From Digital Music Forum West 2006: Kelli Richards, President and CEO of the All Access Group, hosted the conference’s final panel with the topic of live music being the focus.  Ms. Richards, co-author of The Art of Digital Music: 56 Visionary Artists and Insiders Reveal Their Creative Secrets, says that artists will have more of a role in the concert experience.  It will be a multilevel campaign to form stronger relationships with fans by alerting them through social networks, personal blogs and webpages about upcoming shows, then following up with them afterward and offering discounts on merchandise.

David Marcus, VP of Strategic Marketing and Business Development with Ticketmaster, pointed to the fact that, “50% of concert tickets go unsold” as a clear indication that steps need to be taken to close the gap with the fan.  Steve Macfadyen, VP of Operations, Concerts & Amphitheaters with House of Blues, described one of the most recent advancements his company has taken to bridge that gap: “We introduced a week ago text to your phone that the on-sale has begun.  It’s going to buzz in your pocket right now, and you’ll say, ‘Oh I forgot, it goes on sale today.’”

Another development in the concert experience is the interaction of the fan with the show.  In its most recent tour, Green Day, for example, posted large screens behind the stage projecting text messages amongst audience members.  The goal is to make fans feel like they are more a part of the show, and this in turn will strengthen the average person’s desire to attend concerts more frequently.

Fans also have the ability to watch concerts they’ve just attended, or decide if they want to purchase tickets for a coming show.  Joshua James, Co-Founder & CEO of Basecamp Productions, a company that records concerts and sells them as downloads, said, “About an hour after the show, you can download the entire thing.” 

The discussion turned to future developments in the concert experience.  Mr. Marcus said, “Getting fans the tickets they want, at the price they want, at the time they want…we’re headed for that very quickly.” One of the biggest challenges the panelists believe they face is the idea that people find out about shows after they have happened.  No fan interested in attending an artist’s concert should miss the show because they didn’t know it was happening in the first place.

“We’re headed for the artists’ website being a portal for everything,” said Mr. James.  “Especially for the bigger artists, that’s where I see things going.”  The panelists believe the reliance of the artists on their labels will only decrease.  “The artists are breaking off the shackles of the labels,” said Scott Fedewa, SVP and Executive Producer for Live Nation, a concert search engine.