By Aarti Kelapure of Evolver.fm.
955 Dreams, the music app hitmakers behind Apple favorite Band of the Day, are back with an event-finding and ticket purchaser, Applauze (free; iOS).
Considering the difficulty of scaling up a big live music directory, because the shows are always changing, the app launched this week in twenty-five U.S. cities, with free and paid music shows listed. Sports, theater, and community events are also sorted into helpful categories.
The show-finding app market is heating up. Maybe because it’s a problem that always needs solving, for people who like to go to shows. Timbre lets you listen to artists by your location to find stuff to see, which is a clever idea (with a new Android version). Thrillcall, another favorite, focuses on last-minute tickets to shows. Those are the outliers you might want to install in addition to your main show-finder, for which you have at least six great options.
There’s plenty of competition, but Applauze has many things going for it. First of all, 955 Dreams already claims 4.6 million users, and can probably bank on some of them coming over to its latest release.
The company’s momentum might also explain Applauze’s multi-city (U.S. for now) launch. Many new event apps only give you the major U.S. cities (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.) and even then, can struggle to maintain comprehensive, accurate listings. Applauze includes listings from deals with the hundreds of ticket brokers that can sell tickets directly within the app. 955 also inked deals with venues, to offer VIP packages, free drinks, line-skipping privileges, and/or backstage access, sort of like Bandsintown told us it is doing.
One of Applauze’s greatest assets is that you do everything within the app, from deciding which show to go to, to completing buys from third-party brokers. The whole process takes a few taps. Even better, Applauze’s in-app customer support will be there to help you should you run into any troubles along the way.
Many tickets are priced above face value, which is actually a good thing. One possible reason for this is the fact that Applauze discloses all fees upfront, rather than tacking on fees after you’ve already decide to buy the ticket. Another reason is that third-party ticket brokers can charge whatever they want for tickets, meaning that event tickets, especially those that are officially sold-out, might be more expensive.
To use Applauze, you must sign in with email or Facebook. With the latter, you can authorize it to analyze your music preferences and behavior to help recommend concerts and other events. Even if you don’t, Applauze offers a diverse range of events, which you can filter (example: a whole category just for shows you can bring a kid or toddler to).
Like Band of the Day, Applauze has a beautiful, easy to navigate interface. When you’re about to shell out possibly hundreds of dollars with just a few taps on a phone, you want the process to be as painless and clear as possible, and this app does great in that regard.
In a competitive market, with several worthy contenders vying to help you buy show tickets, Applauze definitely holds its own. Check it out and see for yourself; it’s free for iOS.
