone calls.’
Having critical information readily available and accessible is a simple way to secure more attendees, as it prevents people from asking the question, ‘Should I just stay home?’
‘So, although people fear AI will take over and make our lives meaningless, funnily enough, I believe it’s going to bring much more meaning into our personal lives,’ says Hartz. ‘It will make these kinds of face-to-face interactions even more valuable.’
While much of the hysteria around AI isn’t unwarranted (we’ve all seen the movies about robot takeovers), it’s hard to argue with this point. Across the internet, from Instagram and TikTok and Substack, young people are emphasising the importance and irreplaceable value of human connection for mental and emotional well-being.
‘The feeling you get at an in-person event is one that shifts your molecules,’ Hartz says, as we start to wrap up. ‘It might sound cheesy, but attendees are the most important element to an event. Each of them brings a unique magic, energy, and intention. You’re never at the same event with the same people ever again.’
Here, we took a moment to think about the first concert or festival we ever went to. All of us could remember distinctly where we were, who we were with, and what it felt like to be there, which is precisely what Hartz was getting at.
‘Events create meaningful connections, maybe not every time, but being there certainly opens up that channel within your brain to create a memory that lasts for life. That’s something we just can’t get from the terabytes of information that we’re consuming on our phones or through the media every day,’ Hartz says.
‘And we’re certainly not making indelible memories while glued to the couch.’
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