Snap wants to put Snapchat augmented-reality experiences — created with artists and festivals — in front of concertgoers through a multiyear deal with Live Nation Entertainment.
Under the pact, fans will be able to use Snapchat at select Live Nation concerts to access custom-built AR experiences. As envisioned by the companies, those could let them try on (and potentially purchase) merchandise, find friends in the audience, discover exclusive landmarks on the festival grounds and more. And, of course, Snapchat users will be able to share content generated by the AR Lenses at live events with friends and on Snapchat Stories.
Snap announced the deal at its Snap Partner Summit 2022 event Thursday. Financial terms of the deal between Live Nation and Snap weren’t disclosed. Snap is the exclusive AR partner for 16 of Live Nation’s festivals, including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball and Electric Daisy Carnival (see full list below). The new AR Lenses will be produced with help from Snap’s branded AR creative studio Arcadia.
“We can leverage this huge user base we have in a way that will make augmented reality the next phase of visual expression for artists,” said Ben Schwerin, Snap’s senior VP of content and partnerships.
Snap and Live Nation imagine that Snapchat AR will become part of live shows, in the same way that large video screens at concerts have become integrated into performances. “This really hasn’t been done before in a way that is part of the artist’s vision and helping it come to life,” Schwerin said.
Some artists have frowned on smartphone usage during their sets. Won’t Snapchat AR experiences popping up in the middle of a concert be a distraction? “The intent is not for people to be on their phones the entire time,” Schwerin explained. “It’s to have these AR Lenses to strategically enhance moments of the performance.” He noted that, according to company estimates, Snapchat reaches 90% of people 13-24 in the U.S.: “Each video that gets shared is a really powerful promotion for people who see that to go buy tickets [to a concert or festival] themselves.”
The first Live Nation festival to feature Snapchat AR experiences will be the Electric Daisy Carnival, set to run May 20-22 in Las Vegas. Schwerin noted that EDC helped Snapchat create its first public Our Story in 2014, aggregating user-produced Snaps from the festival in real-time.
Over the course of Snap’s partnership with Live Nation, the companies plan to collaborate with artists at music festivals including: Austin City Limits (Austin, Texas), Beyond Wonderland (San Bernardino, Calif.), Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival (Manchester, Tenn.), Day Trip Festival (San Bernardino, Calif.), Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas), Leeds Festival (Bramham Park, U.K.), Lollapalooza (Chicago) and Lollapalooza Paris, Reading Festival (Reading, U.K.), Rolling Loud (Miami), Roots Picnic (Philadelphia), Governors Ball (New York), Wireless Festival (Crystal Palace, Finsbury Park and Birmingham, U.K.), and Lights On (Brooklyn).
Other news and announcements from Snap Partner Summit 2022:
- Snapchat now reaches over 600 million monthly users, CEO Evan Spiegel said in introductory remarks. That’s a new data point, after Snap announced an average of 332 million daily active users in Q1.
- Spiegel said Snap works more than 500,000 partners, creators and developers on various products and services. In the past year, Snapchat users have shared content from partners’ apps — like songs from Spotify and tweets from Twitter– more than 6 billion times on the app.
- The company introduced Lens Cloud, a free collection of backend services including storage, location and multiuser functions for AR developers.
- Snap announced a new feature for Minis, called the Minis Private Components System, for Snapchat developers to add social elements to their experiences such as ratings, reviews, recommendations and more. HBO Max is among the initial partners.
- Snap announced a revenue-sharing component for creators who syndicate shows on Discover that are monetized with Snap Ads and Commercials. More than 25 Snapchat Spotlight creators have syndicated shows on Discover, which were collectively watched by over 155 million users in the second half of 2021.
- Since January 2021, more than 250 million Snapchat users have engaged with AR shopping Lenses more than 5 billion times. The company is introducing Snap 3D Asset Manager, designed to make it faster and easier for businesses to build AR shopping experiences; a new kind of shopping Lens for trying on outfits without ever having to change clothes; and a new destination on Snapchat called Dress Up, a hub that brings together AR fashion and try-on from creators, retailers and fashion brands.
Watch the sizzle Live Nation and Snapchat reel about their new partnership:
