New Technology: The Fitness Test

HOST: STEVE MACHIN, VATOM (UK)

With less than ten minutes to pitch their product, invention or idea, ILMC’s new tech panel is a perennial favourite.

So which ideas will pass the fitness test this year? From game-changing developments in production to the latest tools in marketing and mobile, it’s a 75-minute rundown on the newest innovations in the live music business.

Our resident tech adviser Steve Machin hosts the session, inviting ten innovators to showcase the latest technology set to make the most impact over the next twelve months.

Confirmed innovators so far include:

THE TOOLKIT FOR THE LIVE MUSIC INDUSTRY

At Amplead, we love live music. We understand that arranging, performing and promoting shows has its challenges. Our mission is to provide an ever‑expanding toolkit, designed for the Live Music Industry.

By working alongside like-minded organisations and industry professionals, our aim is to help venues run more efficiently by growing attendance at shows and increasing turnover; help new and established artists manage their events, explore their potential and grow their audience; help promoters find the perfect line-up, expand their reach and sell out shows – every time; and help industry professionals connect and collaborate whilst building a strong community. Read more.

CUE is a live event and mobile engagement company that creates engaging and memorable experiences.

Founded in 2017, with the goal of providing an offline, network-free communications protocol using high-frequency, ultrasonic audio as an alternative to Wi-Fi, cell service, and Bluetooth for short-range communications to create synchronised fan engagement experiences that otherwise would not be possible.

Utilising existing speaker infrastructure, a proprietary ultrasonic communications protocol, and the hardware fans bring in their pockets, CUE routinely synchronises crowds of all sizes to capture the world’s largest simultaneous selfies, choreographs spectacular cell phone light shows, and hosts massive multiplayer trivia games.

Aloompa, a division of CUE, introduced the first-ever mobile app for a music festival in 2009, effectively replacing the paper guide forever. Today, Aloompa is the market leader in mobile app development for live events around the globe, driving innovation in live event technology for some of the world’s largest and most iconic events and brands. They provide a turnkey, customisable solution for events of all shapes and sizes.

Millions of live event attendees download and engage with CUE’s products each year. Read more.

The multidisciplinary team of Dutch Digital Collectibles assists in the development of digital collectibles for the music industry. The organisation works with artists and music venues 

to bridge the gap between their creativity and the possibilities that the world of Web3 and immersive tech offers them. This creates digital value creation to enrich and renew the cultural sector.

With the development of a widely applicable Web3 strategy, tailormade digital applications and top-notch virtual reality worlds, Dutch Digital Collectibles creates a new form of digital merchandise and innovative (live) experiences around artists. These not only create a new and stable source of income but also a direct connection between the artists and their fanbases. Therefore, the company views digital collectibles as a valuable addition to what the music industry and the cultural sector already offers its fans.

The soon-to-be-released VR show 8 Miljard Ikken (8 billion versions of me) of VR artist Nemo Vos and musician Spinvis, is the first out of many VR shows to be released. It entails a virtual journey by Vos through six musical worlds with live sound designs by Spinvis in which viewers can interact with each other and the artists. At the end of the show, visitors receive a physical collectible. This is the key for onboarding Dutch Digital Collectibles’ digital platform, giving all attendees access to claimable digital collectibles with perks preselected by the artists. Read more.

Howler & Woov team up to bring the worlds of event payments and mobile engagement together into a connected experience.

Howler provides organisers with an end-to-end platform encompassing ticketing, access control, cashless payments, rich data, and on-site operations. Apart from being elrow’s global ticketing partner, Howler has worked with leading brands such as Sónar, Monegros, Kappa FuturFestival, Ultra South Africa, and many more.

Woov provides festival organisers with an all-encompassing app with rich features like personal timetables, 3D maps, communities, and direct communication tools. Woov works with leading brands such as Boomtown, Kappa Futur, We Love Green, Exit Festival, Nature One, Mysteryland, and many others… Woov’s unique user app drives customer engagement and interaction at all touchpoints of any event. With millions of users, they are the leading festival engagement platform on the market.

Join both CEOs as they present their view on how engagement and payments come together.

DIGITAL LANYARD BY METAFESTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VATOM

The next evolution of digital audience engagement, Digital Lanyard, lets organisers capture significant new revenue and customer data that has previously been out of bounds, by connecting them directly with their visitors in real-time, all year round. 

Harnessing Vatom’s sophisticated blockchain-enhanced fan interaction and reward mechanisms, events can now build powerful loyalty and directly influence on-site behaviours, from arrival times to sustainable actions. Its unique capability to measure conversion from an event-goer to a high street retail customer also makes Digital Lanyard an extremely valuable – and effective – new channel for brand activations. Read more.

Ristband is an award-winning metaverse platform where events taking place in the real world can have a digital twin of the physical world happening in real time, combining the excitement of a live event with the power and reach of digital social experiences. Accessible on Mac, PC and mobile.

Launched in September 2021, Ristband is an Epic MegaGrant recipient that has since received the award for “Best Designed Metaverse” at the Paris Metaverse Summit, described as “a product of the modern age” by Music Ally, and reviewed by Forbes as “the concert of the future.” Ristband brings the metaverse to global events. The team has previously created bespoke immersive experiences that take place at physical venues and in virtual worlds simultaneously for the International Festival Forum, Unboxed Festival, SXSW and London Fashion Week.

Founded by a team of artists and technologists, Ristband is designed especially for the live entertainment industry, bringing together audiences across gaming and music culture. Platform features include cinematic quality graphics, gameplay, a marketplace, real-time technology, data insights, professional interfaces for industry and brands, and templates and tools for artists to seamlessly create and deploy high quality interactive experiences. Read more.