Rudimental design app allowing users to livestream gigs and trial new material with their followers
Footage will be shot from the stage and the dressing room, and much of it filmed from the band’s phones
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Your support makes all the difference.Once there was a time when music fans got no closer to their idols than a letter to the record company in the vain hope of being sent an autograph, which the pop star may or may not have signed.
Rudimental do things differently. Having introduced new energy into British music with their new-school drum ‘n’ bass, complemented by the guest vocal talents of singers such as Emeli Sandé and John Newman, they are now using technology to transform the relationship between bands and their fans.
The result will be livestreamed gigs, with footage shot from the stage and the dressing room, and much of it filmed from the band’s phones. Rudimental hope to trial this radical approach at their O2 Arena show in London in February.
The new Rudimental app will also enable fans to be entertained with regular radio shows broadcast from the group’s music studio in Hoxton, east London, featuring various special guests. The idea reflects the band’s origins as DJs on underground London radio station DejaVu FM.
The launch of the free app runs contrary to the previous marketing credo on building a music fanbase, which decreed that an open approach based on social media would yield the greatest possible following. Rudimental enjoy considerable success on social media, with one million Facebook friends and 150,000 followers on Instagram.
But now they want to turn inwards to a more bespoke service for their most dedicated fans. “What really excited us was the fact that you would be communicating with your fans as opposed to the whole world,” said the group’s Piers Agget. “On Facebook and YouTube you get mean and ignorant people sometimes, and reading their comments isn’t nice.”
Having the hardcore fans in one place allows the band a more informal setting to trial artwork and new tracks to people whose opinions they value. Platforms such as YouTube and Soundlcoud are so mainstream, said fellow band member Amir Amor, that publication of any new music or idea is regarded as official, thus limiting opportunity for experimentation.
“This [app] is a completely free format where we can do and say what we want without thinking ‘here is our latest release’ or ‘here is an official mixtape’,” he said.
Rudimental’s rapid rise in a short five-year career has seen them top the album charts with Home and now with newly released We the Generation. The hardcore fans on the app, who can post their own feedback on a “Fan Wall”, appreciate the intimacy with the band, said Agget.
Crucially, by distancing themselves from Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and their complex algorithms, Rudimental have more control over their output. “Facebook doesn’t even reach people unless you put money into it,” said Amor. According to Agget: “[With social media] there’s a huge monster middle man. With YouTube you might have an ad for McDonald’s on your environmentally-friendly music video – it’s not your choice.”
But most of all there are the opportunities for video streaming. Band member Kesi Dryden commented on the “insight” available to fans who could see Rudimental’s gig preparations. “They can go backstage, see what it’s like and what we do before we go on.”
Amor agreed. “Growing up, musicians felt like they were on another planet. Through an app like this people can actually come on stage with us and see what it’s like to be up there and doing the DJ set. People love that! I would like to see that!”
Benji Vaughan, of Disciple Media, who has built the Rudimental app, said he was confident that venues could be persuaded that live video streaming was a valuable service that would not harm ticket sales. Disciple has already livestreamed gigs by singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright and will film 10 dates of the forthcoming tour by US country artists Luke Bryan.
“By the beginning of next year you will be able to plug a full production unit and audio feed into the side of a laptop and broadcast a show straight to fans’ phones,” he said. Within a year, he said, technology will allow fans to have a full virtual reality experience.
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