Are music festival apps still useful?

In the years around 2010, independent festival applications contributed to the technological modernization of music festivals. Over the next decade, events took advantage of smartphones in a variety of ways, and customized apps were a welcome replacement for expensive and environmentally unfriendly printed guides.

Leading festival app providers, including Appmiral, Greencopper and Aloompa, brought ready-made iOS and Android apps to market using intuitive and familiar templates wrapped in the festival's unique branding. Their original goal was to create a single source of information about everything festival-goers should know about the venue. At the same time, they acquired data, introduced notifications and added various functions to provide added value to users.

In 2023, we wonder if the interest in festival apps has waned? In the article, read the advantages and disadvantages of music festival applications and decide for yourself whether it is worth investing in them and using them.

Let's start with the weaknesses...

Application development and maintenance can be expensive

The costs of building a festival app are high, but the savings in printed materials can partially offset these costs. In addition, there are ways to monetize applications that can bring fairly high income. Nevertheless, the costs of content creation and regular maintenance of the application must also be taken into account.

It is difficult to convince people to download the application

Reports show that the average number of apps people download each month is close to zero. Nevertheless, festivals pay every year to update and refresh their apps, which are only used for a few days and then maybe deleted after the festival is over.

With the rise of communication apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger (the second and third most downloaded apps), there could be an opportunity to develop on existing platforms, removing the barrier of downloading one more app.

Mobile data is required for key app features

In most cases, festival applications work without problems without a mobile signal, but their main advantage is fast updates. A poor mobile signal at festivals can hinder the transmission of updates at the venue. Some festivals invest in infrastructure to improve the mobile signal, which would solve this problem.

Festival applications very often have a limited "lifetime"

Festivals have to put in a lot of initial effort to reach the level of a quality festival application. They invest time, money and work in development and maintenance. The reality is that after the end of the festival, the majority of visitors delete the application.

This may be due to the obvious functionality of the app, or fans are not fully aware of everything the apps have to offer. In the future, festival applications could serve an extended purpose, which means that they would be used for longer than just those three or four days of the festival.

What about the advantages?

Dynamic maps, timetables, etc.

The festival app primarily focuses on the schedule and map. The schedule shows in detail who is performing and when, and the map shows the venue. This information is of key importance, especially for larger festivals with more stage. App users often capture a screenshot of the schedule and use it as the wallpaper on their phone, as it's usually simple, transparent, and has little impact on battery life. Newer festival apps like 2019's Coachella offer even more functions, such as an immediate view of the new guest schedule, adjusting the schedule and notifications about the performances of your favorite artists.

Coachella's mobile website allows you to view the lineup, information about activities and food, while the mobile application enables even more, and above all, that certain things can be arranged before and during the event. Functionalities of the application include activation of wristbands, live notifications, finding lost items and ordering food at the venue. A big advantage of the application is the quick update of the schedule, as things often change at festivals.

Notifications, communication

With the help of the festival application, push notifications can serve as an additional marketing channel to reach visitors. Properly designed and planned announcements are an excellent way to engage the audience. Examples of these notifications are changes to the performance schedule, upcoming performances of favorite artists, daily performance schedule, exclusive content and post-event polls.

Data collection and processing

Festival applications enable organizers to obtain valuable data about their audience. For example, Appmiral offers a real-time application analytics dashboard. Parameters such as promotional campaigns, usage, people's involvement and anything else can be monitored.

Augmented reality

In the technological world, there is a growing interest in augmented reality (AR), which enables images to be superimposed on the user's view of the real world and enriches it with sound, touch and even smell. With this, AR erases the boundaries between reality and fantasy. Some festival applications still offer a fun and completely new way of interacting with the environment.

For example, in 2019, the Pukkelpop festival in Leopoldsburg, Belgium offered a unique AR experience through its app, which was supported by Appmiral.

Temperature maps

Festival "heatmaps" help organizers understand mobile location data in real time, which enables improved marketing opportunities at the venue and increased public safety.

For example, Appmiral's app technology integrates with Crowd Connected software called Colocator. This technology offers organizers a whole new way of communicating with the public through location-based messaging. An example of using location-based messaging is if waiting lines are getting longer in a certain area, we let fans know with a push notification where the shorter waiting times are.

Ordering food and drinks

Modern festival applications have been enabling quick and easy ordering of food, drinks and other products at the venue with just a few clicks. For example, Aloompa's LiveOrder solution is a fully integrated festival solution that enables the sale of virtually anything, before, during and after the festival.

This "in-app" ordering functionality brings benefits that go beyond just festival organizers. This makes it easier for visitors to fully relax at the festival when they can order everything they need directly in the app and avoid long queues for food and tickets.

A great example of in-app ordering is the BottleRock 2019 festival app (made by Greencopper). It works as follows: festival-goers choose their location, order food and drink, and pick up their order at a location and time that suits them best, reducing long lines and increasing income for the organizers.

Additional opportunities for festival monetization

For example, Aloompa's LiveOrder functionality supports all types of products, including digital, physical or experimental, enabling new potential revenue streams that would not otherwise be available. Festivals can thus take advantage of in-app ordering as a way of additional monetization by selling more; products, offering VIP upgrades at the venue and sponsorship opportunities.

Sponsorship opportunities, such as those supported by Appmiral, allow sponsor brands to reach audiences during their on-site presence. Festival organizers can extract more value from existing sponsorship deals by extending brand activation points in the app. They can also offer new partnership opportunities, such as exclusive sponsorship of the entire app with their own brand.

So, are festival apps still useful?

In short, yes. But only if they are developed correctly. There is no doubt that festival apps are useful for both festival organizers and visitors. To a large extent, they save money on printed guides and reduce the amount of waste, which all festivals should consider.

As an organizer, when considering an app for your festival, make sure you work with experienced professionals from companies like Appmiral, Aloompa and Greencopper. The key is that the application improves the experience of visitors and enables the generation of additional income in addition to ticket sales.

Although the functionalities are still evolving and their value is constantly changing from year to year, these types of applications would really come into their own when they are no longer available. treated as something we only use once at the event, but will provide added value all year round.