Reimagining Fan Engagement in the Music Industry with Amplify

Technology should make things better. Improving the experience for all parties involved. But one area where this hasn’t really been the case in recent times is fan engagement, especially in the music sector.

This is one of Amplify’s core missions, with a goal of helping artists earn more and connect more deeply with their fans. To date they have helped 94,000 artists connect to over 27 million fans using their artist-first suite of tools.

As part of this mission they have often used emerging tech to push the boundaries with what is possible when it comes to fan engagement and unique experiences. They have done everything from creating the world’s first ‘gig that never stops paying’, to running a competition giving the winning artist the chance to perform and record a music video in the Metaverse. And during these innovative experiments, they were powered by OPENFORMAT.

Powering Teams

With the help of the OPENFORMAT toolkit, Simpleweb (a venture tech agency) was able to help Amplify drop a Genesis NFT collection, build an experimental DeFi system and create an in-person and virtual token-gated concert, all in just 3 weeks.

And the most awesome part was that most of the hard work was done by Amplify’s lead developer, who previously had no experience with Web3 at all.

“Using OPENFORMAT to power our first Web3 enabled project took all of the hassle out of dealing with smart contracts and got us up and running much quicker.” - Lead Developer at Amplify

AmplifyLive

This period of rapidly building and testing many Web3 tools in the pursuit of improving fan engagement culminated in a one of a kind concert in the heart of Bristol: AmplifyLive. Some of Bristol’s finest artists were in residence, including Emz, who had performed at Glastonbury just a week earlier.

To access the event, either in person or via the live stream, a collectible ticket was required. This was an NFT and when connected to the site used to live stream the performance, gave the person access. No NFT ticket, no gig.

In total over 100 collectible tickets were minted, with every person who attended the gig requiring one to enter. And while Web3 technology sometimes gets a reputation for being clunky or unfriendly to users, the process of minting and then using these tickets was seamless, it could all be done using a phone and visting the Amplify site.

These tickets still exist, acting as digital memories and could be sold on a secondary market, and in doing so, the event organisers would still get a royalty from the resale value of the momorabilia.

A Successful Experiment

The goal behind AmplifyLive was simple yet transformative: to reimagine the business model which underscores the live music economy creating a fairer, more sustainable future for music, one which placed artists, fans and promoters at the centre.

Their vision to achieve this… a Web3 powered platform that enabled co-investment in live shows, meaning that every shows success would translate into long-term recurring income for the artists, promoters and venues. Instead of a one-time ticket sale or performance fee, the ecosystem would continuously reward those who fuelled it.

Using OPENFORMAT they rapidly built a prototype to take to market and prove their idea, which was then tested at the AmplifyLive gig. It combined several Web3 technologies including DeFi, smart contracts and NFT’s to achieve an APY that could potentially generate singificant income for the artist.

Let's extrapolate that. What if an artist channeled an entire seasons revenue from live performances into such a model? The potential recurring income could translate into a full-fledged, sustainable living wage.

In the end Amplify did not develop this new product further, but it showcased OPENFORMAT’s prowess in enabling businesses to explore, iterate, and potentially reshape industries.