A one-of-a-kind interactive music festival that allows anyone to be the DJ arrives later this month in Kansas City, shared YouSpin founder and CEO Adell Hendon.
The YouSpin Anywhere Music Festival — set for 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Lemonade Park — is planned as a crowd-driven concert using Hendon’s socially-interactive virtual jukebox app.
“People are going to be able to pick and play songs using the app and it’s going to come on the sound system,” he explained. “They’re going to be able to DJ the music.”
Click here to learn more about the festival.
Adell Hendon, YouSpin
YouSpin and YouSpin Anywhere allow users to pick and play music, as well as interact with other users, in clubs and bars, at home through virtual clubs, or — the newest feature — in the car on a group roadtrip.
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The coming festival is about creating crowd engagement, Hendon said. On top of the audience-driven concert, plans include a music trivia game show, a talent show, and performances by several local, up-and-coming artists, plus food trucks. Tickets are $20.
“You’re not just looking at the artists on stage and asking them to entertain you,” he noted. “They’re going to entertain you, but you also get to be a part of the entertainment itself.”
The music trivia game show — which Hendon called a cross between Jeopardy, The Price is Right, and Soul Train — will be played through the app and have dance-off rounds, plus prizes will be handed out.
The YouSpin team has begun piloting the game show once a month at Parlor KC in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District.
“It’s about just having people have a good time together,” Hendon said. “But they’re creating their own experience through that and connecting with everybody else.”
At the Sept. 29 show — which is expected to offer prizes — audience members will be able to choose who advances, Hendon noted. Several local artists are also set to perform, including Jass Couch, Sabaneros MGM, TNTLKP, Lucid Flows and Lou Rip (MOKS), and Rayvon Oddboy.
“We’re gonna have all different types of music happening,” he added. “We’ve got hip hop; we’ve got neo-soul; we’ve got Columbian; and then dance music. So it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Hendon hopes the festival creates more awareness for the YouSpin app and for its artist referral program, he shared.
He launched the referral program — which allows independent artists, DJs, and influencers to share their music with YouSpin and invite their fans and followers to subscribe and hear their music — in fall 2022. The artists then get 10 percent monthly residual commission from every subscription from their followers.
“We’re doing something different than all the other music streaming platforms,” Hendon said. “Spotify only pays their artists per stream 0.0033 cents per stream, so it’s really, really difficult to make any money off of that. And people keep on putting their music on there because they think that’s the way to go. … This will allow artists to make monthly passive income on their own terms.”
