WanTickets.com Launches WantHipHop.com

Event ticketing company WanTickets has recently launched its new property, WantHipHop.com. Director of Business Development for WanTickets Ben De Ayora says WantHipHop, which aims to bring users details of upcoming Hip Hop shows from across the country, was birthed due to fans not being aware about live Hip Hop concerts in their cities. 

“The reasons why I felt like WantHipHop was needed was because if you look out at the Internet right now with the exception of what we’re doing, there is no one place on the Internet to find all of the Hip Hop events that are going on in any one particular area,” Ben De Ayora says. “You might find a calendar for one city here or a calendar for one area there, but there’s nothing that really unifies it all together and then highlights what these guys are doing at their shows. Their shows kind of just happen, they disappear and then they’re onto the next one.”

Discussing WantHipHop.com’s target audience, Ben De Ayora says the site is aimed at anyone who has an interest in seeing Hip Hop music and culture live. 

“Anybody that’s interested in experiencing this culture live — and I’m not even talking about rappers going out there and doing their thing,” Ben De Ayora says. “To me, I see this thing eventually as a much bigger play where eventually we could be covering the deejay battles, the breakdancing stuff and the Rap battle stuff. It could be more than just Drake’s next tour or Lil Wayne’s show at The Palladium. It could really encompass a lot more and eventually break down into more of the community-based events where Hip Hop really thrives.

“For the longest time I’ve watched Hip Hop just float along as dance music has really dominated the live space and especially in the college market,” he continues. “I still personally believe that a college student is a fan of more than just one particular genre. The same kids that are going out and seeing Tiësto and Avicii are still interested in seeing Travis $cott and Drake and Lil Wayne. So there should be people catering to both sides and letting them know that the shows they want to see are happening. I feel like a lot of people are missing out because they just don’t know.”

Ben De Ayora also addresses the appeal of WantHipHop and touches upon the financial importance of the live show for the Hip Hop industry. 

“I just think that there’s so many interesting things going on at Hip Hop shows that people are missing out on,” he says. “Album sales aren’t what they used to be. Only one album is gonna go platinum this year and it’s Taylor Swift. You can’t really ignore the fact that the live music is what needs to go down in order to make money across the board for this industry.”

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