Follows Pollstar “Best Livestreaming Platform” 2021 Award, CEO Mary Kay Huse on Billboard “Women in Music Executives” List, Billboard “Agent of Change” List
Read more on Fast Company HERE
Mandolin, the music industry's leading digital fan engagement platform and concert livestreamer, has been named Number 1 Most Innovative Music Company on Fast Company's prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2022.
Fast Company writes that: "Mandolin became a forerunner in the livestreaming space not long after its launch in summer 2020 as concert promoters and musicians were looking for a way to keep their shows going. Mandolin’s challenge going forward has been to stay as relevant as in-person events picked up. Hence Mandolin Live+, a hybrid of IRL and digital experiences…."
The honor follows Mandolin CEO Mary Kay Huse’s inclusion last month on the 2022 Billboard Women in Music Executives List. Since the company’s founding in 2020, Mandolin has also been named to Billboard’s "Agents of Change" list (the 2021 Power 100 List), and earned the 2021 Pollstar “Best Livestreaming Platform” award.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
Find Fast Company's full list of the 10 most innovative music companies of 2022 here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90724449/most-innovative-companies-music-2022
Huse founded Mandolin in 2020 after serving as COO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Since entering the music industry, she has positioned Mandolin as the leader in livestreaming by attracting top-tier talent and developing technology best suited for the industry’s needs—signing prestigious partners and hosting blockbuster events throughout the company’s lifetime. As artists consistently return to stages in 2022, Mandolin is primed to increase revenue, drive deeper fan insights and offer new fan engagement opportunities for artists, venues, festivals, brands and promoters looking to do so. With Mandolin on this mission, the industry has acquired a wealth of new data to guide them through the next exciting evolution of the music industry—a future where creators directly own their fan data, relationships and, ultimately, revenue. In a survey of livestreaming companies, MIDiA’s Mark Mulligan praised Mandolin for their “sound, longer-term view” (Hypebot.)
And it was all topped off with a $12M Series A funding round, major acquisitions and partnerships, and live streamed festivals such as Firefly, Telluride, RockyGrass, Desert Daze, and Pitchfork Music Festival London.
Here are just a few other recent accomplishments that earned Mandolin the “Most Innovative Company” honor:
• Tibet House US Virtual Benefit Concert: Tibet House US partnered again with Mandolin this year to host their Virtual Benefit Concert, featuring Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Stephen Colbert, Keanu Reeves, and more. After their first collaboration, on the 34th Annual Benefit in 2021, the Tibet House organizers told USA Today they they plan to continue hybrid with Mandolin for years to come due to the increased audience size.
• Mandolin Live+ Studio: Mandolin is empowering clients with data through Mandolin Live+ Studio. Clients can use the real-time ticket and fan data to maximize event sales, develop future strategies and build robust fan profiles. Read more about Live+ Studio at Variety, and about how data will continue to benefit artists and fans in 2022 in the Wall Street Journal.
• $12M Series A Funding Round: Mandolin closed a $12M funding round in June, with investors like Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures and VC firms such as 645 Ventures and Foundry Group. The investment will go toward developing new technology to further their hybrid fan engagement integrations.
• Telluride and RockyGrass Festival: Mandolin's partnership with festivals like Telluride and RockyGrass brings in a new market of fans who would otherwise be unable to attend.
• VIP Suite: A new extension of the Live+ experience, VIP:One and VIP:Party make it easier for artists and fans to engage with one another, providing new revenue and data opportunities for artists, as well as once-in-a-lifetime moments for fans around the world.
• NoonChorus Acquisition: Mandolin’s first acquisition, NoonChorus is a go-to for indie acts such as Angel Olsen, Guided By Voices, Japanese Breakfast, and more, and has hosted over 650 shows and generated four million dollars in artist revenue.
• Firefly Music Festival: Mandolin livestreamed Firefly Music Festival to over 100,000 fans for free, and provided on-site activations and VIP engagement opportunities for in-person attendees.
• John Legend’s Bigger Love Global Experience: The twelve-time GRAMMY award-winning artist streamed the Phoenix, AZ stop of his Bigger Love US tour through Mandolin, complementing his performance with an exclusive pre-show VIP:Party and wine tasting experience that included a Q&A session and intimate solo piano performance.
• Desert Daze Revisited: Desert Daze, the iconic psych rock music festival, was held in-person in Lake Perris, CA - Desert Daze Revisited brought the experience home for two weeks, exclusively via Mandolin. The collaboration reimagined the 3-day musical event as a virtual concert series, with stunning multi-cam footage and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Desert Daze Revisited was livestreamed across 6 nights of shows, with incredible performances each night, totaling 12 performances from artists including Toro Y Moi, Kamasi Washington, Tim Heidecker & Weyes Blood, Devendra Banhart & more.
ABOUT MANDOLIN
Mandolin helps artists and venues create connections with fans and prosper through the music they produce. We intentionally push the boundaries of livestream, giving artists the right tools to create content, share it widely, and then better understand how fans engage. Mandolin gives artists the ability to build a digital strategy, all while giving fans unprecedented access to the artists they love. Mandolin Live+ digitally amplifies in-person shows; turning every live fan into a digital fan, opening up opportunities only available in the virtual realm, and helping artists deepen fan relationships through data. To learn more about how Mandolin is transforming the music industry through hybrid events, visit mandolin.com or Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
For more information, please contact:
Mark Satlof | Shore Fire Media | msatlof@shorefire.com