By Dana Sedgwick

As recorded music revenues dive, many artists look to their live shows and touring to make up for those losses. And sure, ticket sales can be a reliable and healthy source of income… but a live experience holds so much more potential than just a one time purchase.

Concerts bring together all your fans into one place for one shared experience – you know where they are, you know who they are, you know they’re engaged with you in the moment. Wouldn’t it be incredible if you were able to bottle that moment and release it back out at a later time, when the fan is by themselves, listening to your music on their commute, and reminiscing about that one time they crowd surfed for the first time ever at your show (or whatever).

One possible way to do that lies in geofencing technology, made newsworthy recently by Matchbox Twenty and their recent implementation through their app on tour. The band used geofencing to sense when each fan entered the venue, sending a welcome message with a suggested hashtag to those who had downloaded the app and enabled notifications. This is a cool concept that can be built out further in the future says Nick Lippman, vice president of Lippman Entertainment, which manages Matchbox Twenty. Billboard reported that the goal for the next iteration of the app would refine location further to “help people locate their seats or flash a discount if it senses that the person is at the merchandise table.”

photo courtesy of Billboard

But what if a band took this beyond the one night?

Matchbox Twenty used this technology to welcome their fans where they knew they’d be, but geofencing holds the power to personally connect with fans down the road as well… perhaps literally. Coca-Cola recently made headlines with their own use of geofencing, in which they created a series of billboards throughout Israel that would flash consumers’ names as they drove past. The app which enabled this experience reached number 1 in Israel’s app store and was a hit with consumers.

What if the next time you drove past the venue, the app could help you reminisce by messaging you with a special piece of personalized messaging from the band or a video taken by a friend from that night? Check out how the Coca-Cola billboards worked out below… and maybe next time you see a billboard advertising your favorite band, your phone will score you some free tickets.

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