I’m Paula Santolaya, reporting live from SANTOLIVE in my virtual reality. Have comments, questions, or suggestions? Post them in the comments section or email me at info@santolive.com.

With the arrival of summer, the calendar is filled of music festivals that generate around twelve billion dollars a year and hundreds of thousands of bank transactions in the  whole world. But the impossibility of validating the authenticity of the ticket increases the art of resale, fakes and fraud. In fact, there are those who buy tickets massively from the official websites to resell them.

Digitization and security in the tickets sale is already a reality due to the use of protocols such as Blockchain: a digital technological solution —whose multiple applications cannot be summarized in such a small space— that allows to track the online tickets, especially in big events that use different access systems. This technology ensures that the ticket purchased is unique, valid and secure from any fraud —even if it is bought on the black market.

There is another option consisting in a QR code that changes every 10 or 20 seconds, so that the ticket cannot be duplicated. In this way, the tickets have a transparent history regarding the issuance, resale and liquidation for all market players. The Spanish startup Tracer bets on smart tickets and uses this decentralized system to track the tickets and locate those ‘brokers’ who want to do business with them.

Public administrations should do pedagogy among consumers about the use of these new technologies, which are already present in our lives, by installing information points in concert venues. Don’t stop the music!