Feature: Dice launches in Manchester

Booking fees are a scourge of music events. We’ve all been through the anguish of finding a reasonably priced gig, going to buy a ticket, then watching the cost spiral with all manner of fees. Charged to book, charged for using a card, charged for postage, even charged to print off your own ticket at home – the added costs seem endless.

It’s great news then that Dice has launched in Manchester.

Dice is an app that allows you to purchase tickets to the best gigs in the city with no booking fees. Finally, a £5 ticket will actually cost a fiver. Once purchased, all you have to do at the venue is show the ticket on your phone, so this also saves you from having to make last minute dashes to the library and means you can hang on to your valuable printing credits.

The listings contained in the app are hand selected by an editorial team headed by esteemed radio dj and journalist Jen Long, assuring quality across the board. They’ve also made it their mission to help fans find new bands to fall in love with and gigs to attend. Related events are provided alongside each listing, giving users the chance to listen to these artists within the app. This is a great way to expand your musical horizons in a tailored way, and if you like what you hear you’ll be able to purchase tickets to the upcoming gig straight away. You’ll never have to suffer the pain of finding a great new band, looking up their tour dates, and discovering they’ve just completed a three night stint at The Deaf Institute before promptly breaking up forever.

Of course, there are worse situations to be in. Like seeing your favourite band announce a tour date in town, then checking your negative bank balance with a sigh. Purchase the ticket or have the ability to purchase food for the next month? It’s an all too real dilemma. You yearn desperately for loan day, but inevitably by the time that comes around the event is sold out, and you’re stuck with only a bar of Sainsbury’s basics milk chocolate to comfort eat.

The worst part of this situation is often that a majority of the tickets were bought out by touts who are now flipping the tickets online at exorbitant prices – like parasites leeching off the passion of music fans. Dice offers a challenge to these secondary touting sites through its Waiting List feature through which you can sign up for sold out shows and have the opportunity to repurchase tickets for face value from people who can no longer attend, giving you a second chance at getting tickets without breaking the bank. That makes two scourges of live music combated in one app, not bad going.

Dice is available to download from the app store and android market now.