Paper tickets a thing of the past as Forum Theatre goes fully digital

Traditional ticketing is about to go the way of the dodo. See which popular Melbourne venue is ditching paper tickets and going fully mobile.

Melbourne’s Forum Theatre will become the first venue in ­Australia to ditch paper tickets.

The heritage-protected former cinema, now a popular band room that has hosted the likes of Madonna, Oasis and Katy Perry, will use a mobile phone service only.

Tickets will be sent directly to mobile phones rather than mailed to homes or collected at the box office.

Forum owners the Marriner Group will on Tuesday announce it has partnered with Ticketmaster to roll out digital ticketing for the 2000-seat venue.

The Forum Theatre is set to ditch traditional paper tickets. Picture: Craig Hughes

The move is expected to speed up entry, increase security, and decrease scalping and ticket fraud.

It is expected to be followed by other venues putting on sports, music and major events.

Several sports, music and cultural events already give fans the choice of using mobile technology or traditional ­tickets to gain entry.

But the Forum will be the first to provide tickets to all shows only via digital devices.

Ticketmaster is in talks with venues in Victoria and around Australia about rolling out the digital technology, which is ­already in use at nearly 200 ­venues in the US and many in the UK.

The NFL in the US now has 100 per cent digital ticketing, blazing a trail for the likes of the AFL, Cricket Australia and Australian soccer, basketball and netball leagues.

Madonna performs at the Forum Theatre.

Theatre-goers attending the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child blockbuster at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre have already tapped into ­ticketless technology.

The first fully digital gig at the Forum will be the English electronic duo Maribou State, performing on July 15.

Ticketmaster Australia and New Zealand managing director Maria O’Connor said the shift to having only mobile tickets answered fans’ calls for easy and secure ticketing.

“Digital ticketing is the ­future, and our partnership with Marriner Group is ­another step in our mission to put mobile first,’’ she said.

“Getting the technology live across all shows at the iconic Forum Melbourne is a huge milestone in this journey, making fans’ lives easier.”

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Marriner Group director Kayley Marriner said the new ticketing technology would be “extremely user-friendly and convenient’’.

“As such, we’ve decided to go fully digital at Forum ­Melbourne, and look forward to the system giving our ­patrons an easy way to manage their tickets right from their mobile,’’ she said.

The Forum, once called the State Theatre, is 90 years old, having opened in 1929.