That Eric Alper

Festivals are fast escaping the shackles of cash transactions and long boring ticket queues at kiosks or stands. In the past decade, there has been a technological advancement with regards to safer, easier and more reliable payment methods, especially at highly populated gatherings in public spaces like  malls, movies and most importantly music festivals. The cashless concept was first introduced in 2011 by the famous Sziget festival, which takes place annually in Hungary. Since then, many festival organizers have adopted it as a faster and easier method of making payment. The need to provide a more user-friendly and safer method of payment especially at crowded music festival prompted the different contactless transactions available today. In recent years, an increasing number of festivals worldwide have adopted cashless payments based on contactless wristbands and these payment apperatys have overtaken traditional payment methods, such as cash or cards.

According to the 2017 World Payment Report, “Contactless Payments such as RFID’s are fast becoming the new normal.” These payment methods are specially designed to make faster, easier payments. Currently, aside from U.K and U.S most countries have adopted these methods including Africa. Most importantly, as the festive season approaches, contactless technologies will serve perfectly for carrying out transactions with numerous point-of-sale terminals, ticket transactions, and transit system.

How it works

Whether it the wristband, contactless card or watch technology, each piece of festive technology serves the same purpose during festivals- to facilitate ‘Safety and convenience.’ These new technologies are designed with a state of the art wireless communication technology, an inbuilt Data label, microchip and micro antenna for quick wireless communication with any nearby payment terminal through a near field communication (NFC) technology. The major advantage is the ability of users to pay without the use of bogus Pins or payment signatures especially for payments below a certain limit, known as the floor limit.

For Festival participants to make use this technology, they are required to load money on a cashless account before the festival or to link it to a credit card. At the festival, each participant is assigned a personal wristband to be exclusively used at the event for purchases and tickets. After the festivals, users can request that any money not spent be returned. This is usually done within 1 to 4 week of festival ending. This ensures security, as many organizers have discovered.

Millennials- the driving force of festival technology

Millennials or Generation Y are the demographic or generation from the mid-1980s to early 2000. They are known as technology generations because of their uncanny familiarity with media, communications and digital technology, beyond previous sects.

Recently, a recent study by an online label company revealed that millennials are leaning more towards these new technologies. They were discovered that nearly 50% of them are championing these advancements.

Just as it is always said, “Change is constant,” and as time changes, new technology and improvements are bound to occur. Music festivals are fast upgrading from what they used to be. The whole festival experience has transformed, from ticketless entry to contactless payment options, they offer an entirely different and better user experience. Planning and logistics mean there are better ways to enjoy music festivals.

An online label company Data Label,  researched into what festival goers prefer when it comes to making purchases at festivals and creating an ideal and faster method of entrance.

Paper tickets, fabric wristbands, and cash:

• Generation Z – 20%
• Millennials – 17%
• Generation X – 31%
• Baby boomers – 32%

People within the Generation X category, are likely to go for paper tickets, cash, and fabric wristbands. They are individuals born within 1960-1980s.

RFID technology wristband entry already preloaded with cash:

• Generation Z – 16%
• Baby boomers – 21%
• Millennials – 18%
• Generation X – 45%

RFID enabled devices are programmed to automate quick recognition once scanned, thereby enabling faster entries for people and reducing the possibility of fake tickets at festivals. Contactless payments are so popular in general these days that they have now expanded to festivals. These also enable fast transactions with bank cards or smart cards, as well as mobile phones and smart watches with this option activated.

Mobile ticket entry, contactless card, and smartwatch payments:

• Generation Z – 24%
• Millennials – 48%
• Generation X – 18%
• Baby boomers – 10%

Contactless purchase technologies at fairs and festivals have revolutionized the mode of money exchange, reducing theft, and increasing profitability and performance. During a recent interview with Brian Wilkinson, a Cashless festival tech vendor at the 2018,” it provides a safer and more reliable paying system for both customer and vendors, hence increasing profitability by over 25%.”

Currently, most organizers are opting for the cashless technologies especially during the crowded music festivals, and if things continue progressively in this manner, by the year 2022, festivals and gathering will entirely be digitized.

Everybody has gone through a breakup at some point in our life. It might be better or worse but it is rarely a pleasant thing. And if it is really bad you would want to get out of that mood as soon as possible. Rationally we all know that there is absolutely no point in being sad about something we have no control of, can’t change and happened in the past. But unfortunately, we cannot always act on our rationality and need some help. There is a lot of advice about how to get over an ex but one of the things that would definitely help you is listening to music.

The best thing about music is that it is there when you need it. It won’t get upset if you turn it on at 2 a.m. or that you listen to the same song over and over. You can call upon this friend of yours whenever you need. At it really is like a friend. A study found that listening to mood-congruent music is just like having a friend that understands how you feel. Especially when the sorrow comes from some interpersonal stuff like a bad breakup. The recipe is not a happy song but a sad song for a broken heart. That might be a bit counterintuitive but people often prefer sad songs in these situations and it actually helps them to go through the grief stage and move on.

