THOUSANDS TEXT-MESSAGE INTO THE “VOODOO SOCIAL AID AND PLEASURE CLUB” IN ANTICIPATION OF UPCOMING NEW ORLEANS MUSIC FESTIVAL

THOUSANDS TEXT-MESSAGE INTO THE
“VOODOO SOCIAL AID AND PLEASURE CLUB”
IN ANTICIPATION OF UPCOMING
NEW ORLEANS MUSIC FESTIVAL;

VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE
SET FOR OCTOBER 28 AND 29

(New Orleans, Louisiana/New York, NY)  The mystery continues as the legendary VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE, its producer Rehage Entertainment and Counts Media lure music fans to New Orleans via a myriad of mobile messages in Creole tongue.  These messages have created a minor frenzy building up to one of the most eclectic music festivals in the country.

“Are the Red Hot Chili Peppers trying to tell us something?”  MTV recently asked.

The “game” started months ago when the festival logo began randomly appearing on artist websites, with artist specific text codes (i.e. “RHCP” for the Red Hot Chili Peppers).  Fans of the artists who wanted to discover what was behind the logo simply, clicked on it and the Voodoo image revealed a box for them to insert their mobile number.  By “opting” into the program–dubbed the “Voodoo Social Aid and Pleasure Club”–fans started receiving insider information on this year’s artists, ultimately marking the first time a music festival has launched its entire line-up via text prior to releasing it through traditional media outlets.  The message was simple, “XXX artist has joined the ritual, see you in New Orleans mon ami.”  The messaging started 24 hours before any official line-up announcement was made, beginning with artist Sidney Bechet’s quote about his grandfather’s origins in Congo Square and ending with the artists being announced in real time as the booking process was actually happening. The program, built on Counts Media’s mobkastr™ platform, created an interesting dialogue between people attempting to share the information they had received.

“We’re melding mobile marketing and mobile entertainment by using text messaging as the ‘voice’ of the experience. It’s another way for the event and its artists to speak to music fans, drive awareness of the festival and do so in a Creole accent,” states Counts Media CEO Howard Pyle.  

In the months leading up to the Voodoo Music Experience, Counts Media and Rehage will continue to develop “the club” through mobile and web based content, culminating Halloween weekend (October 28 and 29) on the festival grounds.  Throughout that weekend, members of the “Voodoo Social Aid and Pleasure Club” will find themselves gaining certain privileges enabling them to go from passive to active participants in the “game” as they begin receiving messages directly from the 60 plus bands on the bill.  These activities will include invitations to on-site events such as: joining a band onstage, having dinner on a tour bus, All Access Passes for the weekend, side stage viewing, alerts of unannounced performances and secret locations of post-event parties and performances.

The next step in this partnership will be the launch of the vmXperience New Orleans as part of the Voodoo Music Experience and Yellow Arrow websites.  Set to launch Friday, September 8 at 12:01 AM (ET), the design allows fans to self publish their favorite locations and stories of New Orleans music and culture.    Artists performing this year are joining in and are in the process of sharing stories of their first or most memorable performances and experiences in the city.  Ultimately, each location will have its own code allowing people to access its content via their mobile phones, creating a tour of New Orleans written by the festival’s artists and fans.  The message is simple, New Orleans music and its musical culture has a big imprint on music history overall.  Come to the Xperience: contribute your suggestions, share your stories and discover things about this magical city.

“The Xperience was initially a concept of interactive story-telling, authored largely in part by the audience” Voodoo Music Experience founder Stephen Rehage says.  “People who come to Voodoo are more inclined to want to discover the unique aspects of the city than they are about hanging out on Bourbon Street.  The Voodoo Social Aid and Pleasure Club along with the interactive maps and tours are part of that discovery process.”

Now that mobile media and mobile marketing is becoming a prevalent medium for the entertainment industry, ventures like Counts Media and Rehage Entertainment are leveraging their storytelling talents and creative planning to drive consumer uptake.  The partnership was responsible for planning, creating, and delivering the mobile experience to fans via Voodoo’s website and relationships with artist’s official websites. Counts Media is the same outfit behind the wildly successful Yellow Arrow (yellowarrow.net), a project that offers a fundamentally new way of exploring cities. Yellow Arrow has spread to 350 cities in 35 countries and uses a unique system for publishing and consuming content via text messaging on mobile phones and interactive maps online.

Anyone can join the ritual by texting VMX to MBKST (62578), see you in New Orleans mon ami.

For tickets to this year’s VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE, visit www.voodoomusicfest.com.  Single day tickets will go on sale today (Friday, September 8) at 10:00 AM (CT) for $35. Additionally, weekend passes are available for $60 and a limited-number of VIP LOA passes are still on sale for $325.  The “LOA Pass” grants entry to the festival for the weekend and access to the “Loa Lounge” which includes premium viewing of the main stage from VIP grandstands, exclusive food vendors, full-bar service (three complimentary beverages) and other special amenities. Upon arrival to the venue, all tickets will be exchanged for wristbands that will grant “In & Out Privileges” allowing fans to come and go as they please throughout the weekend’s festivities.

The line-up for this year’s VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE (as of 9/8) is as follows:  Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duran Duran, Wu-Tang Clan, The Flaming Lips, My Chemical Romance, Social Distortion, Kings of Leon, Ozomatli, Secret Machines, Blue October, Kinky, The Fiery Furnaces, Brazilian Girls, Ferry Corsten, Broken Social Scene, Drive-By Truckers, The Living Things, Jack’s Mannequin, Joseph Arthur, Yerba Buena, The Rentals and The Whigs. Plus, a New Orleans line-up that includes the much-anticipated reunion and return of the Original Meters, plus Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Soul Rebels, Hot 8 Brass Band, Kermit Ruffin’s BBQ Brunch, Morning 40 Federation, Amanda Shaw, Cowboy Mouth and Friends and Jose Conde y Ola Fresca.  

 

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VOODOO MUSIC FESTIVAL: THOUSANDS TEXT-MESSAGE INTO THE “VOODOO SOCIAL AID AND PLEASURE CLUB” IN ANTICIPATION OF UPCOMING NEW ORLEANS MUSIC FESTIVAL