From crypto and NFTs to augmented reality (AR) and energy-saving equipment, production companies are partnering with artists and bands to make the concert space more fun and functional through innovative uses of tech. So far, we've seen this include solving fundamental problems faced by attendees—such as "where are my friends?"—to bringing in fans to design a festival from the ground up.
Here, BizBash rounded up some of the coolest uses of new and emerging tech we've spotted (and are looking forward to) at concerts and music festivals.
NFTs & Crowdsourced Concerts
Superfly, the company behind Bonnaroo and Outside Lands music festivals, recently announced the launch of SuperNFT—in partnership with venture capital firm Velvet Sea Ventures and NFT platform Autograph.io—as a way to democratize music festivals and more.
SuperNFT’s first event will be SUPERF3ST, a community-planned music and arts festival slated for summer 2023. As part of the project, 3,000 SUPERPASS NFTs are being minted, giving holders the opportunity to assist in the event planning as “SUPERF3ST Founders.” The approach allows the “founders” to offer input into the decision-making process surrounding event features, such as musical guests, art installations, creative activations, culinary experiences, merchandise, marketing, timing, location, and more, along with access to the fest and other perks. Currently, 946 SUPERPASS NFTs have been minted; the current cost is 0.41 Ethereum, which converts to roughly $689.
How does it work? NFT holders interact and vote in the SUPERF3ST discord channel, “providing full transparency for our members on key decisions that need to be made along with the results of those votes,” explained Tori Stevens, CEO of SuperNFT. “Of course, there will be certain operational decisions around things like safety, security, vendors, etc. that might not go up for vote, but we want our community to weigh in on as many of the creative decisions as possible.”
SuperNFT also recently unveiled a new program called the Field Trip, where holders can apply to attend a SuperNFT-funded festival or immersive experience. In exchange, the holders share any inspiring ideas and experiences they found with the community.
“As the NFT market heated up, Mike [Lazerow, co-founder and managing partner at Velvet Sea Ventures], and I spent time thinking about the implications for the music and festival business,” said Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly, about the partnership. “We saw the opportunity to leverage NFTs as a medium to bring communities together, and ultimately reinvent the modern music and arts festival model. The NFT essentially serves as a membership token, and our goal is to empower our community members to design, create, and own the experiences they are truly seeking.”
Stevens added that the company plans to expand into sports and other fan-centric genres, in addition to music.
“There is a relatively small group of festival producers and promoters who follow a well-oiled playbook, one that has collectively been built and followed over the years, but we haven’t seen or created significant innovation in the festival business model,” said Farman about the need to disrupt the industry. “COVID certainly forced us all to think a bit differently, which resulted in some innovation on the digital side, but the IRL model has remained relatively unchanged. ... SUPERF3ST is our attempt to push the festival world forward by creating a truly decentralized series of experiences that are inspired and built by a community of passionate fans. In this model, our role pivots quite considerably from festival producers to community collaborators and facilitators.”
The Friend FindAR Lens allowed users to pinpoint the direction and distance of their friends when location sharing on Snapchat was enabled.Graphic: Courtesy of Snap
Augmented Reality at Festivals
As part of its partnership with Live Nation, Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, teamed up with Insomniac Events to bring some trippy augmented reality features to Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas back in May. To enhance the attendee experience and make navigating the festival easier, the company released four lenses, including the Night Owl Lens, which featured EDC’s iconic owl soaring overhead; the Daisy Lens, where digital flowers sprouted around the user; the AR Compass, which showed the lineup at each stage on an AR map of the grounds; and the Friend FindAR Lens, which allowed users to pinpoint the direction and distance of their friends when location sharing on Snapchat was enabled.
At this year’s Lollapalooza, the AR Compass also allowed festivalgoers to find essentials like food, water, and bathrooms on a 3D map. It also included a festival planner where attendees could select the shows they wanted to see.
