To give music fans an inside glimpse of how their favorite artists interact with their audiences, the platform Bkstg was officially launched on April 4. Created by Ran Harnevo, Bkstg was developed to allow artists to share everything from ticket sales to limited edition merchandise with platform users.
"A year ago, we brought together music lovers who were tech people, and tech lovers who were music people to embark on a mission to directly connect artists and fans," the Bkstg team wrote on its website. "Together, we built a platform to help artists know their fans and create a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship."
Through Bkstg, artists can see who is buying tickets, engaging with their content, listening to music and watching exclusive videos. The end-goal is marketing — with this data, musicians can target their most dedicated (and revenue-driving) fans with content in the future.
The app is currently free for both artists and fans to use, but a "technology fee" is added on to every transaction that occurs on the app. Upon logging in to the app, fans see a wide variety of musicians who are utilizing Bkstg. Once a user clicks on an artist, a social media-like menu displays on the bottom of the screen. Feed, Videos, Photos, Community, Store, Tickets and Music are all clickable options.
When a video or a song is opened, users are linked to a third-party source (such as YouTube or Spotify) to open the desired content. Clicking on Shop or Tickets allows users to purchase merchandise or show tickets directly on the Bkstg app itself.
However, the most social networking-like aspect of Bkstg is its Feed. Here, users can scroll through trending topics on Bkstg, posts from other fans and updates from Bkstg users who are nearby.
Some of the artists already on Bkstg include Aerosmith, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen and Daughtry. However, Bkstg notes on its website that it's a curated platform, meaning it's open to new artists signing up and reaching out to fans when they feel ready.
At the moment, Bkstg claims that it's working on creating a notification center and additional creation tools for its users. App updates will continue to reflect its development and changes.
