It’s a conundrum that’s plagued concert-goers since the dawn of time (or concerts): You dig the music, but you also want to support them by picking up a t-shirt … just not enough to wait an hour in line after the show. So what do you do? Just in time for SXSW music week, there’s an app for that. TheHub.fm is an e-commerce mobile platform for bands to sell their merchandise, with a perk: Fans can use the app to buy merch during a live concert and pick up their purchase after the fanfare has died down.
TheHub also doubles as an e-commerce platform. This one though is optimized for mobile devices in more ways than the one we’ve already mentioned.
While picking up the merchandise in person is a choice, what if the size, color, or design that you’re looking for has sold out? Even if this is the case, there’s no reason to fret. Out of stock merch can be placed on backorder and once the band has the merch on hand, they can ship it out straight to your front door.
TheHub.fm founder and 32 year music industry veteran Jonathan Block is also experimenting with bridging the gap between how bands interact with fans beyond this e-commerce model. “As our community loses value for culture in a free download digital era, this new platform is focused on uniting the elements of merchandising, music sales and live shows for bands and their fans in a new way. The music business has needed a tool that improves the direct band-to-fan relationship for a long time,” Block says.
TheHub.fm is full of features for fans to get a chance to know and meet the bands. Free digital downloads, exclusive tracks, and direct interaction with bands are available, as are a host of other tools. Bands can also customized the easy-to-setup digital storefronts.
Right now TheHub.fm is in the negotiation and courting stages to bring on more bands to try out and hopefully adopt the platform. But Block says that bands aren’t the only types of customers he’s talking to and is interested in getting designers and brands on board too.
