The Live Events Dictionary / Ticketing

A ticket hold keeps inventory from general sale for a named purpose. A production kill removes a place from saleable inventory because of the event configuration, such as a blocked sightline or camera position. Neither is a sale, and neither is automatically a complimentary ticket.

A kill may be restored if an approved configuration change makes the place usable. A hold may be sold, issued as a comp or released. What matters is the reason, the approval and the resulting inventory record.

System labels can hide different meanings

Spektrix uses locks for purposes including agents, press, artists and access arrangements. It distinguishes those locks from masked seats in a layout overlay. Other systems may represent a kill as a kind of hold. Ask what a status means operationally rather than assuming that the software label tells the whole story.

A fictional inventory bridge

A seated show starts with a 1,000-place configuration. Its approved production layout removes 80 places. A further 60 places are held for artist and promoter requirements. Assuming no other exclusions in this simplified example, 860 places are initially available for general sale.

Later, the authorized teams release 20 of those held places. General-sale availability can increase by 20, less any tickets sold in the meantime. That action does not restore the 80 production kills. If a camera position changes and 12 killed places become usable, that requires a separate layout review and approved inventory update.

The example isolates the concepts. A real manifest may have other categories and reporting rules.

Before releasing a hold

• Identify the exact section, seat range or unreserved quantity.

• Confirm the hold’s purpose and who owns the decision.

• Check that no tickets have already been issued against it.

• Record how many places are released and the effective time.

• Verify the change in the ticketing system and update the relevant inventory report.

Before restoring a production kill

Have the appropriate venue and production contacts confirm that the actual configuration permits the place to be sold, including sightlines, access and safety requirements. The box office can implement an authorized change; a demand spike alone does not authorize it.

Accessible seating has specific obligations and release conditions. Do not treat it as spare inventory to free up using a generic hold-release checklist.

Report the denominator

When someone says the show is “90% sold,” ask 90% of which inventory and at what time. Room capacity, configured capacity, currently saleable inventory and paid tickets are different measures.

Next: guest lists, gross and net box office and settlements.

References

Spektrix: Introduction to Locks; Spektrix: Layout overlays; U.S. Department of Justice: Ticket sales and accessible seating.