What We Can Learn From Super Mario Brothers
We all know how much time kids spend playing video games, but what amazes me most is the growing percentage of adults who spend their time battling Paranoid Androids.
And I’m not just referring to adults in their 30’s and 40’s, I’m talking about adults in their 50’s, 60’s and older!
One of the biggest reasons why video games are so popular is because they are interactive, meaning, players can affect the outcome. Add the collaborative nature of gaming to the interactivity and you can see why people have no problem dishing out $60 for a video game.
Music and movies, on the other hand, aren’t interactive in the same way. They are linear, one-way experiences; they are pre-determined journeys that take us from a beginning to an end.
So, as artists in the music industry, what can we learn from the popularity of video games?
Though you might not want your fans deciding whether you should go into a chorus or a third verse after your bridge, there are plenty of ways to incorporate the idea of fan interactivity into how your fans experience your band.
• Let your fans vote on the set list for your next show
• Let them determine the design of their next T-shirt
• Let them determine which song you will release next
We can learn a lot from paying attention to other industries that are booming (Gaming) in addition to industries that are failing (Major Label system.)
Feel free to comment with other ideas of how we can incorporate interactivity into how fans experience our band!
Tags: Gaming, Interactivity, Video Games