Watercolors, Monopoly, and Mario Kart: Sound Rink Brings DIY Community Spirit to VIP Experiences
For fifteen years, Sound Rink (soundrink.com) has worked with thousands of bands of all stripes to create and run VIP experiences. But don’t let the acronym fool you: these experiences are about intimacy and connection, about giving devoted fans unforgettable moments with the artists and performers who’ve impacted them.
“For me it’s always been a question of what we can offer fans, not about exploiting or getting the most money we can out of them,” explains Sound Rink founder and CEO Cody DeLong. “I come from the DIY scene and Sound Rink is still very DIY in spirit. We’re bootstrapped from the ground up. So there’s always a community aspect. We design things so that we give fans real value. We provide a great experience.”
This community-focused spirit harkens back to the company’s founding. A huge music lover from a young age, DeLong went from booking hardcore and metal shows in basements and American Legion halls to booking pro acts on national tours. Then, in 2012, he booked a tour for a band that experimented with its first meet-and-greet-style event. It went fine, but DeLong saw an opportunity. He realized what could go better and that more bands could offer VIP experiences.
He shared his idea with two colleagues, also from the heavy music scene, Scott Lee and Jason Mageau. The three found themselves jotting a new idea for a company on the back of a pizza parlor napkin.
That sketch became Sound Rink, which has helped artists sell more than 600,000 VIP tickets over the lifetime of the company. It currently works approximately 300 tours per year, with $30 million in net proceeds paid to artists in the last 3 years. While it works with major ticketing platforms, it has built its own method and infrastructure for planning, selling, and executing VIP events, which helps artists keep more of the revenue.
Sound Rink manages every aspect of the VIP experience, from pre-sales and marketing to customer support and on-the-ground logistics, if artists want it. They work with venues and work with artists to come up with unexpected, high-value ideas. They brainstorm the perfect merch bundle to give fans maximum value (and to reflect artists’ vision).
To make a VIP event worthwhile for both fans and artists, you have to get creative. DeLong and his colleagues at Sound Rink have helped bands go beyond the photo, tshirt, and handshake. Bands have crafted their own Monopoly-style boardgames and custom coloring books. They’ve played Mario Kart with fans backstage, toting around a few game systems and monitors, or played a couple rounds of UNO. One band wanted to watercolor with fans. Sound Rink made it happen.
“These events help grow artists’ fanbase in a unique way because bands get intimate with their fans,” says DeLong. “When you’re doing these events as smaller artists, you’re getting to go face to face with the people who listen to you. When the fans are super happy, they tell everyone. They become advocates for the band. It creates superfans in places where you didn’t have them before.”
While minting more avid fans who spread the word, VIP events have become a key way for artists to make a tour work financially, without more stressful demands to the already intense reality of life on the road. “The band is making more money doing what they already wanted to do,” says DeLong. An important fact, especially for small and mid-career artists facing rising touring costs.
It’s these artists, DeLong believes, who now have a lot to gain from offering VIP events. The right VIP experiences can mean the difference between losing money and coming out a bit ahead. “VIP experiences have become a norm, and more and more artists are doing them, even ones you might not expect,” notes DeLong. “From a fan perspective, it’s almost expected that you’ll have the option to buy a VIP upgrade, just like you expect merch at a show.”
Over a decade and a half, Sound Rink has figured out how VIP can work across genres, moving beyond its heavy beginnings into country, indie rock, comedy, and creators from outside music. “Our demographic skews toward rock because I came from that world, but we can apply our approach to any artist,” muses DeLong. “At the end of the day, the real work behind a VIP package is how you market and support it. We’ve figured that out, and what we do is not genre specific. It's all about giving fans something special, and giving bands a chance to make touring work."