Snap Inc. is also teaming up with Jack Harlow to create custom AR experiences for his “Come Home the Kids Miss You” tour, presented by Live Nation, which will include AR merch drops, experiences timed to key points in the show, and Portal Lenses available on the tour grounds.
“The LED orbs, or spheres, are completely new and different from anything on the market. PRG’s challenge was to adapt a LED tile format that is typically square and make it round to best reflect the ‘Music of the Spheres’ theme,” explained Bobby Allen, vice president, music group, at Production Resource Group.Photo: Courtesy of Production Resource Group
Coldplay has made sustainability an integral part of its current tour, and that extends to its staging, including the decorative orbs that float overhead. (The tour is called “Music of the Spheres” after all.)
“The LED orbs, or spheres, are completely new and different from anything on the market," explained Bobby Allen, vice president, music group at Production Resource Group, the entertainment and event production technology company tasked with handling the tour’s LED screens. "PRG's challenge was to adapt a LED tile format that is typically square and make it round to best reflect the ‘Music of the Spheres’ theme.”
To create these floating spheres, PRG Projects custom made LED strips that were then sewn onto sailcloth. The result is a 3D circular disc that's an LED screen and is inflatable. “A lot of R&D (research and development) went into engineering the LED strips and selecting the right fabric since it was going to be inflated/deflated every day," Allen said. "And the shows are all outdoors, so they had to be safe for weather conditions like wind, as well as weather resistant."
The challenges didn't stop there. The framing and rigging also needed to adhere to the tour’s sustainability initiative, which meant efficient dismantling and packing to use the least amount of space for a global tour. Therefore, all four spheres fit into one truck, and Allen explained that “had they been made from traditional construction materials, they would have had to travel in at least four trucks."
“Today’s audience for both live and virtual events has grown up on video games and Instagram, so the bar for engaging them is quite high. They’re more visually sophisticated than the previous generation. In live concerts, it’s no longer enough to have an iMag [image magnification] screen on either side of the stage,” he said, adding that that means more production asks such as scenic elements and environmental LED.
VIP ticket holders for Imagine Dragons' latest tour have access to four different modules on the Digital Seat platform, including a customized Instagram filter, a real-time feedback module, an Imagine Dragons-themed microgame, and access to the band’s new album, Mercy-Acts 1 & 2.Screenshot: Courtesy of Digital Seat Media
Digital Seat Media, a real-time fan engagement technology platform, aims to virtually amp up the traditional VIP concert experience. Take the company's recent partnership, for example, where it teamed up with full-service experiential marketing agency RedPeg for an Imagine Dragons tour. Throughout the domestic leg of the tour—which kicked off Aug. 5—VIP ticket holders have access to four different modules on the Digital Seat platform, including a customized Instagram filter, a real-time feedback module, an Imagine Dragons-themed microgame, and access to the band’s new album Mercury-Acts 1 & 2.
Ticket holders also have access to real-time updates and push notifications for parking, event entry, location, merchandise pick-up, seating location, early entry times, and more. To access, attendees scan a QR code that’s programmed to their specific ticketing package, thus unlocking customized content, including digital games that offer the chance to win seat upgrades. For example, a fan with lounge access gets to compete for prizes like pit passes and seat upgrades, whereas the guests without lounge access can also play the game, but they’re playing to get lounge access, among other prizes.
“With the loss of many artist meet-and-greets, VIP experiences are having to compensate to ensure an engaging concert experience worthy of the upsell,” explained Shea Fowler, VP of music and entertainment at Digital Seat Media. “Fans are looking for exclusive, coveted items or experiences you cannot simply purchase, in exchange for their information. They want to interact with what is going on in the arena or on the field, not just be a spectator.”
The framing and rigging for the orbs needed to adhere to the tour’s sustainability initiative, which meant efficient dismantling and packing to use the least amount of space for a global tour; all four spheres fit into one truck.Photo: Courtesy of Production Resource Group
