Adva Mobile Offers Free Mobile Websites Designed for Musicians
Adva Mobile focuses on mobile websites for musicians. The basic service is free and the sites are dubbed "Mobile Fan Clubs" though you don't have to think of them as fan clubs per se. However, they are designed to build mobile contact lists, meet the needs of fans on as wide a variety of phones as possible and to monetize that activity.
I recently spoke with Adva Mobile's CEO Jack Kelly who shared their perspective on a number of aspects of musicians' mobile needs as well as future development plans for the service.
Currently Adva Mobile offers tiered pricing with a basic free account that allows you to evaluate the service for yourself. When you join, you can provide your MySpace account info and they'll automatically fill in some of the sections of the site to help you get started. They're currently working on a similar integration with The Orchard and they also offer tour updates from Artist Data and Jambase.
The sections of the sites are organized by templates with such features as gig schedules and ticket sales as well as a merch store. Sales are conducted via PayPal and artists provide their own fulfillment though digital downloads can be managed in conjunction with Bandcamp. However, they intend to develop their own digital fulfillment service.
Adva Mobile encourages artists to get fans to register via SMS which allows them to collect contact information for future text messages with band news. Some musicians are doing things like telling audiences in concert that the song they just played is available free if they send a text message to join the club. Kelly says they've gotten up to a 20% response during concerts for that call to action.
They do discourage overuse of text messaging but point out that such registration allows for building a contact list whereas downloads of native apps don't provide that information just as QR codes don't provide analytics. However, they will create native apps for bands that feel they're necessary which are then updated when you update your mobile site.
We covered more than I can jam into this post but I think it's a solid service that, according to Kelly, currently has around 1280 bands on board. He also points out that smartphones are still in the minority of mobile phones and that mobile websites such as Adva Mobile provides can reach a much broader range of fans including those with the simplest of mobile web access.
If you're in need of a basic mobile site for your band, I would definitely recommend checking out Adva Mobile's services. Even if you have native apps in the works, it's ideal to also have a mobile website to reach as many fans as possible.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. Flux Research is his business writing hub and All World Dance: World Dance News is his primary web project. To suggest websites and related topics for review, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
Sorry, did you just say “provide your Myspace account info”..?!?
I like the idea of the service, but they need some Facebook integration (not Myspace) and pull in concerts from Songkick or Bandsintown.
Thanks for sharing the information with me. The article was extremely informative and I look foward to reading more soon. Thanks again. Jay
ShareSquare is a million times better: http://getsharesquare.com
@Matt, yeah, I need to check ShareSquare out more closely.
@Webmusicguy, I hear what you’re saying and I’ve noticed people are getting more worked up when someone has focused on MySpace as happened with Billboard Pro.
I didn’t discuss that issue with him since the MySpace integration was about populating the site with some info to get folks started and now they’re focusing on Orchard. I think it’s a small company that isn’t able to move that quickly on all fronts.
Not to defend their choices per se but even up to a year ago when I was still writing about bands MySpace was still the most likely spot to get easily accessible information about bands. That’s changed in a lot of respects but it also seems whenever I read anything developers say about getting info out of Facebook, as opposed to MySpace which has been much more public, it’s not necessarily an easy road to take.
Also, Facebook is general issue, MySpace always had the association with bands so I guess they’re focusing on sites that are associated with music and that they can do manageable deals with.
But, yeah, the reality is that invoking MySpace makes you look dated.
You had me up until “Myspace”…
Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
ENTB
Cheers for the shout out Matt – @ShareSquare. Plagiarism (or follower in this case) is the sincerest form of flattery (or something like that). LOL!
Hey, it’s Jack Kelly coming in …… these are great comments and speak to the energy that mobile is creating. When we started, in March 2008 (so I think the plagiarism comment might not have legs), MySpace was the online music world, so that’s where we started. We currently grab bio, tour and blog data from MySpace, Artist Data, Jambase, and Orchard. Clyde’s right – we need to integrate more into other services, including Facebook, Topspin, Songkick, Nimbit, Tunecore, IODA, Reverbnation, etc. It’s a drag for musicians to have to update so many different fan connection sources. These integrations, of course, help both setup and maintenance – you can always enter your own info.
It’s exciting to be part of this digital/mobile music revolution, where the speed of change challenges technology. Your fans are going mobile. Are you going mobile with them? We’re here to help with that, and there’s a lot of work in front of us.
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Matt, we like QR Codes, and many of our bands use QR Codes to get to their mobile site. As you know, the band doesn’t get any info about the fan with QR Codes – and isn’t that the point…. to learn who your fans are? We like QR Codes + Apps, they help round out a mobile strategy based upon Mobile Web and SMS, which serve the Touring Band and Recording Artist best.
So this is somebody else?
http://www.myspace.com/chancius
Can you say, disingenuous?
@Jack, @Matt, @Clyde,
‘Just want to clarify, my comment wasn’t directed towards Adva, rather it was intended as a broader observation of the number of companies that are seeking to assist artists with discovery, distribution, conversion, etc. – no harm meant fellas.
Helping fans discover and share bands with their friends, while providing artists more tools to close the redemption loop is the objective. With mobile, the number of entry points is so vast, there’s plenty of room for leading services to extend that reach and the success of bands.
Cheers,
Matt
@projsubterranya
‘Just want to clarify on my comment above. This isn’t directed towards Adva, rather I was expressing an observation of the number of companies that are seeking to assist artists with discovery, distribution, conversion, etc.
Helping fans discover and share bands with their friends, while providing artists more tools to close the redemption loop is the objective. With mobile, the number of entry points is so vast, there’s plenty of room for leading services to extend that reach and the success of bands.
Cheers,
Matt
@projsubterranya