Despite some of the hype and skepticism around cryptocurrencies and NFTs, Web3 infrastructure is here to stay and will continue to revolutionize how we connect, interact, and do business. In particular, NFTs, which were initially thought of essentially as digital art, are increasingly being used to provide owners with real-world utility, as evidenced by several new projects, including the recently launched SuperNFT community and event subscription platform festivalpass’s ongoing NFT drops.
Ed Vincent, founder and CEO of festivalpass, has always believed in membership driven experiences, which are the backbone of the subscription-based festivalpass platform. “I felt that there was a really big opportunity to make the acquisition of tickets to live experiences into more of a membership and community driven experience rather than the purely transactional model that we've all experienced for decades,” he says.
festivalpass’s core mission is to reward consumers for being a part of the community and allow them to connect based on shared interests, which led to the development of the platform’s monthly and annual subscription tiers — what Vincent refers to as the Web 2.0 model. As web3 technology and NFTs became more mainstream over the past few years, Vincent notes that integrating them into the platform was a natural next step.
“Everything we believe in is driven by communities, shared ownership, and decentralization,” he says. “Web3 was in the fabric of our business model, so it was an exciting way to leverage some of the technology and the philosophy of the Web3 approach in what we're doing.”
festivalpass launched its first Festival Family NFT collection last month with the first of 10 drops, each offering a distinct character that represents a different persona that live event fans will identify with. Interested fans can now mint the first character, Legend, who is described as “a talented guitarist and front man, who has toured in rock bands his entire adult life. He exudes confidence and sex appeal... He is wild and carefree.”
The collection will consist of a total of 10,000 Lifetime Founder NFTs, with the price to mint increasing with each subsequent drop. “All of these 10 characters will make up the festival family,” explains Vincent, “and we’re releasing them in stages because we do know that it's going to take commitment for people to engage in this process. But we also want them to realize that those who get in early are the ones that are going to get the most value.”
Importantly, these NFTs are more than just a piece of digital artwork — although that is an important piece of it as well. They also provide real-world value to fans who have purchased them. “We're strictly a utility NFT,” says Vincent. “I will never take away from really cool art, but from our perspective, the art is packaging. The package can enhance the overall product, but at the end of the day, utility of that product is the core reason for its future sustainability. If you own this NFT, you're gaining access to some really, really important utility.”
Right now, anyone who purchases a Lifetime Founder NFT from festivalpass will receive free credits every year of their ownership to access any event or hotel stay on the platform. Vincent emphasizes that “immediately upon minting the NFT, fans can start redeeming their credits for tickets to shows within a day. They don’t have to wait for a roadmap or wait for something that we may or may not deliver on. We're delivering right out of the gate.”
In addition, NFT holders will be able to access exclusive events and experiences organized by festivalpass. “They will be interesting things that we can't really do at a massive scale, but it will be special for this community,” explains Vincent. “It could be things like an intimate concert with a well-known artist, or going to a sporting event and sitting in a luxury box and then hanging out with players afterwards. It's these kinds of unique bucket list events that you can't really get anywhere else, and only our NFT holders will be allowed to go to these.”
festivalpass members all have access to the platform’s Discord server, where they can connect with other fans. Vincent notes that the platform is really about building community and facilitating those connections between fans, and to that end, festivalpass is beginning to launch localized channels so that people in certain regions can chat and plan meetups in real life.
There will also be NFT gated channels for NFT holders only, where they will be able to give input on the exclusive events being organized. “We'll cater our really epic experiences to our actual holders, and we'll create the thing that most matters to them,” says Vincent.
“We’re really looking to create member connected experiences,” he concludes, “and as we continue to roll out future features, we want our NFT community to be strong and to build the Discord to be as engaging as possible so that people can connect pre, during, and post event. As we continue with the platform, we’re going to create more and more special experiences our NFT holders, but also for all members. Our goal is to provide opportunities for community to happen both digitally and in real life.”