Mandolin, the tech-focused digital fan engagement company, has launched Live+, its platform of new products and enhancements built specifically for the hybrid event future of concerts and festivals.

“We surveyed 4000 fans and the answer was clear – fans want to go back to in-person events, but they don’t want to give up the digital interactions they’ve come to love while artists weren’t out on the road,” said Mary Kay Huse, CEO and Co-Founder of Mandolin. “We’re thrilled to introduce a platform to the market that takes the beauty of a live show and amplifies it through digital experiences.”

Marketing Technology News:  Avtex Wins 2021 Pandemic Tech Innovation Award

Live+ is a mobile-first platform built for that digital event amplification in every sense – meaning, it takes the best parts of concerts – for the fans, artists, and venues – and makes them even better, regardless of whether you’re in the building or across the globe.

Fans? No more distracted fumbling to take out your phone to record your favorite song. You can catch the replay later (and actually hear the singer, rather than the drunk guy singing next to you). Venues? No more limits on ticket sales. Artists? No more wondering about who your fans are and what they want.

And that just skims the surface of what Live+ offers. Designed to be used seamlessly by its unique audiences – fans, artists, venues (and festivals) – here’s how Live+ is going to make sure that live music comes back this summer even better than how we left it.

What fans get:

• Stress-Free Last Minute Ticketing: Livestream buyers are often last minute buyers (40% of ticket sales happen day of) and the constraints of legacy ticketing systems have provided poor fan experiences to massive crowds. Mandolin’s ticketing platform, which can be used stand-alone or integrated with other major ticketers, is built specifically to accommodate livestream purchasing behavior, at massive scale, ensuring every fan gets into the show quickly and easily, no matter when they buy.

• Mobile Merch Purchasing & Auctions: Live show fans can skip the line and the need to lug around a tee while trying to get to the front of the stage by purchasing merch through the Mandolin app during the show. Venues or artists’ marketing teams can configure app push notifications to encourage merch purchases throughout the event. Digital auctions of select merchandise make the concert experience even more lively and fun.

• Mobile Fan Participation: Rather than shouting requests from 25 rows back, fans can now participate in the show through the Mandolin app with the ability to vote on the setlist and encores, with polls created by the artist or venue. They can also chat with a community of fans within the venue, or all over the world, via the Mandolin app.

• Mobile VIP Experiences: Whether it’s a one-on-one or a party, the VIP experiences have been reimagined in the Mandolin app. One-on-one or one-to-many meet and greets through the app keep artists and fans safe, while providing them the opportunity to meet their idols first hand.

• Digital Festival Enhancements:  Reflecting the beauty of a live festival, where fans can hop from stage to stage, Mandolin’s festival platform allows festivals to run multiple sets, simultaneously for fans who are at home or want to catch what’s going on at another part of the event while they’re there. Similar to a concert, the Mandolin app provides exclusive access to content, merch and VIP experiences for festival goers as well.

• On Demand Replays: No matter if they attended in-person or at home, fans can relive the magic of their favorite concerts, at the best quality, whenever they want.

Marketing Technology News:  MarTech Interview with Gary Burtka, VP U.S. Operations at RTB House

What artists and venues get:

• Additional Revenue Streams: Artists and venues will be able to livestream ticketed shows, as they always have, with watch parties, emoji reactions and tips and donations, but in-person shows open up endless possibilities for exclusive content to be livestreamed to fans in the venue or at home – stream sound checks, pre-show Q&As, album release parties and more. Livestream the first in-person show as a way to increase demand for future shows. Digital engagement also gives artists the ability to continue building relationships with fans while they’re not on the road with exclusive VIP events throughout the year. And with Mandolin’s VOD capabilities, all streamed content can be recorded and sold to fans later.

• Proven Stability: The platform has been leveraged to stream shows to hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe. It’s tech-forward “under the hood” architecture is built to accommodate both large and small audiences with redundant systems built on a multi-cloud platform that can scale; ensuring servers never go down and fans never miss a beat.

• Fan Insights: Historically, venues and artists have not had access to the types of fan data that will help them know their fans and create really compelling marketing experiences that speak to them. Digital interactions open up that possibility and with Mandolin’s tools for venues and artists, music marketers can easily access the insights that matter. They can understand purchase and engagement behavior to improve future merch, ticketing and hybrid show promotional strategies; reward loyal fans with tailored experiences—online, at the door or in the venue and access marketing performance data to identify their most productive partners.