Ovation Towers’ Sweet Souvenir

A bank of five Ovation Towers at the Greek Theatre in L.A. offers venues a new advertising platform in the form of an HD video billboard and fans with a way to download live concert recordings.

The venues began beta testing a Migratory Music product called the Ovation Tower last year and rolled out a full install of the kiosks in time for the summer season.

Ovation Towers allow fans to walk up to one of the units before, during or after a show and order a live recording of that night’s performance that can be delivered via email or ported to their smartphone. The towers also allow fans to peruse digital catalogs, current albums topping the charts and other concert recordings for download.

The recording aspect is handled by sound engineers from Aderra, who mix and master live performances on the fly and upload the tracks to the Ovation Towers store minutes after a show ends. If a fan pre-orders, they’ll get an email with a link to download the music. Otherwise, they can connect their phone to a tower, enter their email addresses, swipe a credit card and download that night’s show in about 30 seconds.

Migratory Music President and Ovation Tower inventor Ian Murray told Pollstar the towers provide artists with a new way to connect with fans and give them an extra special memory of the night.

“I was tired of being offered a $40 T-shirt and a studio album that I probably already owned,” Murray said. “It was a broken experience. I don’t want people to stop buying studio albums. I want people to buy the studio album, love it and go to the show. Fans that love their artist enough to pay for tickets and parking and beer I think deserve a little extra reward. … A live album is the ultimate souvenir.”

But the towers also provide venues with a perk in the form of a new advertising platform. When they’re all lined up, a bank of five of the units creates a 10- by 3-foot HD video billboard that can be used to market upcoming shows or sponsored advertisements.

Greek Theatre GM Rena Wasserman said that offering concertgoers live recordings of shows has been a great amenity thus far, and the “visual impact that the towers present at the venues complements the overall experience.”

Of course, being able to offer such amenities to fans depends on the artists that play the venues. Murray explained there’s no risk or upfront costs, and artists and their labels retain all the rights to live recordings and set the price points. Ovation Towers also shares email captures with artists that sign on.

For now, the company is still educating consumers and the industry about the towers, but Murray said responses have been positive thus far.

“The fans that I talk to are elated,” he said. “It’s a new toy. … I like to say it’s the coolest thing since cold beer at the venue.”