A story’s popped up this morning, through an O2 press release, that’s of particular interest to me, since it’s about live music. And I’m a drummer. And up till recently, was in a band. Basically, O2 are expanding their involvement in the world of live music, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’re integrating mobile phones even more into the equation.
The first part of the story is down to O2 joining with the Academy Music Group (henceforth known as AMG, since I’m not typing that out loads of times), to get their branding on more venues round the country. So, not only will we have The O2 in London (the old Millennium Dome, now doing something useful!), we’ll see venues rebranded as ‘O2 Academy’. So, for example, we’ll see O2 Academy Brixton, O2 Academy Glasgow, and O2 Academy Sheffield, amongst others.
So, that’s part 1 of the plan. Part 2 is where O2′s mobile phones come in, and make things so much more interesting.
You see, O2 subscribers are set to get all sorts of extra benefits when the deal goes live. Oh, and it’s not just AMG that O2 have signed a deal with, it’s also Live Nation, the world’s leading concert producer and promoter, who organise and produce about 16,000 gigs annually. And that means that O2 mobile phone users will get benefits like advanced ticket bookings, before everyone else, special O2 facilities within the venues, and fast-track entry into gigs (which I would love, I can’t stand queuing up while troglodytes… sorry, door security… scowl at me, before refusing to let me in because I’m eating a Werther’s Original).
You can probably guess that the security at the last gig I went to were a bunch of animals, and being able to just waltz up, flash your Sony Ericsson C905 at them, and treat them like insubordinate lackeys is eminently appealing…
However, the coolest thing is that both O2 and Live Nation fully support, and plan to enhance, the O2 Undiscovered service, for grassroots musical talent. You know, unsigned bands and all that. Now, that is interesting, and even though I haven’t got a band at the minute (creative differences, as always), or an O2 mobile phone, I may very well be tempted to get one if it means being able to promote my band, if and when I join another one.
Plus, if buying an O2 mobile phone means I get to play a big stage like the one in the pic, then count me in!
Are you in a band? Do you want to promote yourself on a bigger circuit? Grab the Sony Ericsson C905 on O2, get loads of top pics and tunes of your band, and O2 Undiscovered could be your saviour!