Regardless of the genre of music that you swear by, there’s usually an app that caters for your needs. Last year, probably the most notably one that found itself infiltrating the Metal community was the official Download Festival app. The UK festival also launched a Find Your Tribes Facebook app too, as Live Nation, the company behind the festival realised that they could utilize the mobile market to increase revenues.
Both Sonisphere and Download both have their own respective apps and while they don’t necessarily create money directly from downloads aside from the advertising on said platforms, they do help raise the profile and advertise the festivals to a larger audience. The mobile market, especially in the UK is growing rapidly when it comes to on-the-go Internet access thus music is seen as a viable platform to reach new markets. Ofcom stated that in 2014, 49% of the UK was able to access the Internet on the go. Which in turn has become a valuable marketing outreach for many UK festivals, not just the aforementioned Sonisphere and Download, which cater for the Metal demographic.
Although Download ticket sales were reported to be down on the previous year, Andy Copping the Festival Booker for the festival has always tried to make sure Download stayed ahead of the curve. In 2013 he told the BBC “most festivals offer the same look,” and that why festivals like Download prevail amidst a saturated market.
This year Download is reported to be investing even more in its official app, with the aspirations of tapping into the mobile market. With a variety of social sharing options the app will aim to increase awareness of the festival and jump on the back of a trend that Gaming Realms, the innovative developers behind Spin Genie declare is the most important trend in the Internet landscape going in to 2015.
Whether the festival can reach the heady sales of two years ago with its current lineup is still to be seen. But with this new modified app, Download look to set themselves apart from the crowd.
Check out the highlights from 2014 below:
