If you are the kind of person who likes to keep your ticket stubs as memorabilia you may be interested in Peer It, a new Irish-made platform aiming to bring back the idea in digital form.
In recent years, we’ve seen the growth of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that have been used as collector’s edition offering for digital art around music festivals and artists, so the idea has recently been finding new audiences of late.
Peer It, which is an app for iPhone and Android, is a platform which enables fans to collect tokens, build a scrapbook of memories and unlock rewards in the process, that could be things like pre-sale codes for gigs or special edition releases, along with sports events, theatre and festivals.
“I believe we’re the sum of our experiences,”says Peer It developer Liam Duggan. “It’s the events you’ve attended that reveal a lot about your true passions, not carefully selected Instagram photos and 150-character bios.”
“A lot is said about the importance of “finding your 1000 true fans”, but this is very difficult in practice. Fans are scattered across platforms, with no consolidated, measurable view. They come and go to gigs without being acknowledged. Ask a creator “who are your biggest fans?” and most will struggle to tell you.”
As a fan, you’ll attend a gig, scan a QR code and receive a collectible as “proof you’ve experienced it”. Down the line, these collectibles can unlock rewards. For example, if I’m a top 1% fan of Fontaines D.C. (measured by the gigs I’ve been to), then I get pre-sale tickets and backstage access.”
Peer is also aiming to offer tailored recommendations for events. The first in-person trails are taking place in Dublin club Yamamori Tengu this September where QR codes will be on display.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
