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Artists offer fans AAA digital passes

Aitch, Hot Chip, Sugababes, The Wombats, Sigala and Kaiser Chiefs are among the first artists to offer fans Access-All-Areas (AAA) digital passes.

Launched by multi-channel D2F platform Planet, the resource allows artists to create customised experiences for content, tickets and merchandise.

The free AAA pass sits within fans’ phone wallet and notifies them whenever their favourite artists have something they’d either like fans to see, hear, or ask their opinion of. Ticket sales go directly from artists to fans, saving on additional fees.

“We want to make it easier for fans to get access to their favourite artists”

“Music defines some of the most memorable moments in our lives,” says Planet’s James Morrison. “We want to make it easier for fans to get access to their favourite artists and in turn enable artists to reward them more often for the part they play in creating these memories.

“The thing with social media is that it treats all fans the same, and the artists we are working with recognise that in many cases this relationship runs deeper than a like or follow but the algorithms have removed any sense of belonging.”

Sugababes utilised the app last week for the pre-sale window of their headline show at London’s The O2 in September 2023, while Aitch recently offered fans an exclusive early look at tour setlists and rehearsal videos ahead of his UK & Ireland tour.

Elsewhere, pop band New Rules met up with some fans on a recent trip to the US via their digital artist pass, and received almost instant feedback to new songs as soon as the shows had finished.

Soft launched back in late 2021, Planet has previously securing funding from TVG’s Ben Lovett and ie:music ventures.

 


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Planet launches AAA digital pass for artists

Multi-channel D2F platform Planet has launched an Access-All-Areas (AAA) digital pass, enabling artists to create customised experiences for content, tickets, and merchandise.

Planet says AAA allows artists to give fans direct, immediate access to new music, tours, or exclusive drops before, during and after shows.

The platform has been working closely with music management companies such as Verdigris, East City, Modest Management and Everybody’s to develop their interactions with fans.

British band Hot Chip were one of the first acts to come on board and found that 10% of fans utilising their AAA pass had never seen them live before. And Planet claim that K-pop girl group Everglow were able to identify, within 24 hours, the top 20 cities where planet pass holders most wanted to see them live, giving insights to route future tours, as well as what the favourite tracks and preferences on merchandise were in each market.

“What this unlocks for artists is a very exciting innovation for the industry whilst being something fans can adopt easily”

“I have been highly impressed by what Planet is offering to artists and their fanbases,” says Hot Chip’s manager Sam Denniston, MD of Verdigris. “The directness of the platform is remarkable and what this unlocks for artists is a very exciting innovation for the industry whilst being something fans can adopt easily.”

Soft launched back in late 2021, the platform has previously securing funding from TVG’s Ben Lovett and ie:music ventures, which has recently expanded to include the likes of OVG International president Sam Piccione III and Dominic Joseph of Captify Technologies, who joins the board as chair.

The recent involvement takes the total raised to date to £1.5 million, enabling Planet to expand its team across Europe and US.

“For too long, artists have had restricted access to their own fans”

“For too long, artists have had restricted access to their own fans and as a result have had to settle for one-way transactional relationships, whereas other cutting-edge companies create higher value experiences through long term reciprocal relationships,” says  Joseph. “This is a huge opportunity for artists to address given the level of fandom they have but right now don’t have the tools to do this. Planet is here to help them make this step into the future.”

Planet will be activating digital passes with a raft of established and emerging artists later this summer to provide them with actionable fan insights ahead of new releases, tour announcements or live shows this autumn.

The platform “hands back the ownership of the fan relationship to the artists” by providing them access to 100% of demand and full control of how this is activated.

 


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Ben Lovett, IE Music invest in new D2F platform

Planet, a new direct-to-fan (D2F) live music platform, launches today (26 July) with investment from Ben Lovett, member of Mumford & Sons, co-founder of Communion and CEO of Venue Group, and IE Ventures, the investment arm of artist management company IE Music (Robbie Williams, Passenger, Cher Lloyd).

Founded in early 2020 by James Morrison, former senior director of global partnerships for AEG, Planet enables artists to sell tickets, products and fans directly to fans, who in turn can influence “everything from tour locations to support acts”, according to the company, which describes itself as a “crowd-powered community where artists and fans come together as a collective”.

“Now is the moment to put fans back at the beating heart of live music” says Lovett, whose Venue Group added its latest property, the Social in London, late last year.  “Planet has been designed to bring music fans and artists closer together, providing a platform for artists to build a deeper understanding of their fans wants and needs.”

The new company’s website, planet.fans, is powered by an insights engine dubbed the Beat, which gathers and interprets data on consumer behaviour to provide artists with a greater understanding of their fans.

“As we emerge from lockdown … the opportunity for artists to reinvent and rewire their relationship with their biggest fans grows stronger”

Accoring to Morrison, the Beat engine helps artists plan what to ‘drop’, when to do it, and who to drop it to, “enabling artists to connect with fans more effectively and more directly in the biggest moments”.

“The more fans participate the better chance they have of getting more of what they want, like great-value tickets, backstage access and first-release drops, straight from the artist,” he explains. “As we emerge from lockdown and live events return, the demand of the crowd beats louder and the opportunity for artists to reinvent and rewire their relationship with their biggest fans grows stronger.”

The platform is starting to power artists’ early release presales from September 2021.

“We have long supported artists going directly to their fans”, says Stephen O’Reilly, managing director of IE Ventures, “largely because it improves the experience and creates new value from already captive audiences, and there’s none more so than live music fans right now, so we are looking forward to working with James and the team to understand the levels of demand for our artists as things open up.”

 


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