It may be hard to think about camping, summertime and festival tours in the dead of winter, as the nation continues to be a cold-filled wonderland and schools are quickly using up all their snow days. Despite an extended visit from the Snow Miser, the summer season is coming — quickly.
As stressed-out parents sign their kids up for a summer away from home, artists are looking for a way to reach new fans, and dedicated fans at that. Where can these two warm weather groups merge? The Camplified Summer Concert tour.
Founded 13 years ago by producer and artist manager Aimee Berger, Camplified joins together artists, brand sponsors and the active and captive camp audience for an interactive day. The traveling one-day festival moves from summer camp to summer camp, setting up shop for an experience wherein artists can get to know their fans, and campers are exposed to some of music's developing talent on the cusp of a major breakout. It's a marriage of sorts, mutually beneficial to both music enthusiasts and the acts.
The birth of Camplified was not so simple for Berger, but the idea came suddenly after she found a need to promote her bands while being budget friendly. Berger told Music Times, "I was literally sitting in a restaurant one night, freaking out, thinking, 'How can I take these great bands who are playing night to night at small venues for two people, and given them a larger platform to perform?" It was then that she recalled her own experience as a child, where a sports camp she attended would bring in celebrity athletes to teach campers how to be better at their respective sports. Berger then built the idea around musicians looking for an audience, and a tween and teen-aged group of kids looking for the next big thing, and Camplified was born.
Camplified is all about the fan experience, and isn't for the lighthearted musical act or one who isn't interested in building their fanbase on a grassroots level. The day begins with a variety of sponsored activities, and band members and musicians take part in the activities with campers, gaining engaged and dedicated new fans one by one.
Of course, having a built-in audience who you get to know throughout the day is a major plus for any entertainer, according to Berger, and can help curb some of those live anxieties. "For the artists, they don't just get on stage feeling like they're blowing through town and nobody knows them. By the time they perform at night, you feel like you've known the kids forever, and the campers feel connected to the bands having spent the day with them," she said. "You have an audience in front of you that's very enthusiastic and high-spirited — that's what camp is about."
And what do campers get out of the experience? Other than a day out of the ordinary, the tweens, teens, and even counselors get something invaluable: bragging rights. "Kids are very quick to want to say: 'I saw it first and I want to tell you all about it. You're not going to believe this. I met this band, they're called So-And-So, now I'm following them. I message with them and they keep in touch with me too.' Kids love to feel important, but they also like to be the first in," Berger said about Camplified campers.
And as we all know, being the first kid to know about the next big band is vital to any popularity contest.
So, how can a rising musician get in on the Camplified tour? Music Times is joining forces with Camplified to give away one spot on the tour to the winner of our contest.
All bands have to do to enter is complete the official entry form at www.musictimes.com/contest by filling out information about your band including social media sites, and three highlights of your band (a.k.a., why are YOU a fit for the Camplified tour?). We encourage you to then "like" Music Times and Camplified on Facebook so you can stay up-to-date on news about the contest. Your entry will also automatically sign you up for the Music Times newsletter, and confirms that your entry form has been processed.
Then, entry forms will be reviewed by an independent group of talent scouts and representatives from Music Times and Camplified.
In order to be eligible, musicians must be age 13 or older (winners, if under the legal age, will need to be accompanied by a guardian on tour).
On dates that work for both the artist and Camplified, winners will receive a spot on the 2014 Camplified Summer Tour, performance, fan meet-and-greet with campers, and visibility across Camplified and their media partners' social media.
Check out the full set of rules here.
Best of luck!