Another good thing about music is that you probably can find any kind of music you need at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, the support of your best friends is very important in times of need. But even your best friends do not read your mind. And they can’t know what you feel and what words you need to hear at the moment. They might try to cheer you up when you need to hear the depressed breakup songs. That’s why the music is best in this situation.

But that doesn’t mean that you will listen only to the sad songs for broken-hearted all the time. Those songs would eventually change to more cheerful and happy stuff as you go through your breakup. And cheerful songs will help you to move on with your life and go find your own piece of happiness. The awesome thing about the music is it can support you on every stage of your life. So dive in and feel that therapeutic effect!

Here’s a list of my personal favorites for going through a breakup:

• Prince – “Nothing Compares 2 U”
• Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
• Lorde – “Writer in the Dark”
• Bob Dylan – “Idiot Wind”
• Beyonce – “Irreplaceable”
• The Walkmen – “The Rat”

I’m sure you know a lot of other suitable songs and you might have a completely different taste.

Music may be a powerful tool to get through life. It can help you when you feel that you need additional support or it may enhance the good experiences you have. Listening to a sad song for broken hearts and eventually switching to more joyful songs is one of the best ways to go through a tough breakup.

Building out own music-recording studio is quite challenging since you need to consider many factors, such as the place, equipment, software, etc. The best starting point would be finding a good receiver, that may become the heart of your studio. Please, consider checking HelpToChoose to find the best stereo receivers under 200. However, that is not the only thing you need to consider.

Find the right place and prepare it

You need to find a room where you are going to place all the audio equipment. It would be easier if you have a basic understanding of how acoustics works. The room you need should be quite large, because:

• More space for musicians
• More space for equipment like drums, guitars, microphone stands, etc.
• Bigger rooms have better acoustics (like high ceilings)

The perfect solution that would be a room with high ceilings, asymmetrical walls and irregular walls, which is difficult to get especially you have a limited budget, but make sure you get the best option.

The preparing stage includes removing unnecessary elements – clear off the floor space, take everything off the walls (like pictures). Do not forget to remove anything that may vibrate. Enhance the acoustic characteristics by adding acoustic panels made of foam.

Enhance the acoustic characteristics by adding acoustic panels made of foam.

The important factor you need to remember is that you should do everything to avoid any environment noises, caused by cars, birds. The point is to create a place where the only source of sound is the equipment you have. Do not forget about the floor as well. Hard flooring like hardwood, tile or even concrete is a great option. Remove a carpet if you have one. A carpet will absorb high-frequencies, which may distort the audio.

The best option is a basement. As you can see, everything matters when it comes to recording, since all kinds of noises cause a negative effect. You may place small carpets under certain instruments (like drums) to avoid floor damaging. A small carpet will not cause any negative effect.

Plan the room carefully. You should be able to reach any element without any difficulties. Do not forget about the place for musicians and their instruments.

Hardware

That is where you should spend as much as you can. Check receivers reviews to find the best one for you – pay attention to the features they support, various audio enhancement technologies, the total power output, input types and a number of ports.

Another important element of your studio is a computer. Get the best one you can – a model with a fast processor and a large amount of RAM and a good HDD – you need to store all audio tracks in lossless formats. One large monitor would be a perfect starting point.

You also need a reliable audio interface. It is used to connect your computer with the equipment you have.

Do not try to save up money buying cheap cables – you will get noise. Consider buying several cables to connect everything you have. Usually, music studios have many cables of different types. Keep everything organized — labeling your cables. It will help you connect everything quickly if you change your setup.

You should also consider buying equipment for musicians. Try to get a good condenser vocal microphone with a large diaphragm.  To record “high-frequency” instruments you need to get a small diaphragm mic. Therefore, you may need around four microphones of different types to start (if you want to work with different instruments, like guitars, bass guitars, drums).

Consider spending some amount of money on good headphones as well. There are two major types of headphones:

• Closed back headphones – good isolation but the sound quality is not perfect
• Open back headphones – good sound quality but the isolation is not great

Open back headphones would be a perfect option, but closed back headphones may become a perfect starting point.

If you still have some budget to spend – buy pop filters for microphones.

Software

There are many software solutions for audio recording, editing, mixing, etc. Freeware software is a great option and it may be a great way to save some money. You can always upgrade to commercial software in the future, which may have many features and various add-ons, filters, and plug-ins.

Apart from equipment and software, you need to understand the nuances of audio processing, so consider checking online guides or buying some books. You need to understand clearly what challenges you will have to deal with, how to configure audio equipment, how to achieve the required level of quality, etc. You should also spend some time learning how to use the software you have installed.

Solid skills and equipment let you earn money with your studio, which you may spend upgrading your equipment or room. However, you should not expect for an immediate commercial success.

If you want to start earning money with your studio, do not ignore the promotion campaign – ask your friends to tell other musicians about your studio or use social networks. At the same time, you should clearly understand the latest music trends. You need to know how to get the sound that your client wants.