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WillCall: Live Music App Launches In L.A.

Lilian Min |
March 21, 2014 | 11:00 a.m. PDT

Music Editor

Courtesy of WillCall
Courtesy of WillCall
We can pretty much do everything through our phones these days, but there remains one area where the mobile experience hasn't really met with a huge consumer need: live music. Sure, specific festival apps provide maps and setlists, but where's the mobile music hub for the average city-dwelling music fan?

Here's where WillCall comes in. The app, which is available on both iOS and Android, first launched in San Francisco in 2012. It launched in NYC in 2013, and now it's finally L.A.'s turn to get in the know.

One of, if not the, biggest entertainment markets in the world, Los Angeles is home to casually iconic performance venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Staples Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Greek Theatre, the Troubadour, and many others. On any given night, 10+ bands are playing gigs in the city. 

Even if you're fastidious about keeping on top of all of L.A.'s show calendars and your favorite bands' tour schedules, chances are, you still won't have a full bearing of the city's music happenings. What WillCall does is streamline the show-searching process: the app recommends hot shows in the city and makes it super easy to purchase tickets through the app. (Bypassing the sometimes labyrinthian online/in-person ticketing process.)

But lest you think that's all the app offers, hold up: you can also tip artists, buy merch, and even order drinks (cheers) through the app. That means no more fumbling for cash at the bar right as the headliner makes their debut on stage; no more fighting at the merch stand right after a show is over; and if you really enjoyed one of the night's acts, you have a way to appreciatively pay the artist directly.

It's actually kind of amazing that an app like WillCall hasn't existed before. Sure, it's difficult to lay the groundwork for such a network; every venue and every artist has their own management, but the fruits of WillCall's efforts are obvious to anybody who tries out the app. Some of its biggest fans? Investors like Sean Parker of Napster/Spotify fame and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp.

WillCall's L.A. launch party will be hosted at the Bootleg Theatre and feature a DJ set from Miami Horror. You can get tickets through, naturally, the app.

Download WillCall on iOS and Android

Reach Music Editor Lilian Min here; follow her on Twitter and Google+.



 

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